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Laurens van der Hem (1621–1678), was a Dutch lawyer and a collector of maps and landscape prints. He is known today for commissioning his meticulously thorough personal version of the '' Atlas Maior'', itself a major work of cartography and art published by his contemporary and friend Joan Blaeu.
in the RKD
The ''Atlas Maior'' was popular in Amsterdam when it was published in installments starting in 1649 (last volume in 1673) in 11 gold-embossed volumes. To save money, collectors could purchase it plain without handpainted embellishments. However, Laurens van der Hem went a step further and ordered his maps unbound, and proceeded to have Blaeu's best professional map-finisher, Dirk Jansz van Santen, colour them by hand.
The eleven volumes of Blaeu's atlas form the main body of the Van der Hem's personal copy, but they also include a number of additions including a volume of secret maps created by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) that were never part of the original publication. Van der Hem's entire collection consists of 46 volumes with four supplements and a portfolio of loose maps, which together include over 2,400 full colour maps and drawings of ports, towers, and landscapes by renowned Dutch artists such as Andries Beeckman, Gaspar Bouttats, Jan Peeters I, Bonaventura Peeters the Elder, Jacques Callot and Cornelis Gerritsz Decker.
Some artists who travelled and brought back drawings made on their travels also had their works included, such as Lambert Doomer,
about the facsimile project On 9 March 1711, the German travelling scholar Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach paid a visit to Laurens' daughter Agatha (''Jungfer van der Gemm'') to view her ''Blauischen Atlas'', for which the Comte d'Avaux had offered her 20,000 guilders, but which she valued at 50,000 guilders. Conrad von Uffenbach was reportedly highly impressed by the colouring done by the master he referred to as "Dirck Janssen van Santen".
Website of the facsimile project
with several full color pictures
File:ElMina AtlasBlaeuvanderHem.jpg,
Dutch documentary
on the Atlas Blauw-van der Hem
"Makian As It Appears from the Side of Ngofakiaha"
with biographical information about van der Hem {{DEFAULTSORT:Hem, Laurens van der 1621 births 1678 deaths Art collectors from Amsterdam Lawyers from Amsterdam 17th-century Dutch lawyers
Laurens van der Hem (1621–1678), was a Dutch lawyer and a collector of maps and landscape prints. He is known today for commissioning his meticulously thorough personal version of the '' Atlas Maior'', itself a major work of cartography and art published by his contemporary and friend Joan Blaeu.
Biography
Van der Hem was born in Amsterdam as the son of the lawyer Ysbrand van der Hem and his wife Geertrui Spiegel, the daughter of the poetHendrik Laurenszoon Spiegel
Hendrik Laurenszoon Spiegel (11 March 1549 – 4 January 1612) was one of the most important writers and thinkers from Amsterdam in the second half of the sixteenth century.
Spiegel was born in Amsterdam and is seen as a forerunner to the Gold ...
. His uncles on his father's side were famous in their own right; his uncle Herman was a gifted draughtsman A draughtsman (British spelling) or draftsman (American spelling) may refer to:
* An architectural drafter, who produced architectural drawings until the late 20th century
* An artist who produces drawings that rival or surpass their other types ...
, uncle Hendrik became a lawyer who acquired a large library, and uncle Arend was knighted by Ferdinand II in 1620, and called himself Jonker Arnold van der Hem, Ridder, Heer van Nedersteyn, Corl en Hilteprant.
According to the Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD), Van der Hem travelled in Italy, and on his return married and settled on the Herengracht, an elite residential area on one of the three major canals of Amsterdam
Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands, has more than of ''grachten'' (canals), about 90 islands and 1,500 bridges. The three main canals (Herengracht, Prinsengracht and Keizersgracht), dug in the 17th century during the Dutch Golden Age, form c ...
. There he collected the material he used to supplement his personal copy of the ''Atlas Maior''. His copy of the atlas is now known as the ''Eugenius-atlas'' or the ''Atlas Blauw-van der Hem'' and is today kept at the Austrian National Library in Vienna.Laurens van der Hemin the RKD
Blaeu's ''Atlas Maior''
The ''Atlas Maior'' was popular in Amsterdam when it was published in installments starting in 1649 (last volume in 1673) in 11 gold-embossed volumes. To save money, collectors could purchase it plain without handpainted embellishments. However, Laurens van der Hem went a step further and ordered his maps unbound, and proceeded to have Blaeu's best professional map-finisher, Dirk Jansz van Santen, colour them by hand.
