KONINKLIJK PALEIS AMSTERDAM ROYAL PALACE AMSTERDAM
A stroll around the Palace A guide to the exterior of the Royal Palace
A MAJESTIC FACADE 4-5 DAM SQUARE 6-9 TYMPANUM, DAM SQUARE 10-15 BRONZE SCULPTURES, DAM SQUARE 15 BELL TOWER AND CARILLON 17 PALEISSTRAAT 18-19 NIEUWEZIJDS VOORBURGWAL 20 TYMPANUM NIEUWEZIJDS VOORBURGWAL 20-25 BRONZE SCULPTURES NIEUWEZIJDS VOORBURGWAL 26-27 MOZES & AÄRONSTRAAT 28
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left Dam Square and the new Town Hall Balthasar Florisz van Berkenrode, engraving, c. 1657 Amsterdam City Archives
A MAJESTIC BUILDING The Royal Palace is the most impressive building in Dam Square. The front overlooks the most famous public space in the Netherlands, while the back, in Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, is one of the city’s iconic landmarks. Among the building’s most striking features are its carved tympanums, each measuring about twenty metres across, and the six four-metre tall bronze sculptures above them. The building is approximately 80 metres wide, 60 metres deep and 30 metres high (measured up to the tympanum). On the walls are 148 large garlands and 24 smaller versions and 180 Corinthian and Roman capitals. The corner pavilions are surmounted by four eagles and a crown, the emblems of Emperor Maximillian of Austria. In 1489 Maximilian granted Amsterdam the right to incorporate the imperial crown into its coat of arms, denoting the city’s supremacy. Along with the rings of canals, Amsterdam’s former Town Hall was one of the most ambitious building projects of the Dutch Golden Age. Its design is based on the architecture of ancient Greece and Rome and incorporates different forms of art. The sculptures and carvings, made to designs by architect Jacob van Campen (1596-1657), proclaim the city’s fame and prestige. They symbolise peace and prosperity and represent Amsterdam as the centre of the world. The sculptures are not merely decorative but form an intrinsic part of the architecture.
This tour is a guide to the architecture and decorative details of the exterior. Start in Dam Square.
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DAM SQUARE The site on which Amsterdam’s new Town Hall was built in 1648 was chosen for several reasons. By the sixteenth century this square had become a popular meeting place for locals as well as visitors from abroad. With institutions like the Town Hall, Hendrik de Keyser’s Stock Exchange and the Nieuwe Kerk in close proximity, it developed into the city’s administrative, financial and religious centre. Dam Square has remained the hub of the canal district and the outlying areas of modern-day Amsterdam. The square has been almost completely transformed over the past few centuries. It has been redesigned and renamed; it has acquired new buildings and a new function. All that remains from the seventeenth century are the Nieuwe Kerk and the Royal Palace, Amsterdam’s former Town Hall.
Look at the lower section of the building.
A CLOSED FACADE WITH SEVEN ARCHES The closed appearance of the exterior is surprising, considering that the Town Hall was designed to serve as a public building. On the other hand, security would have been a major concern for two main reasons: besides being a potential target for political activists, the building also housed the Exchange Bank and its gold reserves. The two entrances on this side of the building are reached through an arcade of seven arches. From the arcade members of the public could observe the proceedings taking place in the Tribunal, the central hall where criminals were sentenced to death. The idea of having two entrances instead of just one exemplifies the ideals of democracy and republicanism. The seven arches were once thought to symbolise the provinces of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands.
top Dam Square with the Town Hall and the Weigh-House, 1668 Jan van Kessel (1641-1680) Oil on canvas, De Nederlandsche Bank, Amsterdam
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bottom Front view of the Tow Hall, 1665-1680 Gerrit Adriaensz Berckheyde (1638-1698) Oil on canvas, 75.5 x 91.5 cm, Amsterdam Museum
CLASSICAL ORDERS The facades are articulated by two series of huge pilasters. They are arranged with the Composite or Roman order below and the Corinthian pilasters above, as prescribed in L’Idea dell’ Architettura Universale (1615) by the Italian architect Vicenzo Scamozzi (1548-1616). Scamozzi considered this combination of the two highest orders appropriate for public administrative buildings. The symmetrical design of the facade is typically classicist.
