O Oudezijds Heerenlogement, na Confluência do Grimburgwal e do Oudezijds Voorburgwal, Amsterdã, Holanda (The Oudezijds Heerenlogement, on the Confluence of the Grimburgwal and the Oudezijds Voorburgwal, Amsterdam) - Gerrit Adriaensz. Berckheyde

 

O Oudezijds Heerenlogement, na Confluência do Grimburgwal e do Oudezijds Voorburgwal, Amsterdã, Holanda (The Oudezijds Heerenlogement, on the Confluence of the Grimburgwal and the Oudezijds Voorburgwal, Amsterdam) - Gerrit Adriaensz. Berckheyde
Amsterdã - Holanda
Coleção privada
Óleo sobre painel - 31x41


By the 1660s, following a century of rapid expansion that continued unabated, Amsterdam was the richest city in the world. Cosimo de' Medici visited the city in 1667/9, and was suitably impressed with what he saw, writing: ‘Greater trade is done in Amsterdam than in any other city of the world… Foreigners are astounded when they first see it, and it appears that the four corners of the world have despoiled themselves to enrich her and to bring their rarest and most curious treasures into her port’. An English guide from 1669 noted: ‘It is justly called the modern Tyre, as being the most beautiful, noble, opulent trading city in the world. Strangers are struck with amazement at the sight of it’.
Generally averse to painting capriccios, the careful and accurate painted views of Amsterdam by Gerrit Berckheyde arguably give us a clearer idea of what the city looked like in the second half of the 17th century that any other visual source, even Jan van der Heyden, who more often resorted to artistic licence. There is no evidence that Berckheyde moved to Amsterdam, and it seems likely that he travelled there from Haarlem, perhaps using the hourly trekvaart (horse-drawn ferry), and then made sketches of sites that interested him which he brought back to his native city to work up into finished paintings such as the present example. Berckheyde’s paintings glorify the Dutch capital, and celebrate her impressive new buildings and canals, and though a resolute Haarlemmer, he was certainly painting for a newly wealthy Amsterdam clientele. He was particularly interested in the architecture resulting from the expansion of the city in the years around 1660, including the new neighbourhoods created by the ring of canals, most famously the Gouden Bocht on the Herengracht, but also new and impressive buildings erected in older parts of the core of the city. The Dreesmann picture is an excellent example of this. The site of this view is the Grimburgwal, just south of the Dam, with the Oudezijds Voorburgwal opening up to the left and the end of Oudezijds Achterburgwal beyond.
The prominent building to the right, arguably the subject of this picture, is the Oudezijds Heerenlogement, built by Philip Vingboons in 1647 as one of Amsterdam’s four official inns. During the 17th century it provided temporary lodging for numerous important visitors, including Amalia van Solms in 1655, the Stadtholder and later King of England William III in 1672, and the Tsar Peter the Great in 1697–98. It was luxuriously appointed: in 1653 an English tourist deemed it ‘the noblest tavern in the world’, hung with gilt leather, tiled with black and white marble and furnished with a ‘glorious’ organ. It was demolished in the 19th century, to make way for a building that now forms part of the University of Amsterdam (the entrance gate was moved to Keizersgracht 365 where it remains). The house to the left remains today. Known as the Huis Aan De Drie Grachten because of its site on the confluence of three canals, it dates from 1609. The building to the right of the Heerenlogement, is a City warehouse (as is the building next to it, out of the picture). Both had their gables replaced in the 18th century with more curved profiles. The façade of the Heerenlogement is seen in Pieter Schenk's engraving of about 1700, which shows both warehouses. The wider right-hand one is framed by four classical pilasters, the left-hand one can be seen in the extreme right of the Dreesmann Berckheyde.
The buildings in the distance at the start of the Oudezijds Achterburgwal have all been demolished and replaced, as has the classical gateway, the entrance to the Sint Pieters gasthuis, which was superseded by a more baroque structure, crowned with the Arms of Amsterdam flanked by reclining figures. All of these now comprise part of the University of Amsterdam. The bridge spanning the Grimburgwal was also demolished, sometime after 1790.
Another signed version of this composition by Berckheyde is in the Amsterdam Museum. Both views are from precisely the same spot, but the figures and boats are wholly different. Given the importance of the subject, it is not at all surprising that Berckheyde painted more than one version.