Gerrit Adriaensz. Berckheyde

In the family of the present owners since the early 19th Century.

The actual painting is a lot warmer and less harsh in tone than the catalogue illustration suggests. The panel seems to consist of one plank, but has a repaired crack running approx. 10 cm. below the upper edge, which is reinforced by battons to the reverse. The restored crack is slightly visible to the front, and has been retouched. Otherwise, the paint surface seems to be in good condition, with some thinnes in the centre and in the buildings to the left. A few small retouchings can be seen in the water to the right, and two along the lower edge to the left. One small retouching can be seen in the upper left corner and the areas of thinnes have a few retouchings as well. The paint surface is under a dirty varnish layer. Inspection under UV-light reveals an unevenly cleaned varnish layer, which obscures partly, and furthermore, reveals the retouchings above, as well as two tiny retouchings in the centre in the sky. Offered in a plain wood frame with gilt fillets, in fair condition. (ML/MW)
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This tranquil, and until now unrecorded painting by Gerrit Adriaensz. Berckheyde shows one of the liveliest and important sites of Amsterdam in the last quarter of the 17th Century. It is a very rare panoramic view of the Portuguese Sephardic Synagogue and the Grote Synagogue of the Ashkenazic community, now the Amsterdam Jewish Museum, in Amsterdam.

The Jewish community was large in 17th Century Amsterdam. In the early 1600s a large group of Sephardic communisties fled, as a result from the Inquisition, from the Iberian peninsula to the Low Countries and in particular to Amsterdam. At that time the Dutch Republic was at war with Spain, so to avoid any identification with the Spanish enemy, they presented themselves as Portuguese. This Jewish population continued to grow and in 1671-75 the city builder Elias Bouman was asked to build the Portuguese Synagogue, the largest synagogue of the world and the large building on the right in Berckheyde's picture. A few years earlier in 1670, Daniel Stalpaert had built the Grote Synagogue¹, the large building depicted here on the left, for the Ashkenazi Jewish community, who had migrated in number to Amsterdam from eastern Europe.  These two migratory movements meant Amsterdam was one of the most important head quarters of the Jewish community in the 17th Century. Because of their religious freedom in the Dutch Republic, and this city, the Jewish community and especially the Sephardics, were able to flourish and with them they brought an increase in prosperity.

Although this present scene seems quiet and serene, it shows exactly this prosperity: an elegant couple, perhaps two, are gliding through the water in an elegant rowing boat, whilst merchant men are busy loading their barrels onto barges at the quay. This prosperity is further shown by the fact that what we see is a brand new site. In the years 1657-63 the city expanded and a large part of the Amsterdam Jewish community moved to this new neighbourhood created between the Binnen Amstel and Herengracht intersection and the Rapenburggracht.² The newness of the site is emphasised by the lack of trees, we are only able to glimpse them in the far distance in the older part of town and the two  great buildings left and right, must have just been errected, as their red brickwork are still quite fresh and clean. In fact, the side of the Portuguese Synagogue appears to be still under construction as there seems to be some sort of a building shed on the quay.

Berckheyde, who came from Haarlem where he was already a successful cityscape painter, was also drawn to the flourishing city of Amsterdam. The prosperity of the city also opened up new markets for him, as well as new subjects. Besides Berckheyde, who most likely never lived in Amsterdam but visited it regularly from the mid-1660s onwards, also Jan Wijnants (1632-1684) and Jan van der Heyden (1637-1712) moved to the city to work there. The demand for cityscapes grew as the city became a major trading center.³ Berckheyde started out with the familiar views of the Town Hall a number of times, see for example the painting in the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp (inv. no. 11), as it was the main centre of the city and the most auspicious rendering of its prosperity and importance. Later on Berckheyde moved on to depict other new constructions in the city such as the newly built canals.

Although the subject of the two Synagogues can be regarded as an unusual subject for Berckheyde, it is typical in the sense that it depicts a new site within the town. He favoured new contemporary architecture over the older buildings and most of his works depict newly built neighbourhoods, with elegant figures of the new merchant class. This distinguishes him from his contemporaries such as Jan van der Heyden, who preferred the older city centres and their buildings.⁴ Berckheyde is also very accurate, compared to Van der Heyden, each building is identifiable and most are recognisable even today.

The particular importance of this subject is demonstrated by the fact that Berckheyde painted more than one version of it. One, also signed and with identical measurements, is in the Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main (inv. no. 259), which was recorded with Lawrence in 1991 (see fig. 1). It shows the exact same point of view, with a few differences in the staffage. There is a different boat in the canal with a man blowing a trumpet, there are different boats docked besides the quay, but more importantly, the building shed shown in the present painting has gone and besides the fact that the open space in front of the Portuguese Synagogue appears complete, the quay on the other side of the water is finished and even has a dock, in direct contrast to the present picture where the ground is still undeveloped. Although Lawrence was only aware of the Frankfurt view, the Musée de Picardie, Amiens owns another version (inv. no. M.P.Lav.1894-2), also signed and with a possible date of 168(2?) (see fig. 2). This view is almost twice the size of the present and Frankfurt views and originally painted on canvas.⁵ Lawrence dates the Frankfurt work to circa 1685,⁶ because the Portuguese Synagogue was finished by 1675. When bearing the Amiens picture in mind which also reveals an unfinished quay and a similar building shed, the present painting should therefore be dated earlier and around the same date as the Amiens view, which is most likely the early 1680s. An 18th Century drawing of the exact same spot and most probably inspired by Berckheyde's representations, was formally in the Collection Atlas Dreesmann, now in the Stadsarchief, Amsterdam (see fig. 3).

This work by Berckheyde was hitherto unrecorded because it has been in the ownership of a single family since the early 19th Century and since then it has neither appeared on the art market, nor been exhibited in public. Its rediscovery gives us a wonderful addition to Berckheyde's oeuvre and helps us to understand him more fully.

1. C. Lawrence, Gerrit Adriaensz. Berckheyde (1638-1698) Haarlem Cityscape Painter, Doornspijk 1991, p. 65.
2. op.cit. p. 65.
3. op.cit. pp. 49-51.
4. op.cit. p. 52. 
5. The measurements of the painting in Amiens are 58.7 by 73.5 cm., oil on canvas laid down on panel.
6. op.cit. p. 65, reproduced no. 69.