[A Dutch flag on the edge of a puddle of water]

[A plate of fava beans, with bacon and potatoes]

meals

food

[small saucepan: lidded pot with a stick handle]

kitchen

bicycles

animals

Hear More Dutch Names:

Sailors and Ships

Old New York

The World of Rembrandt

Names from Books

Anne Frank

Market Garden

Sports

Maps

Hear Dutch Names and Terms concerning The Painter Vermeer

Study of A Young Woman
Metropolitan Museaum of Art, New York

A Pronunciation Guide

In conjunction with Jonathan Janson's beautiful, extensive The Essential Vermeer,
the website about the seventeenth-century Dutch painter.

You might also be interested in hearing the names on my Rembrandt page.

Girl with A Pearl Earring
Mauritshuis, The Hague

Vermeer and his Family	Vermeer's Clients and Patrons	Painters of Vermeer's Milieu
Johannes Vermeer Jan Vermeer Catharina Bolnes (Vermeer's wife) hear	Nicolaes van Assendelft Willem van Berckel Hendrick van Buyten Jacob Dissius Maria de Knuijt (Dissius' wife) hear	Willem van Aelst Gerrit Dou Carel Fabritius Pieter de Hoogh Nicolaes Maes hear
Digna Baltens (Vermeer's mother) Reynier Jansz. Vos (Vermeer's father) Gertruijt (Vermeer's sister) Maria Thins (Vermeer's mother-in-law) hear	Cornelis de Helt Johannes Renialme Pieter Claesz. van Ruijven Herman van Swoll hear	Gabriel Metsu Frans van Mieris Gerrit ter Borch Emanuel de Witte hear
Other Painters	Men of Culture and Science	Men of History and State
Dirck van Baburen Leonaert Bramer Abraham Bloemaert Cesar van Everdingen Gerrit van Honthorst hear	Pieter Teding van Berckhout Dirck van Bleyswijck Hugo de Groot (Grotius) Christiaan Huygens hear	Willem van Oranje = Willem de Zwijger ("the Silent") Maurits Frederik Hendrik 'de Stedendwinger' hear
Samuel van Hoogstraten Caspar Netscher Anthonie Palamedesz. Hendrik Terbrugghen hear	Constantijn Huygens Anthonie van Leeuwenhoek J.P. Sweelink Joost van den Vondel hear	Johan van Oldenbarnevelt Jacob 'Vadertje' Cats Johan de Witt hear
	Simon Stevin Jan Adriaensz Leeghwater Goropianus hear	Willem Barentsz. Piet Hein Michiel de Ruyter "Bestevaer" hear
Cities and Towns	Delft
Amsterdam Delft Den Haag Dordt (Dordrecht) Leiden hear	De Oostpoort De Oude Langendijck De Vliegende Vos Mechelen hear	Stadhuis (City Hall) Papenhoek ("Papists' Corner") Voldersgracht Beestenmarkt (Cattle Market) Sint-Lucasgilde (The Painters Guild) hear
Haarlem Utrecht Rotterdam Schipluiden hear	Oude Kerk Nieuwe Kerk Donderslag (Thunderclap) hear

'Mechelen' is the Dutch name of a Belgian town famous for its lace, 'Malines' in French, 'Mechlin' in English.
'Donderslag' (Thunderclap) refers to the 1654 explosion of the Delft municipal gunpowder depot that killed many, fellow painter Carel Fabritius among them.

Various Terms
doorkijkje fijnschilders gulden (guilder) hear		stuijver (5¢ 'nickel') 'Het Straatje' tronie hear

Dutch Names of Paintings
De Schilderkunst hear (The Art of Painting) Het Straatje hear (The Little Street) Meisje met de Parel hear (Girl with The Pearl [Earring]) Gezicht op Delft hear (View [on] of Delft) In Vermeer's time, 'tronie' was a common word for 'face' - but nowadays it means 'ugly face' or 'face of unpleasant person.' The common word for 'face' in modern Dutch is 'gezicht,' which also means 'view.'

