The Muiderkring (Muiden Circle) was the name given to a group of figures in the

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

s and

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

s who regularly met at the castle of

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 ...

near

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

during the first half of the 17th century, or the Golden Age of the Dutch Republic. The central figure of the Muiderkring was the poet

Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft (16 March 1581 – 21 May 1647) - Knight in the Order of Saint Michael - was a Dutch historian, poet and playwright who lived during the Dutch Golden Age in literature. Life Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, often abbreviat ...

;

Constantijn Huygens Sir Constantijn Huygens, Lord of Zuilichem ( , , ; 4 September 159628 March 1687), was a Dutch Golden Age poet and composer. He was also secretary to two Princes of Orange: Frederick Henry and William II, and the father of the scientist Ch ...

, Dirck Sweelinck,

Vondel Joost van den Vondel (; 17 November 1587 – 5 February 1679) was a Dutch poet, writer and playwright. He is considered the most prominent Dutch poet and playwright of the 17th century. His plays are the ones from that period that are still most ...

Bredero Gerbrand Adriaenszoon Bredero (16 March 1585 – 23 August 1618) was a Dutch poet and playwright in the period known as the Dutch Golden Age. Life Gerbrand Adriaenszoon Bredero was born on 16 March 1585 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic ...

and the poet sisters

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 ...

and

Maria Tesselschade Visscher Maria Tesselschade Roemers Visscher, also called Maria Tesselschade Roemersdochter Visscher or Tesselschade (25 March 1594 – 20 June 1649) was a Dutch poet and glass engraver. Life Tesselschade was born in Amsterdam, the youngest of three ...

were also considered part of the group.Paul Zumthor ''Daily Life in Rembrandt's Holland'' 1994 p218 "Hooft once wrote Maria a long letter consisting entirely of mythological allusions, just to inform her that she had left her slippers at his house. But the Muiden circle was something more than a mere symbol of literary preciosity,.." Some of the music connected with the circle was recorded by the

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

ensemble Camerata Trajectina in 1994.

References

Dutch culture Dutch artist groups and collectives Gooise Meren Art of the Dutch Golden Age {{Culture-stub