THE BALCONY The balcony has become an iconic feature of the Royal Palace. It was installed during the reign of Louis Napoleon (1778-1846), King of Holland, from 1806 to 1810, when the Town Hall was converted to serve as a royal residence. The balcony was completed on 10 November 1808 and subsequently used when the King wanted to greet his people. In 1938 it was reduced to its present size and the railing was replaced by a balustrade. The gilt medallions decorating the balustrade show the Lion of the States General with its attributes: the crown, sword and arrows, encircled by a wreath of laurel. The lion also appears in the coat of arms of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Look at the marble tympanum at the top of the building. top right King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima and their three daughters after the royal succession on 30 April 2013 bottom right Queen Wilhelmina and Winston Churchill on the balcony, 8 May 1946
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TYMPANUM, DAM SQUARE The River IJ was connected to the Damrak up to the nineteenth century. Cargo arriving there from all parts of the world was subsequently ferried by smaller vessels down the Damrak to Dam Square to be unloaded, weighed and sold. With revenue from its lucrative overseas trade Amsterdam was able to replace its timber and by now inadequate town hall with a magnificent new building. The marble tympanum on the north-facing wall represents the sea, the source of the city’s prosperity.
THE PERSONIFICATION OF AMSTERDAM Seated in the centre of the tympanum is the personification of Amsterdam wearing the crown of Emperor Maximilian of Austria. With one hand she supports a shield displaying the three crosses of St Andrew, Amsterdam’s coat of arms. In the other hand she has an olive branch symbolising peace and alluding to the earth goddess Cybele.
LIONS Like Cybele, Amsterdam is depicted with a pair of lions lying at her feet. The lions supporting the shield in Amsterdam’s coat of arms had been introduced in the sixteenth century. Like those in the tympanum their purpose was to defend the city. They also allude to the golden lions which, in the biblical account, formed the armrests of the throne of the wise king Solomon.
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NEPTUNE To the left of Amsterdam is the powerful figure of Neptune, god of the sea. He holds a gilt trident with which he can shatter rocks and call forth floods and earthquakes. Even though the figure was made for a position high up on the wall, Neptune’s windswept hair and shell-like ear, his muscles, veins, ribs and nipple are rendered in detail. This finesse characterises all the work produced for the building by the Antwerp sculptor Artus Quellin (1609-1668) and his studio, including their marble frames and the sandstone mouldings around the tympanums.
TRITONS Neptune is accompanied by tritons. The original Triton, the son of Neptune and Amphitrite, was a merry sea-creature with the upper body of a human and the tail of a fish. He plays a trumpet or blows on a trumpet-shaped shell to calm the seas. Over time, Triton's image came to be associated with a lower class of beings, the tritons. They are usually similar to Triton in appearance, but they may also be depicted as sea centaurs, half human and half horse. The triton to the lower right of the figure of Amsterdam was inspired by Bernini’s Fontana del Tritone in Rome.
NEREÏDS The tritons’ female counterparts are water nymphs called nereïds. In the tympanum they honour Amsterdam with marine plants and laurel wreaths highlighted in gilt. Nereïds were the children of Nereus and Doris, the daughter of Okeanos. They were friendly, charming, beautiful nymphs who rose above the waves on the backs of sea horses or dolphins.
HIPPOCAMPI The four creatures shown with the tritons and nereïds are known by their Latin name, hippocampi. They are sea horses with webbed forefeet and a body ending in the tail of a dolphin. Their underbelly is covered with fish scales. Those in the tympanum are depicted with gilt horns.
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OTHER SEA CREATURES Several other creatures are depicted in the tympanum, some exotic, others more familiar, like a crocodile and a few swans, seals and dolphins. Together they represent the oceans of the world, alluding to the maritime trade to which Amsterdam owed its success and prosperity.