Vermeer Relatives
Beatrix Gerrits Vouck Balthasar Claes Gerrits Beatrix van Buy Jan Reynersz. Neeltge Goris hear		Claes Corstiaensz Tanneken Balthus Reynier Balthens Digna Baltens hear		Reynier Janz. Vos Anthony Janz. Vermeer Maertge Jans Jan Heymensz. van der Hoeve Gysbrecht van der Hoeve hear - take 2

Vermeer's Close Family		Catharina Bolnes' Close Family
Reynier Janz. Vos Digna Baltens Johannes Vermeer Gertruy Vermeer hear		Maria Thins Reynier Bolnes Catharina Bolnes Trijntje (Catharina's nickname) Willem Bolnes (Catharina's brother) hear

Vermeer's Children				More Names from Tracy Chevalier's Girl with A Pearl Earring
Maria Elisabeth Cornelia Aleydis Beatrix hear		Johannes Geertruy Franciscus Catharina Ignatius hear		Tanneke Griet Maertge Aleydis hear		Agnes Frans Liesbeth Pieter Willem Papenhoek (Papists' Corner) hear - 2

Vermeer Mentioned
Dirck van Bleyswijck's Description of Delft (1667) has Arnold Bon's elegy to painter Carel Fabritius that mentions Vermeer in its last stanza:

Soo doov' dan desen Phenix t'onzer schade			Thus did this Phoenix, to our loss, expire
In 't midden en in 't beste van zyn swier,			In the midst and at the height of his powers,
Maar weer gelukkig rees' er uyt zyn vier			But happily there arose out of the fire
Vermeer, die meesterlyck betrad zyn pade.			Vermeer, who masterly trod in his path.

hear

Music from The Time of Vermeer

Piet Hein
There is a well-known song about admiral (and pirate) Piet Hein (also spelled Heyn) and his 1628 capture of the Spanish silver fleet; the song may well be recent, but it could also be something that Vermeer and the people in his paintings were familiar with.
The stockholders of the West India Company made something like 50 to 75% on their investment in the year of the Silver Fleet (sources differ on the amount.)

Piet Hein, Piet Hein,
Piet Hein zijn naam is klein,		... his name is short
Zijn daden benne groot,		His actions ('deeds') are big ('benne' is a slang term of 'to be' - note the similarity)
Zijn daden benne groot,
Hij heeft gewonnen de Zilvervloot.		He has captured ('won') the Silver Fleet
Hij heeft gewonnen, gewonnen de Zilvervloot,
Hij heeft gewonnen de Zilvervloot.

hear

Hear a few very nice pieces of keyboard music from Vermeer's time, played on the Virginals by Mr Joop Klaassen of the Netherlands at The Essential Vermeer

Almande de Symmerman
Courante Daphne
Malle Symen
Jan Sweelink
Susanne van Soldt
hear - 2

Muselaer
Spinet
virginaal
klavecimbel (harpsichord)
Ruckers
Louis van Emmerik
Het Vleeshuis ("The Meat Hall" lit.: house)
hear

Composers
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
Jacob van Eyck
Dirck Janszoon Scholl
Servaas Koninck
hear

instruments
luit (lute)
cister (cittern)
citer (cither)
gitaar (guitar)
viool (violin)
hear

klavecimbel (harpsichord)
blokfluit (recorder)
trompet (trumpet)
hear

Der Fluyten Lusthof (collection of compositions for solo recorder by Jacob van Eyck)
De Nederlantsche Gedenckclanck (songbook)
De Muiderkring (private musical and literary party)
De Amsterdamse Schouwburg (theatre)
hear

Constantijn Huygens (private secretary to the Stadholders, poet, musician, composer and art connoisseur)
Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft (poet)
Gerbrand Adriaanszoon Bredero (playwright and poet)
Maria Tesselschade (poetess and musician)
hear

Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painters

(You'll have an opportunity to see slight variations in spelling and hear some names repeated in different contexts.)

eight
Gerrit ter Borgh Carel Fabritius Pieter de Hoogh Gabriel Metsu hear	Nicolaes Maes Rembrandt van Rijn Jan Steen Michael Sweerts hear
20
Willem van Aelst Hendrik Avercamp Ambrosio Bosschaert Adriaen Brouwer Adriaen Coorte hear	Aelbert Cuyp Carel Fabritius Karel Dujardin (French name) Jan van Goyen Frans Hals hear	Meyndert Hobbema Pieter de Hoogh Gabriel Metsu Jacob Ochtervelt Rembrandt van Rijn hear	Jacob van Ruisdael Gerard Terborch Willem van de Velde Jacobus Vrel Emmanuel de Witte hear
56
Willem van Aelst Hendrick Avercamp Dirck van Baburen Gillis Gillisz de Bergh Paulus Bor hear	Ambrosio Bosschaert Leonaert Bramer Adriaen Brouwer Hendrick ter Brugghen Hendrick van der Burgh hear	Adriaen Coorte Aelbert Cuyp Gerrit Dou Willem Drost Karel Dujardin (French name) hear	Pieter Janssens Elinga Cesar van Everdingen Carel Fabritius Jan van Goyen Frans Hals hear
Maerten van Heemskerck Bartholomeus van der Helst Jan van der Heyden Meyndert Hobbema Gerard van Honthorst hear	Pieter de Hoogh Samuel (van) Hoogstraaten Gerard Houckgeest Willem Kalf Philip Koninck hear - 2	Judith Jansdochter Leyster Nicolaes Maes Gabriel Metsu Frans van Mieris Jan Miense Molenaar hear	Caspar Netscher (German name) Jacob Ochtervelt Adriaen van Ostade Antonie Palamedesz Egbert van der Poel hear
Rembrandt van Rijn Jacob van Ruisdael Pieter Jansz Saenredam Godfried Cornelisz Schalken Hendrick Sorg hear	Jan Steen Michael Sweerts Gerard Terborch Willem van de Velde Jacob van Velsen hear	Johannes Verkolje Daniel Vosmaer Jacobus Vrel Emmanuel de Witte Philips Wouwermans hear	**************** Balthasar van der Ast Jan de Bisschop Adriaen van de Velde Jan Baptist Weenix hear
164

