Museum aan het Vrijthof
The Museum aan het Vrijthof ( German Museum am Vrijthof ; formerly known as Museum Spaans Gouvernement ) is a museum of art and history in Maastricht , the Netherlands . The museum is housed in the so-called Spaans Gouvernement on Vrijthof Square in Maastricht's old town. The Museum aan het Vrijthof is a private museum and does not receive any government support.
History of the house
The House of Spaans Gouvernement is one of the oldest non-religious buildings in Maastricht. The striking red building on the town's main square was mentioned as early as 1333 and was originally part of the ecclesiastical area that belonged to the collegiate chapter of the Servatius Church . For a long time it served as a residence for canons . The house was rebuilt and expanded in the early 16th century. At that time the facade on the first floor was blind; only one gate led into the courtyard. The three late Gothic windows on the first floor date from this period. Two of them show the columns of Heracles and a red banner with the Latin motto of Charles V : " Plus Ultra ". The third window, in the middle, bears the symbols of imperial power: the double-headed eagle with the coat of arms of Habsburg and the crown of Castile .
A little later, an arcade in the Liege Renaissance style was built on the courtyard side . The colonnade bears a resemblance to the architecture of the colonnaded courtyard of the Prince-Bishop's Palace in Liège. The frieze above the courtyard gate shows three medallions with the portraits of (presumably) Charles V, his wife Isabella of Portugal and their son Philip II of Spain . Karl and Philipp stayed here several times when they visited the city in their role as Dukes of Brabant . It was probably here on March 15, 1580 that Alexander Farnese , governor of the Netherlands, signed the declaration that made William of Orange , the leading figure of the Dutch uprising , an outlaw . It was around this time that the building received its current name: Spaans Gouvernement (German: "Spanish government building").
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the interior of the building was changed several times, which the architect Mathias Soiron was also involved in. He designed the two chimneys in the front building and the stairs in the rear building . During this period, windows were added to the blind facade of the Vrijthof on the ground floor. In 1766 the Parisian printer and publisher Jean-Edmé Dufour bought the building and used it as a printing house. From here many books that were banned in France were smuggled into the country via Strasbourg .
In 1913 the house was sold to the public. Part of it was demolished and replaced by the current bank building in 1923 (corner of Vrijthof / St. Jacobstraat). The rest of the building was restored by the Maastricht conservationist Victor de Stuers and offered to the City of Maastricht with the intention of hosting a museum on the city's history (which has not yet happened). Thorough restoration work took place from 1969 to 1973 and from 2010 to 2012.
Wagner-De Wit collection
The basis for the permanent museum collection is the collection of the Wagner-De Wit Foundation. This diverse collection of art and antiques was put together over the years by the Hague couple Frederik Wagner (1870–1958) and Ambrosina de Wit (1876–1956?). The focus was on Dutch and Flemish masters from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, including Dirck van Baburen , Adriaen van de Venne , Cornelis van Poelenburgh , Johann Lingelbach , Egbert van der Poel , Nicolaes Moeyaert , Nicolaes Berchem , Lodewijk de Vadder , Jacques d'Arthois and Pieter Casteels III . The Hague School is represented with works by Jozef Israëls , Johan Hendrik Weissenbruch , George Hendrik Breitner and the brothers Jacob , Matthijs and Willem Maris . The art-loving couple also collected sculptures from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance , carpets and furniture from the 17th and 18th centuries, glass and crystal objects, ancient coins and oriental art.
Spaans Governorate Museum
The childless couple Wagner-De Wit stipulated in their will that the collection should be housed in Maastricht after their death. In 1961, the Maastricht community donated the Spaans Gouvernement to the Wagner-De Wit Foundation. After extensive renovation of the building in need of renovation, the museum opened its doors in 1973, 15 years after the death of Frederik Wagner. In the beginning the museum could only be visited by appointment.
Over the years, the Wagner-De Wit Foundation succeeded in collecting Maastricht silver from the 17th and 18th centuries, pistols from the 17th to 19th centuries and various paintings by the Limburgse Kunstkring (including Rob Graafland and Henri Jonas ) to expand. Recently, part of the original collection has been removed; the Maastricht element has been considerably improved for this. In 1997 the museum acquired the Bonhomme-Tielen collection (including Maastricht silver and antique clocks).
The museum presents home decor from Rococo to early classicism to the Napoleonic Empire style . The so-called TEFAF hall is furnished with furniture in the Aachen-Liège style of the 18th century.
extension
Since January 1, 2009, the museum has been operating under the current name Museum aan het Vrijthof .
At the end of 2010 the museum closed its doors for a major renovation and expansion. With the acquisition of the neighboring house Papenstraat 2, which originally belonged to the Spaans Gouvernement, it was possible to expand the museum at the existing location. The courtyard ("cour") between the two buildings has been covered with a transparent air cushion ( Foiltec ) since the renovation and is now used as an exhibition room and museum café. The expansion cost over 6 million euros and was financed by sponsors. The international art and antiques exchange TEFAF has been the main sponsor since 2011.
After reopening, the Museum am Vrijthof hopes to be the "cultural living room of Maastricht". In addition to the historical rooms, an overview of five centuries of the manufacturing industry in Maastricht will be given in the form of exhibitions on Maastricht glass and ceramics, silver, pewter, weapons, furniture, books, etc. The museum also wants some rooms of historical figures from history Maastrichts as well as the Emperor Charles V, the printer Jean-Edmé Dufour, the architect Mathias Soiron, the entrepreneur Petrus Regout and the draftsman Philippus van Gulpen . The museum has been open to the public again since March 2012.
Establishment of the TEFAF hall
Furniture from the Maastricht-Liège area (18th century)
Van Gulpen room with Maastricht faience
Bonhomme Salon, Empire furnishings (around 1800)
Portraits by JFA Tischbein
literature
- Timmers, JJM: Geschiedenis van het Spaans Gouvernement te Maastricht . Maastricht 1973
Web links
- Museum website (Dutch, English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Timmers, pp. 23-29.
- ↑ El felicissimo viaje del muy alto y muy poderoso Príncipe don Phelippe, hijo del emperador don Carlos Quinto Máximo, desde España a sus tierras de la baxa Alemana: con la descripción de todos los Estados de Brabante y Flandes , by Juan Calvete de Estrella ( Antwerp, M. Nucio, 1552; printed in Madrid, 2001).
- ↑ 'Made by Jean-Edmé Dufour', on the museum website .
- ↑ Timmers, pp. 37-44.
Coordinates: 50 ° 50 ′ 54 ″ N , 5 ° 41 ′ 19 ″ E