The Fotomuseum aan het Vrijthof (previously: ''Museum aan het Vrijthof'' and ''Museum Spaans Gouvernement'') is a museum of photography in Maastricht, Netherlands.

History of the building

The museum is housed in the so-called ''Spanish Government'' building, one of the oldest non-religious buildings in Maastricht, facing the city's main square, Vrijthof. The building was originally part of the ecclesiastical territory of the chapter of the church of Saint Servatius and was probably built for one of the chapter's canons. In the early 16th century the house was rebuilt and enlarged. At that time the facade on the ground floor was largely blind, except for an arched gateway that led into the courtyard. The three late

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

windows on the first floor date from this period. Two of them show the pillars of Hercules and the motto of

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (Crown of Castile, Castil ...

: ' Plus ultra'. The third window, in the middle, carries the symbols of

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

power: the double-headed eagle with the coat of arms of Habsburg and Castile. A little later, an arcade in

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

Renaissance style was added on the side of the courtyard which bears similarity to the architecture of the main courtyard of the Prince-Bishops' Palace in Liège. The colonnade frieze has three sculpted

medallion A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

s with the portraits of (probably) Charles V, his wife

Isabella of Portugal Isabella of Portugal (24 October 1503 – 1 May 1539) was the empress consort and queen consort of her cousin Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, and Duke of Burgundy. She was Queen of Spain and Germany, and La ...

and their son

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

, who stayed here at several occasions. It was probably here that

Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma Alexander Farnese ( it, Alessandro Farnese, es, Alejandro Farnesio; 27 August 1545 – 3 December 1592) was an Italian noble and condottiero and later a general of the Spanish army, who was Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro from 1586 to 1592 ...

and Governor of the Netherlands, signed the declaration that made William the Silent, leader of the

Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) (Historiography of the Eighty Years' War#Name and periodisation, c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and t ...

, an outlaw. It was during this period that the building acquired its name ''Spanish Government'' building (Dutch: Spaans Gouvernement). In the 18th and 19th centuries the interior of the building was altered several times. It was during this time that extra windows were put in place on the ground floor. In 1766, the Parisian printer and editor Jean-Edmé Dufour bought the building and used it as a print shop. It was from here that many books prohibited in France were smuggled into the country. In 1913 the building was publicly sold. Part of it was demolished and replaced in 1923 by a building that is now in use as a bank (corner St Jacobstraat). The rest of the building was restored by

Victor de Stuers Victor Eugène Louis de Stuers (20 October 1843, Maastricht – 21 March 1916, The Hague) was a Dutch art historian, lawyer, civil servant and politician. Widely regarded as the father of historic preservation in the Netherlands, he played a notabl ...

and presented to the city of Maastricht in order to house a local history museum (which did not happen until recently). From 1969 to 1973, and again from 2010 to 2012, thorough restorations took place.

The museum

In 1954, the wealthy The Hague couple Frederik Wagner and Ambrosina de Wit bequeathed their art collection to a foundation based in the city of Maastricht. Since 1973 the Wagner-De Wit collection has been on display in what was then called ''Museum Spaans Gouvernement''. The pavilion room in the courtyard was specifically built to house valuable boiseries from a demolished 18th-century Maastricht mansion. Some of the period rooms decorated in the so-called ''Liège Régence style'', are used for functions. From 2010 to 2012 the museum closed for renovations and extensions. The renovation included a partial restoration of the originally largely blind facade of the Spanish Government building. The extension consisted of adding a neighbouring building to the museum's exhibition space, as well as roofing over the courtyard. The enlarged museum is now about two and a half times bigger than the old premises. The museum re-opened in March 2012 with some rooms dedicated to important figures from Maastricht history, e.g. the emperor Charles V, the printer Jean-Edmé Dufour, the architect Mathias Soiron, the entrepreneur

Petrus Regout Petrus may refer to: People * Petrus (given name) * Petrus (surname) * Petrus Borel, pen name of Joseph-Pierre Borel d'Hauterive (1809–1859), French Romantic writer * Petrus Brovka, pen name of Pyotr Ustinovich Brovka (1905–1980), Soviet Belar ...

and the draughtsman Philippe van Gulpen. Exhibitions focussed on local arts and crafts, e.g. Maastricht silver and Maastricht pistols. From 2014 the emphasis shifted to local and regional artist from the late 19th and early 20th century. In 2019, the museum announced that it would only show photography from then on. Subsequently, it changed its name to ''Fotomuseum aan het Vrijthof''. Museum aan het Vrijthof is a

private museum A private museum is a collection, usually on a very limited topic and operated by individual enthusiasts, collectors, clubs or companies. Overview Unlike a public or governmental museum, a scientific monitoring and systematic documentation is n ...

that receives no government funding. In 2011, TEFAF became a major sponsor. In honour of this, the museum renamed one of the period rooms ''TEFAF-zaal''.