Painting terms (modern)
schilder (a painter) schilderen (to paint) schilderij (a painting) hear		verf (paint) penseel (small paintbrush) kwast (average paintbrush) kleur (color) ezel (easel) hear

Notes to Jargon
The root of the painting words is "schild," meaning "shield" and derives from the Germanic custom to paint warriors' shields.
The Dutch word for 'paint' is 'verf,' from the same root as the German word 'Farbe,' which came to mean 'color.'
The English word 'easel' derives from the Dutch word 'ezel'; the Dutch word also means 'donkey.'

Van Meegeren at work on "Christ amongst The Doctors"

Han van Meegeren

In the 1930s, an unknown Vermeer painting was offered to Vermeer authority Abraham Bredius, who came to believe it was the real thing; a few more turned up in the following years. In 1945, one was found among Hermann Göring's possessions, sold to him by Han van Meegeren, who was then accused of collaboration with the nazis; but Van Meegeren explained it was a forgery that he had traded with Göring for 200 Dutch paintings looted in 1940, and to prove it he produced another 'Vermeer' while under house arrest.
More from Jonathan Janson's The Essential Vermeer.
Van Meegeren Catalogue - Another
A Dutch Van Meegeren site

Han van Meegeren
De Emmausgangers (the most famous and best forgery)
Nachtlokaal (a series of his own work)
Abraham Bredius (gave his blessing)
hear

Han van Meegeren, Nachtlokaal #2,
ca. 1925, Private Collection

Rembrandt
Sailors and Ships of the 17th Century --- More Dutch names --- Old New York
English, Dutch and German Words from A Common Root --- Hebrew Words in Dutch

media

beauty

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The main event in the history of the Low Countries is The Dutch Revolt against Spanish rule (1568-1648), resulting in independence for the North. In Dutch, it's called "De Tachtigjarige Oorlog" (The 80-years War.)

A few years before the revolt, a group of nobles went to see the Spanish Governor Margaretha of Parma with a petition to tolerate Protestantism. Margaretha was frightened by them, but one of her advisors said "Ils ne sont que des gueux," They're just a bunch of beggars. The revolutionaries proudly took a Dutchified version, "Geuzen" as their name. A few years into the revolt, one of their first successes was the capture of the small town of Den Briel on April 1st, 1572.
Geuzen Den Briel
hear

The uprising was led by William of Orange, nicknamed Willem de Zwijger (The Silent), and after his assassination by his sons Maurits (Maurice) and Frederik Hendrik.
The liberated country called itself the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, in which Holland played the major part. The House of Orange were the almost heriditary 'Stadhouders,' a kind of presidency; in power struggles with the Staten (think of Staten Island), a kind of Senate, some of the most famous speakers (the 'Raadspensionaris') lost their lives.

The Dutch gained independence just at the time that the sciences came into being. With national pride in their own language, Dutch developed its own names for the sciences, unique among Western European languages.
wiskunde (mathematics)
natuurkunde(physics)
scheikunde (chemistry)
plantkunde (botany)
sterrenkunde (astronomy)
hear MP3 (ca 45K)

Plan for Dutch history page

Romans, Germanic tribes, water levels
Water Boards -> early "democracy"
Explain Polder Land Reclamation
Urbanisation
Flute ship, cheaper to build, cheaper to operate (wind power)(Venice fleet), herring preservation technique
highest GDP per capita 1600-1750

Portraits / Anecdotes:
Willem Barentsz. / Het Behouden Huis
Piet Hein / Silver Fleet
Staten negotiating with the French
Koehp's Balkan / Belgian independence?
More Dutch - All brought to you by Marco Schuffelen - email