BRONZE SCULPTURES DAM SQUARE The north-facing facade is surmounted by three bronze sculptures made by the bell founders François (1609-1667) and Pieter (1619-1680) Hemony, after models by Quellin. Peace stands above the tympanum, flanked by Prudence and Justice, two of the four cardinal virtues. Their counterparts, at the back of the building, can be seen from Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal. The cardinal virtues are the cornerstones of good governance and universal peace.
PEACE Peace can be identified by the olive branch she holds in her left hand. The symbolism of this attribute derives from the Old Testament story of the Flood, when the dove returned to Noah with an olive leaf in its beak to show that the waters had subsided (Genesis 8:11). In her right hand Peace holds a caduceus, another symbol of peace and an allusion to Mercury, the god of commerce. At her feet is a cornucopia, denoting prosperity. Here, Peace represents the fruits of exercising prudence and justice. She alludes to the ending of Holland's eighty-year war of independence against Spain by the Treaty of Munster in 1648. The first stone of the Town Hall was laid that year. Peace’s attributes, the cornucopia and Mercury’s caduceus, symbolise the rewards of peace: prosperity achieved through commerce.
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PRUDENCE Prudence, a rational virtue, is associated with foresight and wisdom. Her attributes are a mirror and a serpent. The mirror originally referred to self-knowledge but was later believed to have the power to reveal the past and the future. The serpent alludes to the Gospel of St Matthew, which admonishes us to be as wise as the serpent. Prudence reects the spark of divinity in man and is the wellspring of the other cardinal virtues.
JUSTICE Justice is a moral virtue. It derives from wisdom, for where wisdom prevails there can be no injustice. The attributes of Justice are the scales and the sta with the all-seeing eye. The scales, used for balancing good and evil, refer to the impartiality of justice. The all-seeing eye, depicted as a sun with an eye in the centre, symbolises divine omniscience and justice: the truth always comes to light.
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BELL TOWER AND CARILLON The form of the bell tower derives from the cupola, a seventeenth-century symbol of the true faith. The carillon was intended to fill the air with ‘heavenly’ music. The bells, like the bronze sculptures, were cast by the Hemony brothers. They played between six and eight different melodies each year. The carillonneurs could choose the music they wanted to play, as long as they sounded a psalm on the hour. The carillon is still played during the summer months. Not all of Jacob van Campen’s plans were carried out – the story is not complete. There were to be eight bronze figures on the bell tower, marking the eight principal points of the compass, an idea inspired by the treatise De Architectura by the Roman architect Vitruvius (85-20 BC). The building’s only reference to the points of the compass is the wind vane on the tower. It is in the form of a cog, a cargo sailing ship that plied between the Hanseatic towns. The cog was the principal emblem in Amsterdam’s former coat of arms.
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Proceed to the left corner of the building and turn into Paleisstraat.
PALEISSTRAAT Originally an alley, this street has had several names in the past. It became Paleisstraat (Palace Street) when the alley was widened, around 1875. Several buildings were demolished in the process. Before that, it was called Stilsteeg and earlier still, Gasthuissteeg, referring to an almshouse called the Elisabeth Gasthuis, which stood there at the time. The Exchange Bank was located on this side of the Town Hall. It was the only institution that was allowed to continue operating after the building became Louis Napoleon’s residence. The door halfway down the block was the entrance to the bank. It was located here to provide access directly from the street, with a view to maintaining the privacy of the King’s residence.
Continue to Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal. top The Town Hall, viewed from Gasthuissteeg (now Paleisstraat), c.1710 Published by Pieter Schenk (1660-1713) Print, Amsterdam City Archives
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NIEUWEZIJDS VOORBURGWAL Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal was originally a fortification canal. In 1884 the canal was filled in, so that it was possible to access this side of the building from the street. The official entrance, which is now in Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, was included in Jacob van Campen’s original plans. In Louis Napoleon’s time it gave access to the Royal Museum on the third floor. The museum was established by the King in 1808 to house a collection of art, which later formed the core of the Rijksmuseum’s holdings. The Royal Museum was open to the public for a nominal admission fee. The back of the building lost some of its visual impact when the surrounding area was developed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Magna Plaza building dates from that period. Look at the marble tympanum at the top of the building.
