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Amsterdam, the Golden Age and Tulips

- some comments on the conference logo -

Once upon a time all conditions were favourable to create a period of great glory for a small country, a period we now refer to as the 'Golden Age'.

At the end of the12th century the struggle against the water made the then Lord of Aemstel decide to build a dam in the river of the same name to protect his castle from being flooded. The nearby fishing village was hereafter named 'Aemstelredamme'. Located between two seas and as many rivers it gradually developed into a transit port with a stable function for regional trade. The village became a town, four meters below sea level, protected by some dikes and canals.

In the second half of the 16th century developments were accelerating. After 80 years of war the Low Countries seceded from the King of Spain, which brought a climate of tolerance that attracted many refugees from all over Europe, fertilising a breeding ground for intellectual and cultural upheaval. The port of Antwerp fell out of competition, its merchants trying their luck up North. The end of Portugal's hegemony over the seas offered the opportunity to take over the lucrative trade routes. In 1602 the East Indian Trade Company (VOC) and, a few decades later, the West Indian Trade Company (WIC) became powerful enterprises bringing enormous wealth to its owners and to its operating base, Amsterdam.

In these days the famous crescent shape of the Amsterdam city centre was realised, resulting in the unique ring of canals; more than 110 kilometers of water lacing the inner city into 90 islands, connected by more than a thousand bridges. Rich merchants built their houses, decorated with silks and china from the Orient, on 5 million wooden poles driven into the soft soil for support. And if all this was not enough, there were other things to spend money on: tulips. Originating from Turkey, tulips were different from every other flower known in the 17th century, even to horticulturists. The colours these tulips exhibited were more intense and more concentrated than those of ordinary plants. With increasing demands and falling supplies prices skyrocketed to more than 5000 guilders (€2200) per bulb, which was roughly the annual income of a very wealthy merchant in those days. After 6 years the bubble burst and 'tulip mania' was over. But the tulip remained. In these circumstances of peace and wealth, art and science were flourishing. Famous playwrights like Vondel and Bredero were based in Amsterdam. Here Hugo Grotius published his studies on international law, as Spinoza did in the field of philosophy. Van Leeuwenhoek, Swammerdam, Boerhaave and Huygens laid their foundations for modern science. Rembrandt, Frans Hals and Johannes Vermeer produced their superb canvases that nowadays still can be admired in the Rijksmuseum .

Paragon Mahu by Margareta de Heer Collection: Groninger Museum

We don't know whether Rembrandt or any other of the above-mentioned male scholars were paid for their work in tulip bulbs. But we do know of a female artist, Margareta de Heer (1600-1665), who painted tulips in a way that makes us understand some of the passion that led to the admiration for the tulip. One of her paintings inspired designer Gert Jan Slagter to symbolise the richness of our history in the conference logo.