Jan Jansz. Vos (baptised 4 March 1612 in

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 ...

Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief
/ref> – buried 12 July 1667 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch playwright and poet. A glassmaker by trade (in that position he provided all windows for the new city hall on the Dam), he also played an important role as stage-manager and director of the theatre. He organized, on the mayors' orders, processions and splendid decorated floats, which sometimes drew disapproval, criticism, and derision.

Life

On 20 February 1639, at the old City Hall of Amsterdam, he married Grietje Gerrets (1616 - 1651), already pregnant by him. They had two children: Jan (who only lived a few days) and Maria (who in 1664 laid the first stone for the new theatre). Jan Vos was of good family and lived in the

Kalverstraat The Kalverstraat (, ) is a busy shopping street of Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. The street runs roughly North-South for about 750 meters, from Dam Square to Muntplein square. The Kalverstraat is the most expensive shopping stre ...

at no. 202. He prided himself on knowing no other languages than Dutch. With his ''Aran and Titus'' of 1641 his name, previously all but unknown, was made. Casper van Baerle admired the work, despite, or because, it featured a prince served as a pudding, a baked

Moor Moor or Moors may refer to: Nature and ecology * Moorland, a habitat characterized by low-growing vegetation and acidic soils. Ethnic and religious groups * Moors, Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, Iberian Peninsula, Sicily, and Malta during ...

and some apparitions. (The subject is the same as in Shakespeare's

Titus Andronicus ''Titus Andronicus'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593, probably in collaboration with George Peele. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy and is often seen ...

). In his ''Klucht van Oene'' ("The Farce of Oene", 1642), a number of dishonest practices by Amsterdam merchants and industrialists are criticized - bakers of bread short-selling their customers, tailors filching pieces of cloth owned by their patrons, glassmakers cheating with glass quantities, dyers of silk tampering with their material. In addition, house-agents, pawnbrokers, cashiers, notaries public and secretaries, landlords, millers, doctors, barbers, pharmacists and booksellers enter the stage. Jan Vos was a sought-after table companion of such leading families as those of

De Graeff De Graeff (; also: '' De Graef, Graef, Graeff, Graaff'', Graaf and ''De Graeff van Polsbroek'') is an old Dutch patrician and noble family, The Amsterdam line of the family played an important role during the Dutch Golden Age. They were at the ...

, Bicker, Joan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen and

Jan Six Jan Six (14 January 1618, Amsterdam – 28 May 1700, Amsterdam) was an important cultural figure in the Dutch Golden Age. Biography From a well-to-do cloth merchant family Six, Jan Six was the son of Jean Six (1575–1617) and his wife Anna Wijme ...

. He wrote

occasional poems Occasional poetry is poetry composed for a particular occasion. In the history of literature, it is often studied in connection with orality, performance, and patronage. Term As a term of literary criticism, "occasional poetry" describes the work ...

for them , and this has led to his often being characterized as "a family poet". In 1651 he was among the compilers of the ''Verscheyde Nederduytse gedichten'' ("Sundry Poems in Dutch") collection of poems, an attempt to bring together painters and poets of different schools and religions. In 1657, he was an honoured guest at the marriage of Jan J. Hinlopen and Leonora Huydecoper. Jan Vos was head of the

Theatre of Van Campen The Theatre of Van Campen ( nl, Schouwburg van Van Campen, ) was a theatre located at Keizersgracht 384 in Amsterdam. It was the first city theatre, based on the Teatro Olimpico in Italy. Since 1999 the building has been occupied by "" hotel. T ...

for nineteen years, together with and . Vos was part 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 ce ...

, a group of literary people meeting at a castle where the a member of the Bicker family had been appointed "drost" (keeper of the castle). He directed plays 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 ...

. Jan Vos had a good eye for the public taste, and was repeatedly entrusted by the city authorities with designing and overseeing pageants and spectacles. In 1654, Vos organized ten performances celebrating the Treaty of Westminster. In 1659, Amalia van Solms, the Regent's wife, and her daughter visited Amsterdam, seeing twenty performances especially designed for the occasions. Nicolas Tulp, however, vehemently opposed the appearance of pagan gods and goddesses during the visitors' festive arrival. At the visit of Maria Henrietta Stuart, the widow of William II, it turned out that one of the floats represented the beheading of

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of ...

, Mary's late father. Jan Vos, who led the processions on horseback, became a target for criticism.

Notes

References

*Dudok van Heel, S.A.C. (1980), "Jan Vos (1610 - 1667)." In: Jaarboek Amstelodamum, p. 23-43. *Schwartz, G. (1987), ''Rembrandt, zijn leven, zijn schilderijen. Een nieuwe biografie met alle beschikbare schilderijen in kleur afgebeeld'', p. 257-283.

External links

Schouwburg of Jan Vos

Portrait
by

Karel Dujardin Karel Dujardin (September 27, 1626November 20, 1678) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Although he did a few portraits and a few history paintings of religious subjects, most of his work is small Italianate landscape scenes with animals and peasan ...

, at

University of Michigan Museum of Art The University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, Michigan with is one of the largest university art museums in the United States. Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alumni Memorial Hall ori ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vos, Jan 1612 births 1667 deaths 17th-century Dutch dramatists and playwrights 17th-century Dutch poets Dutch male poets Muiderkring Writers from Amsterdam Dutch male dramatists and playwrights Occasional poets