Roemer Pieterszoon Visscher (1547 – 19 February 1620) was a successful

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 ...

merchant, the first Dutch underwriter and writer of the

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and art and ...

Life

Visscher was born in and lived 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 ...

and was an important and central figure of the cultural scene there and member of the ''

rederijkers Chambers of rhetoric ( nl, rederijkerskamers) were dramatic societies in the Low Countries. Their members were called Rederijkers (singular Rederijker), from the French word 'rhétoricien', and during the 15th and 16th centuries were mainly inte ...

kamer'' ''De Eglantier'' with as

slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political slogan, political, Advertising slogan, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the publi ...

''"In liefde bloeiende"'' ("Blossoming in love"). Other members of this scene were the Dutch writers P.C. Hooft,

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 Republ ...

and

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 ...

. Vondel called Visschers house ''"het saligh Roemers huys"'' ("delightful house of Roemer"), because artists of all kinds visited his house on the Gelderse Kade in Amsterdam, varying from painters to poets. Roemer was the father of three daughters

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 th ...

, Gertruid, and Anna Visscher.Geoffrey Cotterell, "Amsterdam: The Life of a City". Little, Brown & Company 1972.

Works

The

humanistic Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

and moralistic content of his works belongs to the period of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

, although the form was more conservative and characteristic to the ''

''. Visscher was a specialist in the

epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mill ...

, but he also wrote

emblemata Usually known simply as the ''Emblemata'', the first emblem book appeared in Augsburg (Germany) in 1531 under the title ''Viri Clarissimi D. Andreae Alciati Iurisconsultiss. Mediol. Ad D. Chonradum Peutingerum Augustanum, Iurisconsultum Emblema ...

. The emblemata is a genre in which pictures are accompanied by one or two rhyming sentences. An example of the emblemata is Visschers Sinnepoppen. One emblema is called ''"Elck wat wils"'' which is still a common expression in Dutch, meaning "To each his own". Among his works are: *''T'loff vande mutse, ende van een blaewe scheen'' (1612) *''Brabbeling'' (1614) *''Sinnepoppen'' (1614)

References

External links

* Sinnepoppen digital versio
T'lof van rethorica
- digital version (from the work Brabbeling)
Information and picture of a page from SinnepoppenRoemer Visscher (1547-1620)
- Imaginary pictures of Roemer Visscher {{DEFAULTSORT:Visscher, Roemer Dutch male poets 1547 births 1620 deaths 17th-century Dutch poets Writers from Amsterdam Dutch Golden Age writers Burials at the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam Muiderkring