Van Stadhuis tot schuilkerk (ENGELS)

All paintings made for public institutions in the capital
It was only for a brief period that civic and religious institutions in Amsterdam commissioned major paintings: from around 1654 until the disastrous year 1664, when the plague struck with great force. The impressive works produced during that time, which are the subject of this book, are for the most part still located in their original settings.

In particular, the paintings commissioned for the new City Hall on Dam Square were of an ambition previously unknown in Amsterdam. This, in turn, encouraged other institutions to commission paintings for the chimneypieces, ceilings, and walls of their council chambers. Alongside the Antwerp “outsider” Jacques Jordaens, Amsterdam’s celebrated masters Rembrandt, Ferdinand Bol, and Govert Flinck were engaged for these projects, as well as less well-known but equally accomplished artists such as Nicolaes van Helt Stockade, Cornelis Holsteyn, and Jan Gerritsz van Bronckhorst.

From around 1650 onwards, Roman Catholic clandestine churches also emerged as patrons of altarpieces, offering several Catholic painters the opportunity to work on a large scale.