Concert hall Felix Meritis – Reinier Vinkeles, 1791

The Concert Hall of Felix Meritis. Etching made by Reinier Vinkeles in 1791. Coloured by a later hand. Size: (plate) 45.7 x 55.4 cm, (image) 37.8 x 51.4 cm.

The Felix Meritis society (“Happy through Merit”) was founded in 1777 by members of Amsterdam’s affluent bourgeoisie. From its founding charter:
“The main aim of the Society is to cultivate intellect and virtue, by way of useful recreation, through the pursuit of the arts and sciences, and to promote sociable interaction among the Members. In all activities, anything that might offend differing religious, moral, or political convictions shall be carefully avoided, and the administrators are strictly obliged to safeguard against it.”

Felix Meritis thus sought to promote the arts and sciences — a popular ideal in the Age of Enlightenment. The city was home to numerous small and large societies, both prestigious and accessible, where like-minded individuals gathered.

The society was divided into five departments: music, physics, commerce, literature, and drawing. The symbols of these disciplines were displayed on the façade of the society’s grand building on the Keizersgracht, which opened eleven years later. Each department had its own dedicated space: there was an auditorium, a chemical laboratory, rooms for scientific demonstrations, a drawing studio, and an observatory in the cupola on the roof.

The oval concert hall, depicted in this etching, was considered the finest in the country. It hosted weekly performances by the Netherlands’ first symphony orchestra. Until at least 1830, it was Amsterdam’s most important concert venue and enjoyed an international reputation.

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