{"id":46272,"date":"2024-12-06T11:55:48","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T10:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frankfurt-main-finance.com\/?p=46272"},"modified":"2024-12-11T12:01:38","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T11:01:38","slug":"rembrandts-amsterdam-at-the-stadel-paintings-of-national-pride-and-self-confidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frankfurt-main-finance.com\/en\/rembrandts-amsterdam-at-the-stadel-paintings-of-national-pride-and-self-confidence\/","title":{"rendered":"Rembrandt’s Amsterdam at the St\u00e4del: \u201cPaintings of national pride and self-confidence\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Curator Jochen Sander in front of Govert Flinck, parade of crossbowmen (Voetboog) under Captain Joan Huydecopere and Lieutenant Frans van Waveren, 1648\/50<\/em><\/h6>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Following the exhibition \u201cCall me Rembrandt\u201d three years ago, the St\u00e4del is once again hosting masterpieces of Dutch painting. The proximity between Frankfurt and Amsterdam plays an important role: both metropolises are characterised by the bourgeoisie, with its leading role in politics and the economy and its focus on trade and finance. In keeping with Johann Friedrich St\u00e4del’s intentions, the St\u00e4del itself now holds a collection of almost 260 works by Rembrandt.<\/p>

A stroke of luck for Frankfurt: due to remodelling and renovation, the Amsterdam Museum, the most significant lender, is currently closed. This means that works of art can be seen in Frankfurt that would hardly have left the Netherlands under normal circumstances.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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A century of growth and prosperity<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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An \u2018Allegory of the Expansion of the City\u2019 by Nicolaes Pieteresz Berchem and paintings of the new buildings form the prelude as important symbols of Amsterdam’s rise. From a small harbour on the Amstel with around 50,000 inhabitants at the beginning of the 17th century, the city grew into a European megacity, housing around 200,000 people by 1660. The real rise began as early as 1566\/68 with the revolt of the Dutch provinces against the Habsburgs and the founding of the Republic, and ended almost exactly 100 years later when a war against England and France effectively cut Amsterdam off from world trade.<\/p>

Two paintings show the stock exchange building, because with the start of securities trading in 1612, the stock exchange became the driving force behind the economic boom. New opportunities for risk diversification emerged, and trading in share certificates provided broad sections of the population access to financing for international trade expansion. The \u201cblue chips\u201d were the East India Trading Company and, from 1623, the West India Trading Company.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Job Adriaensz Berckheyde, The Courtyard of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, ca. 1670<\/h6>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Huge group portraits as an Amsterdam speciality<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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This boom led to the creation of huge group portraits, which are essentially only known from Amsterdam. Nick Jue, CEO of ING Germany, one of the sponsors of the exhibition, explained: \u201cThe Dutch group portrait represents this period like no other pictorial genre. The bourgeois elite commissioned these large-format paintings from the most important Amsterdam painters. These are paintings that speak of national pride and self-confidence \u2014 qualities that are still part of Amsterdam’s DNA today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Initially, it was the members of the Amsterdam shooting associations, the civic militias, who regularly depicted. The exhibition features, among other works, two paintings of the Crossbowmen’s Guild, each more than five meters wide, created nearly 20 years apart. The world’s most famous shooting picture, Rembrandt’s \u201cNight Watch\u201d, which will never leave the Rijksmuseum, is at least represented in a 15 \u00d7 20 cm format \u2014 as a watercolour by Jacob Colijns in a sketchbook. According to experts, the era of these paintings ended around 1650, partly because there was simply no room for new paintings in the shooting houses.<\/p>\n

Professional group portraits, on the other hand, were commissioned more by chance in the 17th century. Two \u201clectures\u201d by the physician Dr Sebastiaen Egbertsz are therefore noteworthy, one with almost 30 participants grouped around a corpse, the other with \u2018only\u2019 six people standing in front of the skeleton of an executed English pirate.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Social commitment of the bourgeois elite<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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In contrast, almost all social, welfare and disciplinary institutions, such as almshouses and orphanages, retirement homes and hospitals, as well as penitentiaries for men and women, are represented, with the exhibition itself focussing on a few selected institutions. These paintings reflect the social commitment of the bourgeois elite. As regents, members of the upper classes took care of the management of these institutions in accordance with their Protestant understanding of faith \u2014 but also of maintaining the public image of these honorary posts.<\/p>

