''The Council Chamber in Amsterdam Town Hall'' (c. 1663–1665) is an

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

-on-canvas painting by the

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 ...

painter

Pieter de Hooch Pieter de Hooch (, also spelled "Hoogh" or "Hooghe"; 20 December 1629 (baptized) – 24 March 1684 (buried)) was a Dutch Golden Age painter famous for his genre works of quiet domestic scenes with an open doorway. He was a contemporary of ...

. It is held in the

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum The Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum (in Spanish, the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza (), named after its founder), or simply the Thyssen, is an art museum in Madrid, Spain, located near the Prado Museum on one of the city's main boulevards. I ...

, in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. The painting was documented by

Hofstede de Groot Cornelis Hofstede de Groot (9 November 1863 – 14 April 1930), was a Dutch art collector, art historian and museum curator. Life He was born in Dwingeloo and spent some time in Switzerland in his youth due to weak lungs, where he learned Germa ...

in 1908, who wrote:

180. THE BURGOMASTER'S ROOM IN THE AMSTERDAM TOWN HALL WITH A LARGE PARTY. In the middle of a room is a chimney-piece, with a cornice and frieze, supported on pilasters; a large picture hangs above. To the right are windows in double bays. To the left is seen a second room with a window. A couple enter from the left; the lady is dressed in red and yellow, the gentleman in black. The gentleman points with an admiring expression to the roof. In the right foreground is another gentleman, also looking upward; he is dressed in brown and yellow, with slashed sleeves, and carries a stick. A dog is beside him to the left. A lady, seen in profile, looks out of the window to the right. Around a table before the chimney-piece are grouped six persons, of whom a boy and a little girl face the spectator. High up on the left hangs a large reddish-brown curtain; the floor is paved with black and white tiles. The wall on the right is covered almost to the ceiling with a striped material. The picture over the chimney-piece is the story of Fabricius and Pyrrhus, by F. Bol; below it are the four well-known verses by
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 ...
. This shows that the scene depicted is the Burgomaster's room in the Amsterdam Town Hall. The dog in the foreground was first placed to the left instead of to the right of the centre. The picture is dark in tone, but still very good. Canvas, 41 inches by 30 inches. Now in the Von Stackelberg collection, in Faehna, Esthonia.entry 180 for The Burgomaster's Room in the Amsterdam Town Hall
in Hofstede de Groot, 1908

The ''Burgomaster's Room'' described here is one of two mayors' rooms on the

Dam Square Dam Square or the Dam () is a town square in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. Its notable buildings and frequent events make it one of the best-known and most important locations in the city and the country. Location and description ...

side of the Royal Palace of Amsterdam (the former city hall). The painting shows a chimneypiece in the larger of these two rooms. At the back in the left doorway is a fantasized version of the doorway to the adjoining mayors' room that in fact overlooks the tribunal, not the outdoors. Today a carpet covers most of the marble floor. File:Burgemeestersvertrek or Mayors-room overlooking Dam Square 02.JPG, View of the mayors' room with the doorway to the adjoining mayors' room and the left-hand side of the hearth depicted in the painting File:Burgemeestersvertrek or Mayors-room overlooking Dam Square 01.JPG, View of the mayors' room with the right-hand side of the hearth depicted in the painting File:Ferdinand Bol - Fabritius and Pyrrhus - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Fabritius and Pyrrhus'',

Ferdinand Bol Ferdinand Bol (24 June 1616 – 24 August 1680) was a Dutch painter, etcher and draftsman. Although his surviving work is rare, it displays Rembrandt's influence; like his master, Bol favored historical subjects, portraits, numerous self-port ...

De Hooch made several paintings with scenes of the interior of the City Hall: File:Pieter de Hooch - Company Making Music - WGA11711.jpg, '' Musical Party in a Hall'' File:Going for a walk mg 0081.jpg, '' Going for a Walk in the Amsterdam Town Hall'' File:Pieter de Hooch 019.jpg, ''Portrait of a family playing music'', though not situated in the City Hall, shows the same sculpted hearth on the left File:Pieter de Hooch 015.jpg, ''Card Players in an Opulent Interior'', shows the hearth on the left and the windows, but has been given a wall on the right (in fact the Mayors-room has two hearths facing each other)

References

External links

Interior of the Council Chamber of Amsterdam Town Hall, ca. 1663–1665
on museum website {{DEFAULTSORT:Council Chamber in Amsterdam Town Hall 1660s paintings Paintings by Pieter de Hooch Paintings in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum Dogs in art

See also

References

External links