Cornelis Jan Witsen

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Cornelis Jan (sz) Witsen (* 1605 in Amsterdam ; † 1669 there ) was a Dutch diplomat and Amsterdam ruler of the Golden Age .

Life

Cornelis Jan Witsen, marble bust of Artus Quellinus , 1658

His parents were Jan Cornelisz Witsen (1569–1636), from the Witsen family , and Margrieta Oetgens van Waveren . One of Cornelis Jansz Witsen's sons from his marriage to Catharina Claesdr Gaeff (alias Lambertsdr Opsy ) was Nicolaes Witsen , the important diplomat, regent, politician and mentor of the Russian Tsar Peter I.

Witsen himself started out as captain of the civil guard . Further offices as councilor and Schout led him to the city government, which he headed as mayor in 1653, 1658, 1662 and 1667. Witsen was also a wind lifter for the Dutch West India Company and a member of the Amsterdam Admiralty . In 1652 he was Holland's delegate in Overijssel and Gelderland with the aim of turning the pro- Orange mood there.

Witsen was an art lover and helped Rembrandt pay off his house in 1653. Witsen was present as an envoy to England for his home country in 1656. During his stay, his son Nicolaes played with the children of the English lord protector Oliver Cromwell .

Witsen had lived in a town house on Keizersgracht since 1661 , which was known for its extensive library. In Egmond aan den Hoef he had a country house, which he named Tijdverdrijf (pastime). The poet Jan Vos wrote verses on him, the painter Bartholomeus van der Helst and the sculptor Artus Quellinus created portraits of him. Witsen also appeared as a supporter of Comenius , with whom he had his son trained privately. The anarchist Adriaan Koerbagh , also based in Amsterdam , was convicted by Witsen. In 1662, Witsen joined Cornelis de Graeff , Henrick Hooft and Cornelis van Outshoorn against the purchase of Rembrandt's painting The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis , which was intended for the interior of the Amsterdam Paleis op de Dam . To replace it, they chose a copy of a painting by Govert Flinck made by Jürgen Ovens .

gallery

  • Cornelis Jansz Witsen (left) together with Amsterdam councilors such as Gerrit Reynst , painted by Bartholomeus van der Helst

  • Cornelis Jansz Witsen, engraving after Bartholomeus van der Helst

  • Cornelis Jansz Witsen (right) as captain of the citizen guard; Schuttersmaaltijd in de Voetboogdoelen te Amsterdam ter ere van de Vrede van Munster, June 18, 1648 , painted by Bartholomeus van der Helst (1648)

  • Witsen's wife Catharina Opsy, marble bust of Artus Quellinus (1658)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Biography in the Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek (NNBW), part 4, pages 1471/72
  2. ↑ Crenshaw, P. (2006) Rembrandt's Bankruptcy. The artist, his patrons and the art market in seventeent-century Netherlands, pages 70 and 78
predecessor Office successor
Lambert Reynst Schout of Amsterdam
1667–1669 		Gerard Claesz Hasselaer
personal data
SURNAME Witsen, Cornelis Jan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Witsen, Cornelis Jansz (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch diplomat and Mayor of Amsterdam
DATE OF BIRTH 1605
PLACE OF BIRTH Amsterdam
DATE OF DEATH 1669
Place of death Amsterdam