The residents of the facilities, on the other hand, could not afford their own portraits. They also had no use for such pictures. The aim of the exhibition is also to show this other side of the city, so those people who lived in difficult social circumstances.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Nicolaes Eliasz Pickenoy, The Regents of the Spinhuis, 1626\/28<\/h6>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Golden times with a question mark<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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This is also the reason the exhibition title ends with a question mark. Traditionally, the 17th century is regarded as the \u2018Golden Age\u2019. However, this understanding has become fragile in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

Jochen Sander, deputy director of the St\u00e4del and curator of the exhibition, explains the attempt to therefore \u201calso give \u2014 at least indirect \u2014 visual representation to those who lived in these institutions and who nevertheless do not appear at all in the group portraits, or if they do, then only in shadowy and typified form, literally on the (pictorial) margins\u201d. Sander added that in order to visualise some of the people who were not considered worthy of being portrayed in their time, the artists had \u201cplayed with the boundaries\u201d and resorted to works that were not strictly speaking portraits.<\/p>\n

Paintings from the Aalmozenierhuis and the diaconal orphanage in particular are directly connected to the older, still Catholic pictorial tradition of \u201cworks of mercy\u201d, as can be seen in a painting by Pieter Aertsen. They depict scenes from everyday life, such as the distribution of clothing and food, as well as home visits to the needy sick. The needy are only shown in a standardised form. Incidentally, over 200 years later, Max Liebermann created another painting of an orphanage.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Jan Victors, The clothing of the orphan children in the diaconal\u2019s orphanage, 1659\/60<\/em><\/h6>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Rembrandt's view of social outsiders<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The contrast in the exhibition is therefore set by Rembrandt’s prints \u2014 if only due to their formats of just a few centimetres in some cases. Rembrandt captured Amsterdam’s beggars, sick people, street vendors and street musicians on paper with an extraordinary eye for reality. The etchings by Rembrandt and his collaborators of the corpse of Elsje Christiaens, who was executed in 1664 for manslaughter in the heat of passion and put on public display, are touching.<\/p>

As emphasised by Sylvia von Metzler, Chairwoman of the Board of the St\u00e4del museum association e.V., it shows \u201cRembrandt as a brilliant storyteller, Rembrandt as an outstanding portraitist and as an incorruptible observer of social reality\u201d. A look at Rembrandt’s life confirms this, as his glamorous beginnings were followed by a fall into bankruptcy and artistic isolation. For the St\u00e4del museum association, supporting the exhibition is the highlight of the association’s 125th anniversary.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Information<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The exhibition at the St\u00e4del Museum is open until 23 March 2025, Tuesdays to Sundays from 10 am to 6 pm (Thursdays until 9 pm), with special opening hours at Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. The extensive educational programme naturally includes guided tours, a catalogue and the free Digitorial, sponsored by Deutsche B\u00f6rse Group. More information at www.staedelmuseum.de<\/a>.<\/p>

Text and photos: Dr Wolfgang Gerhardt. Most of the photos show details of the respective artwork.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The exhibition \u2018Rembrandt’s Amsterdam: Golden Times?\u2019 at the St\u00e4del in Frankfurt takes a look at a financial and trading centre during the boom phase of the 17th century. From the perspective of art, a brilliant panorama of the Dutch metropolis emerges that tells of wealth and poverty, fortune and ruin, power and powerlessness.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":46043,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"template-fullwidth.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[228,105],"tags":[961],"class_list":["post-46272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-frankfurt-life-en","category-top-news","tag-frankfurt-life-en"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-02 00:14:16","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frankfurt-main-finance.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frankfurt-main-finance.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frankfurt-main-finance.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frankfurt-main-finance.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frankfurt-main-finance.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46272"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/frankfurt-main-finance.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46281,"href":"https:\/\/frankfurt-main-finance.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46272\/revisions\/46281"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frankfurt-main-finance.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frankfurt-main-finance.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frankfurt-main-finance.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frankfurt-main-finance.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}