TYMPANUM NIEUWEZIJDS VOORBURGWAL The tympanum represents the four continents that were known in the seventeenth century. Here we see Europe, Asia, Africa and America bringing prosperity to Amsterdam. The continents can be identified by attributes described in the Iconologia by Cesare Ripa (1560-1622). The Dutch version of this book, published in 1644, had an important influence on the decoration programme planned for the building. The carvings in the tympanum are badly weathered. They will not be restored until more is known about the long-term effects of new restoration techniques.
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top The Flower Market, 1660-1680 Gerrit Adriaensz Berckheyde (1638-1698) Oil on canvas, 45 x 61 cm, Amsterdam Museum
AMSTERDAM In the centre of the tympanum is the personification of Amsterdam, seated on the side of a cog ship. She wears a flat, winged helmet alluding to Mercury, the god of commerce. She extends her arms to receive the four continents, each of which has come to offer its bounty. Her helmet identifies her as a patron and defender of trade, which she welcomes with outstretched arms. Her feet rest on a globe of the Earth, which supports an astrolabe, a Jacob’s staff and a pair of compasses. In the seventeenth century Amsterdam was a world leader in the field of cartography. The river gods IJ and Amstel recline on either side of Amsterdam. The streams of water flowing from their jars join together, just as the rivers they represent did in the past. The two gods have special attributes to distinguish them from one another. In the seventeenth century the River IJ flowed into the sea, so its personification, draped in a fishing net and wearing a ‘ship’s crown’, sits on a dolphin and an anchor. Amstel is depicted with symbols of fresh water: a crown made of rushes, two oars and a boat hook. Beside his jar we see a beaver, a rodent noted for its skill in building dams.
EUROPA Europa stands to the left of Amsterdam. She wears a royal robe and an imperial crown and holds a cornucopia, signifying wealth and prosperity. As the personification of an agriculture-based continent, she is depicted with two horses and some cows driven by a man with a club. At her feet are books alluding to Europe’s wisdom and pursuit of knowledge. The child in front of her offers red and white grapes to Amsterdam.
ASIA Asia, represented by a woman wearing veils and a turban stands to the right of Amsterdam. She holds a camel’s reins in her right hand and an incense burner in her left hand. A small boy blows air into the container, so we can see that the incense is alight. Behind Asia we see an ostrich and a woman with a basket of fruit on her head. The children in front of her carry tulips and a spice box, signifying the continent’s main products, to present as gifts to Amsterdam.
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AFRICA The personification of Africa, a half-naked woman in a sunhat, stands to the left of Europa. An elephant stands behind her and she leads a lion by the mane. Two boys stand on either side of her; one has a parrot, the other a salamander. Coiled around her left leg are two serpents, one holding the other’s head in its mouth. In the scene behind this group, two men haul grain and other produce. We see a sack, a bale, a crate and a barrel. A third man holds one of the elephant tusks lying on the ground in the far corner.
AMERICA America, the youngest and the last of the four continents, stands to the right of Asia. Her main attributes are a feather headdress and a quiver. She guides a porter staggering under the weight of a large basket of fruit. Behind them, a man carries a box containing fire on his shoulders, signifying the heat of the tropics. At America’s feet, a crocodile feeds on a piece of sugar cane that a boy has given him. Other products associated with the continent are depicted in the corner of the tympanum: tobacco, represented by an American Indian holding a pipe, and silver and gold, represented by three miners. All the way in the corner, a monkey eats tropical fruit.
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BRONZE SCULPTURES NIEUWEZIJDS VOORBURGWAL Three bronze sculptures surmount the corners of the tympanum, in the same arrangement as the figures on the Dam Square facade. Atlas carrying the celestial sphere on his shoulders stands at the apex. On either side of him are Temperance and Vigilance, the last two cardinal virtues.
ATLAS The Titan Atlas and his globe, which has a diameter of approximately four metres, is one of the most famous images of the building. After defeating the Titans, Zeus condemned the Titan Atlas to carry the Heavens on his shoulders throughout eternity. Atlas symbolises the universe and, in association with Peace, signifies universal harmony. The configuration of Atlas flanked by Fortitude and Temperance conveys the idea that adversity can be borne through fortitude moderated by temperance.
