Maria Tesselschade Roemers Visscher, also called Maria Tesselschade Roemersdochter Visscher or Tesselschade (25 March 1594 – 20 June 1649) was a
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...
and
glass engraver.
Life
Tesselschade was born in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
, the youngest of three daughters of poet and humanist
Roemer Visscher
Roemer Pieterszoon Visscher (1547 – 19 February 1620) was a successful Dutch merchant, the first Dutch underwriter and writer of the Dutch Golden Age.
Life
Visscher was born in and lived in Amsterdam and was an important and central figure of t ...
. She was given the name ''Tesselschade'' ("Damage on Tessel"), because her father lost ships near the Dutch island
Texel
Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of Den ...
on Christmas Eve 1593, three months before her birth, to remember that 'worldly wealth could be gone instantly.'
She and her sister
Anna Visscher
Anna Roemers Visscher (c. 2 February 1583 – 6 December 1651) was a Dutch people, Dutch artist, poet, and translation, translator.
Biography
Anna Roemers Visscher was the eldest daughter of Amsterdam merchant and poet Roemer Visscher and the s ...
were the only female members of the
Muiderkring
The Muiderkring (Muiden Circle) was the name given to a group of figures in the arts and sciences who regularly met at the castle of Muiden near Amsterdam during the first half of the 17th century, or the Golden Age of the Dutch Republic. The c ...
, the group of
Dutch Golden Age intellectuals who met at
Muiden
Muiden () is a city and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It lies at the mouth of the Vecht and is in an area called the Vechtstreek. Since 2016, Muiden has been part of the new municipality of Gooise Mere ...
Castle. She is often characterised as a
muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
of the group and attracted the admiration of its members, such as its organiser
Hooft,
Huygens,
Barlaeus,
Bredero,
Heinsius,
Vondel and
Jacob Cats
Jacob Cats (10 November 1577 – 12 September 1660) was a Dutch poet, humorist, jurist and politician. He is most famous for his emblem books.
Early years
Jacob Cats was born on 10 November 1577 in Brouwershaven as son of Adriaen Cornelis ...
.
In their correspondence, she is described as attractive, musically talented, and a skilled translator and commentator from French and Italian. They also praised her skill at singing, painting, carving,
glass engraving
Engraved glass is a type of decorated glass that involves shallowly engraving the surface of a glass object, either by holding it against a rotating wheel, or manipulating a "diamond point" in the style of an engraving burin. It is a subgroup of ...
and
tapestry
Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads ma ...
work. The
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Ste ...
has an example of her engraving work, a
römer
The Römer (German surname, "Roman") is a medieval building in the Altstadt of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and one of the city's most important landmarks. The Römer is located opposite the Old St. Nicholas church and has been the city hall ('' ...
drinking glass engraved with the motto ''Sic Soleo Amicos'' ("this is how I treat my friends").
In 1623, she married a ship's officer, Allard Crombalch. After he died in 1634, Huygens and Barlaeus proposed marriage to her, offers she rejected.
In remembrance of Tesselschade there are several streets named after her, such as ''Tesselschadestraat'' and ''Tesselschadelaan'' in
Alkmaar,
Eindhoven,
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
,
Zwolle
Zwolle () is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Overijssel and the province's second-largest municipality after Enschede with a population of 130,592 as of 1 December 2021. Zwolle is on ...
,
Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...
and
Leeuwarden
Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Stadsfries dialects, Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Fri ...
.
References
Further reading
*Lennep, J, Herman F. C. Kate, and W P. Hoevenaar
Galerij Van Beroemde Nederlanders Uit Het Tijdvak Van Frederik Hendrik Utrecht: L.E. Bosch en Zoon, 1868.
External links
Maria Tesselschade Visscher- digital version of all her poems
Visscher, Tesselschade Roemersdr. ''Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland'' (in Dutch)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tesselschade Visscher, Maria
1594 births
1649 deaths
17th-century Dutch poets
17th-century Dutch women writers
17th-century writers
Dutch women poets
Engravers from Amsterdam
Muiderkring
Writers from Amsterdam
Dutch Golden Age writers
Burials at the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam
Dutch women artists
Glass engravers
Women engravers
17th-century engravers
17th-century women artists
Italian–Dutch translators
Dutch glass artists