Auditorium Felix Meritis Amsterdam – Reinier Vinkeles, 1794

“Gehoor Zaal in het Gebouw der Maatschappyë Felix Meritis binnen Amsterdam” [Auditorium in the building of the Society Felix Meritis in Amsterdam], etching with engraving made by Reinier Vinkeles and Noach van der Meer Jr. after a drawing by Pieter Barbiers and Jacques Kuyper, and published in 1794 by Cornelis Sebille Roos. Size (plate mark): 44.5 × 55 cm.

The society Felix Meritis (“Happy through merit”) was founded in 1777 by Amsterdam’s affluent bourgeoisie. From the founding charter: “The principal aim of the Society is, by way of useful recreation, through the practice of the arts and sciences, to cultivate intellect and virtue, and to promote sociable intercourse among the Members. In all activities one shall avoid anything that might offend differing religions, moral views, or political opinions, and the directors are obliged to watch carefully against this.”

Felix Meritis thus sought to promote the arts and sciences, a popular pursuit in the age of the Enlightenment. The city was home to many small and large societies, ranging from highly exclusive to more accessible, where like-minded individuals could meet.

The society was divided into five departments: music, natural philosophy, commerce, literature, and drawing. Their symbols were displayed on the façade of the large building that the society opened eleven years later on the Keizersgracht. Each department had its own space. The building contained an auditorium, a chemical laboratory, a drawing room, and an observatory in the domed rooftop.

This print depicts the Auditorium, built in a neoclassical style and used as a venue for lectures, presentations, and meetings of the society. The interior is richly appointed, with tall windows admitting daylight, marble columns, elegant wall decorations, and a statue of the Roman goddess Minerva—symbol of wisdom and knowledge—above the doorway.

In the foreground we see elegantly dressed ladies and gentlemen conversing and taking in the hall. Their presence underscores the social and cultural role of Felix Meritis in the late eighteenth century: it was not merely a place for study and learned pursuits, but also a meeting place for the well-to-do bourgeoisie.

The Auditorium embodied the ideals of the Enlightenment: it was a place where people gathered to exchange knowledge, discuss new ideas, and draw inspiration from lectures by scholars, poets, and philosophers.

Price: Euro 575,-