TEMPERANCE Temperance, the third cardinal virtue, is personified by a woman holding a set of reins. Temperance, stemming from reason, curbs human impulses and passions.
VIGILANCE The meaning of this last figure is unclear. The fourth cardinal virtue is Fortitude, combining the qualities of strength and endurance. But instead, the figure we see here has the attributes of Vigilance: the torch in her hand and the rooster at her feet. The most plausible explanation for this seeming anomaly is that Van Campen’s original plans were altered during the building process, with Vigilance being replaced by Fortitude.
Continue to your left and turn into Mozes & Aäronstraat. You will find yourself between the Royal Palace and the Nieuwe Kerk.
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MOZES & AÄRONSTRAAT The name of the street running between the former Town Hall and the Nieuwe Kerk – Mozes & Aäronstraat – has far-reaching connotations. The biblical Aaron, high priest of the people of Israel, was a symbol of the power of the Church, while his younger brother Moses, who led the people of Israel out of Egypt, represented political power. In spite of their close proximity in Dam Square, Amsterdam’s religious and secular authorities were fierce rivals. The entrance here, like that in Paleisstraat, dates from Louis Napoleon’s reign. It was built in January 1809 as an additional service entrance.
Continue in the same direction until you reach Dam Square. This is the end of the walk. The decoration programme in the Citizens’ Hall, in the centre of the building, is a continuation of Jacob van Campen’s glorification of Amsterdam. The Royal Palace is open to the public most of the year. Visitors are welcome to explore this beautiful building and discover its unique history. For more information, go to www.paleisamsterdam.nl/en
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top The Town Hall, viewed from Dam Square, with Mozes & Aäronstraat on the right, c. 1650-1700 Amsterdam City Archives
COLOPHON © 2013 Amsterdam Royal Palace Foundation All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted into any information storage or retrieval system, or circulated electronically or mechanically in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, without written permission from the publisher. The publisher has made due effort to observe all legal requirements governing the use of visual material. Parties whose rights may nevertheless inadvertently have been infringed are requested to contact the publisher. The copyrights of contributors affiliated to a member of CISAC are administered by Pictoright, Amsterdam.
Published by Amsterdam Royal Palace Foundation Text by Renske Cohen Tervaert Translated from the Dutch by Yvette Rosenberg, Amsterdam Photos: Erik & Petra Hesmerg: 5 bottom, 10 bottom, 13, 31, back cover Rijksgebouwendienst / Wim Ruigrok: 5 top, 9 left, 10 top, 14, 20 bottom, 23, 24, 27 Jan Derwig: 14 top left Spaarnestad Photo: 9 bottom ANP Foto: 9 top Designed by Minkowsky Printed by Rob Stolk, Amsterdam Literature: - Saskia Albrecht, Otto de Ruyter, Marijke Spies et al., Vondels’ Inwydinge van ’t Stadhuis t’ Amsterdam, Muiderberg 1982. - Katharine Fremantle, The Baroque Town Hall of Amsterdam, Utrecht, 1959. - Eijmert-Jan Goossens, The Palace of Amsterdam. Treasure Wrought by Chisel and Brush, Zwolle, 2010. - Jacobine Huisken, Koen Ottenheym, Gary Schwartz (ed.), Jacob van Campen, Het klassieke ideaal in de Gouden Eeuw, Amsterdam 1995. - Eric Moorman & Wilfried Uitterhoeve, Van Alexander tot Zeus, Figuren uit de klassieke mythologie en geschiedenis, met hun voortleven na de oudheid, Amsterdam 2007. - Frits Scholten, Artus Quellinus, Beeldhouwer van Amsterdam, Amsterdam 2010. - Pieter Vlaardingerbroek, Het paleis van de Republiek, Geschiedenis van het stadhuis van Amsterdam, Zwolle 2011. www.paleisamsterdam.nl/en
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ISBN 978-90-72080-45-5
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