The eleven volumes of Blaeu's atlas form the main body of the Van der Hem's personal copy, but they also include a number of additions including a volume of secret maps created by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) that were never part of the original publication. Van der Hem's entire collection consists of 46 volumes with four supplements and a portfolio of loose maps, which together include over 2,400 full colour maps and drawings of ports, towers, and landscapes by renowned Dutch artists such as Andries Beeckman, Gaspar Bouttats, Jan Peeters I, Bonaventura Peeters the Elder, Jacques Callot and Cornelis Gerritsz Decker.
Some artists who travelled and brought back drawings made on their travels also had their works included, such as Lambert Doomer, Jan Hackaert
Jan Hackaert (1628–1685) was a Dutch Golden Age painter.
Biography
He travelled in Germany and Switzerland, and painted and sketched mostly landscapes. He would sketch miners at work in the mountains, and on more than one occasion this caused ...
, Adriaen Matham, Roelant Savery, Willem Schellinks
Willem Schellinks (1623–1678), was a Dutch painter, draughtsman and etcher of landscapes and marine scenes and also a poet. Willem Schellinks was one of the most widely traveled Dutch artists of his time. He traveled along the Loire and the S ...
, and Reinier Nooms, also named as 'Zeeman'. Southwest France was drawn by Laurens' brother Herman, who died a bachelor in Bordeaux. Drawings of Italy and Sicily were described by Van der Helm himself.
Curiosity cabinet
Van der Hem's unique map collection became something of a tourist attraction during his lifetime, and several famous people who visited Amsterdam at the time also visited Van der Hem's home to view the collection. One of these was Cosimo III, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, who visited the Herengracht on 2 January 1668.Websiteabout the facsimile project On 9 March 1711, the German travelling scholar Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach paid a visit to Laurens' daughter Agatha (''Jungfer van der Gemm'') to view her ''Blauischen Atlas'', for which the Comte d'Avaux had offered her 20,000 guilders, but which she valued at 50,000 guilders. Conrad von Uffenbach was reportedly highly impressed by the colouring done by the master he referred to as "Dirck Janssen van Santen".
''Eugenius atlas''
After Van der Hem's death in 1678, the atlas was inherited by his wife and after her death by his daughter Agatha and then his other daughter Agnes. After Agnes' death in 1712, Van der Hem's grandson sold it in an auction in 1730 toPrince Eugene of Savoy
Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy–Carignano, (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736) better known as Prince Eugene, was a Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty during the 17th a ...
, a stadtholder
In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...
in the Austrian-controlled Southern Netherlands, for 22,000 florins. After the purchase, the atlas came to be known as the ''Eugenius-atlas''. Prince Eugene transported it to Vienna where it remains to this day, and is one of the prized possessions in the collection of the Austrian National Library.
The atlas was nearly lost in a fire in 1992 and has since been digitised and added to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2003. In 2011 a facsimile project was completed.with several full color pictures
Elmina Castle
Elmina Castle was erected by the Portugal, Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina (''St. George of the Mine Castle''), also known as ''Castelo da Mina'' or simply ''Mina'' (or ''Factory (trading post), Feitoria da Mina''), in presen ...
on the coast of modern-day Ghana
File:Atlas Blaeu-Van der Hem - Taioan.jpg, Fort Zeelandia, Dutch Formosa (modern-day Taiwan)
File:NoviBelgii.jpg, Map of New Netherland, with New England
File:PuertoRico AtlasBlaeuVanDerHem.jpg, Map of Puerto Rico
References
External links
Dutch documentary
on the Atlas Blauw-van der Hem
"Makian As It Appears from the Side of Ngofakiaha"
with biographical information about van der Hem {{DEFAULTSORT:Hem, Laurens van der 1621 births 1678 deaths Art collectors from Amsterdam Lawyers from Amsterdam 17th-century Dutch lawyers