The collection

The museum's original collection consisted of the Wagner-De Wit bequest and some later acquisitions. The collection, brought together by the artistic couple, contained art and artifacts from a wide array of periods and regions, some of which has been discarded by the current directors. The emphasis in the collection was on Dutch and Flemish painting from the 17th century ( Dirck van Baburen, Willem de Poorter,

Adriaen van de Venne Adriaen Pietersz van de Venne (1589 – 12 November 1662), was a versatile Dutch Golden Age painter of allegories, genre subjects, and portraits, as well as a miniaturist, book illustrator, designer of political satires, and versifier. Biog ...

Cornelius van Poelenburgh Cornelis van Poelenburgh or Cornelis van Poelenburch (1594 – 12 August 1667),Cornelis van Poelenburch
...

Johannes Lingelbach Johannes (or Johann) Lingelbach (1622–1674) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, associated with the second generation of Bambocciate, a group of genre painters working in Rome from 1625–1700. Biography Lingelbach was born in Frankfurt, ...

Egbert van der Poel Egbert van der Poel (9 March 1621, in Delft – 19 July 1664, in Rotterdam) was a Dutch Golden Age genre and landscape painter, son of a Delft goldsmith. Life Van der Poel may have been a student of Esaias van de Velde and of Aert van der ...

Nicolaes Moeyaert Claes Corneliszoon Moeyaert or Nicolaes Moyaert or Mooyaert (1592–1655) was an authoritative Catholic Dutch painter. He followed Rembrandt in his use of red chalk. Moeyart was born in Durgerdam. As a young man he is thought to have tr ...

, Nicolaes Berchem, Lodewijk de Vadder,

Jacques d'Arthois Jacques d'Arthois (12 October 1613 (baptised) – May 1686) was a Flemish painter and tapestry designer who specialized in wooded landscapes with figures. He often depicted the woods around his native Brussels.Pieter Casteels III Pieter Casteels III (1684–1749) was a Flemish painter and engraver mainly known for his flower pieces, game pieces and bird scenes.

) and paintings from the Hague School (

Jozef Israëls Jozef Israëls (27 January 1824 – 12 August 1911) was a Dutch painter. He was a leading member of the group of landscape painters referred to as the Hague School and, during his lifetime, "the most respected Dutch artist of the second half of ...

Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch, also known as Hendrik Johannes Weissenbruch (born 19 June 1824 in The Hague – died 24 March 1903 in The Hague) was a Dutch painter of the Hague School. He is noted especially for his watercolours. Biography Hendrik Jo ...

Willem Bastiaan Tholen Willem Bastiaan Tholen (Amsterdam, 13 February 1860 – The Hague, 5 December 1931) was a Dutch painter, draftsman and printmaker with some connections to members of the Hague School and later associated with the Amsterdam Impressionism movement. ...

, George Hendrik Breitner and the brothers Jacob, Matthijs and

Willem Maris Willem Maris (18 February 1844 – 10 October 1910) was a Dutch landscape painter of the Hague School. Biography He was born in The Hague. Willem was the third in a family of five children. His two brothers Jacob and Matthijs Maris preceded him ...

). The Wagner-De Wit collection also included sculpture from the Middle Ages and Renaissance period, tapestries and furniture from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, glass and crystal objects, antique coins, and artifacts from the Far East. Most of the objects collected by Frederik Wagner and Ambrosina de Wit have not been seen for decades. As several paintings from the collection appeared in auctions around 2010–2013, it is likely that these were sold to fund the renovation and expansion of the building.https://rkd.nl/nl/explore/images#filters ollectienaamWagner-de+Wit The museum does not provide any information on this subject and being a private association it is not bound to. Over the years, the collection expanded to include Maastricht silver from the 18th century (some on loan from the

Bonnefantenmuseum The Bonnefanten Museum is a museum of fine art in Maastricht, Netherlands. History The museum was founded in 1884 as the historical and archaeological museum of the Dutch province of Limburg. The name Bonnefanten Museum is derived from the Frenc ...

), Maastricht and Liège pistols from the 18th and 19th centuries, and some Maastricht paintings from the early 20th century. Since 1997 the Bonhomme-Tielens bequest (antique clocks and Maastricht silver) was part of the museum collection. It is not clear what has happened to this part of the collection, as the museum shows exclusively photography since 2019. The museum does not have a photography collection of its own. All exhibitions consist of loans.

Notes et references

Bibliography

*Timmers, J.J.M., ''Geschiedenis van het Spaans Gouvernement te Maastricht''. Maastricht, 1973

External links