Maria Tesselschade Visscher

Maria Tesselschade Roemers (wicked) Visscher (born March 25, 1594 in Amsterdam ; † June 20, 1649 ) was a Dutch poet and engraver . She enjoyed a high reputation among her contemporaries and was later glorified as the ideal of femininity.

Life

She received the unusual second name in memory of a financial loss the father suffered a few months before the birth. More than forty loaded ships lying off the island of Texel went down during a storm. Merchant Roemer Visscher was affected both as a grain trader and as an insurer. She was the daughter of the merchant Roemer Visscher and his wife Aefgen Jansdaughter. Her artistic talents, like those of her ten-year-old sister, were continuously encouraged in her parents' house and she made the acquaintance of poets at an early age. In 1623 she married Allard Crombalch, who was believed to be an officer in the Navy. In 1634 her husband and younger daughter died on the same day. In 1641 she converted to Catholicism .

poetry

Roemers wrote her poetic works in a mannerist style. Their role models were Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft and Constantijn Huygens , who in turn were based on poets such as Giambattista Marino and John Donne .

literature

• Mieke Smits-Veldt: Maria Tesselschade. Leven met talent en vriendschap . Zutphen 1994