Amsterdam, Nieuwe Kerk – Clement de Jonghe, 1666

THE NEVER-BUILT TOWER OF THE NIEUWE KERK

“Amstelaedamense cum turri novum (ut ajunt) templum, Ao. 1666.” [The Amsterdam New Church with its tower (as they call it), 1666.] Etching and engraving made by Clement de Jonghe in 1666. Size: 58.5 × 43.5 cm.

On two occasions, construction began on a tower for Amsterdam’s Nieuwe Kerk. In 1565 the foundations were laid, but the changing religious and political climate made it impossible to proceed with the plans. A second attempt was made in 1646. Jacob van Campen, also the architect of the adjacent Town Hall (now the Royal Palace of Amsterdam), designed a tower in a Gothicising style. In 1647, the last of the 6,363 piles for the tower was driven into the ground. An ancient magical ritual intended to ensure the success of the building project followed: a foundation sacrifice consisting of 200 guilders’ worth of gold, together with the ceremonial laying of the first stone. Yet construction was already abandoned in 1653. The costs of the new Town Hall, which was then being built, had risen so dramatically that the city authorities decided to abandon the tower of the Nieuwe Kerk. In 1783, the unfinished lower section was demolished. All that remains today is the sandstone portal.

Here we see the west side of the church and how the tower would have appeared in all its glory. The print was made after construction of the tower had already been abandoned. Perhaps the engraver Clement de Jonghe disagreed with the city authorities’ decision to finance the Town Hall at the expense of what was intended to become the tallest building in the Netherlands. That a later owner of the print, in turn, appears not to have shared Clement de Jonghe’s view may perhaps explain why his name has been partly scratched out of the image.

Price: Euro 350,-