Dirck Tulp
Encyclopedia
Nicolaes Tulp
Nicolaes Tulp was a Dutch surgeon and mayor of Amsterdam. Tulp was well known for his upstanding moral character.-Life:...
and involved in the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
and the Civic guard
Civic Guard
Civic Guard may refer to:* Garda Síochána in Ireland* Schutterij in the Netherlands...
. Dirck Tulp visited Moscovia with his father-in-law; he was painted in 1653 by Paulus Potter
Paulus Potter
Paulus Potter was a Dutch painter, specialized in animals in landscapes, usually with a low point of view. Before Potter died of tuberculosis, 28-years old, he succeeded in producing about a hundred paintings, working continuously.-Life:Few details are known of Potter's life...
.
Life
In 1647, Dirck accompanied Albert BurghAlbert Burgh
Albert Coenraadsz. Burgh was a Dutch physician who was mayor of Amsterdam and a councillor in the Admiralty of Amsterdam.-Biography:...
, son of a brewer and former mayor of Amsterdam, on his mission to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, to build up trade connections, especially in grain. Dirck Tulp married Anna Burgh in 1650, daughter of the late Burgh. The couple lived initially on Kloveniersburgwal 65, a building given to Anna by her family. This house had been used for dying silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
since 1603. The silk was imported from Persia, and shipped, either through Archangelsk or the Strait of Gibraltar
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa. The name comes from Gibraltar, which in turn originates from the Arabic Jebel Tariq , albeit the Arab name for the Strait is Bab el-Zakat or...
. A pair of fashionable Flemish ladies had headed it, its activities occurring in its light and airy attics. Over the years, the operation was largely moved to the Jordaan
Jordaan
The Jordaan is a district of the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The area is bordered by the Lijnbaansgracht canal to the west, the Prinsengracht to the east, the Brouwersgracht to the north and the Leidsegracht to the south...
. When Tulp and his wife began building-work in 1652, they had the building embellished with stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
and the floor laid with marble. The Kloveniersburgwal was an attractive site for the rich, being close to the nerve center of the VOC
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
, in which Tulp was appointed as delegate.
Anna Burgh also owned a summer residence (hofstede) at the Amstel
Amstel
The Amstel is a river in the Netherlands which runs through the city of Amsterdam. The river's name is derived from Aeme stelle, old Dutch for "area abounding with water"....
, named "Klein Kostverloren", that was renamed "Tulpenburgh" (combining both family names).. They used their summer residence, like many families at the time, to get out of town during the summer, to avoid the urban stench, noise and the plague that was decimating the cities population during that period.
In 1652 Paulus Potter
Paulus Potter
Paulus Potter was a Dutch painter, specialized in animals in landscapes, usually with a low point of view. Before Potter died of tuberculosis, 28-years old, he succeeded in producing about a hundred paintings, working continuously.-Life:Few details are known of Potter's life...
came to Amsterdam on Nicolaes Tulp's invitation. Dirck received a painting, that was initially meant to be for someone else - Potter only repainted the head. Around the same time, his half-sister Margaretha Tulp broke off an engagement with Johan de Witt
Johan de Witt
Johan de Witt, heer van Zuid- en Noord-Linschoten, Snelrewaard, Hekendorp and IJsselveere was a key figure in Dutch politics in the mid 17th century, when its flourishing sea trade in a period of globalization made the United Provinces a leading European power during the Dutch Golden Age...
, one of the most influential Dutch politicians of that time, and married Jan Six
Jan Six
Jan Six was an important cultural figure in the golden age of the Netherlands.-Biography:...
instead.
Coenraad van Beuningen
Coenraad van Beuningen was the Dutch Republic's most experienced diplomat, burgemeester of Amsterdam in 1669, 1672, 1680, 1681, 1683 and 1684, and from 1681 a VOC director...
. Despite his many contacts, Dirck Tulp never became mayor. Tulp was named by mayor Gillis Valckenier
Gillis Valckenier
Gillis Valckenier was nine years burgomaster of Amsterdam: in 1665, 1666, 1668, 1670, 1673, 1674, 1676, 1678, 1679. He was a strong personality, but changing allies as a real opportunist....
"an ignorant vain", after his two-year stay out of the country, during which he sent back no letters. In 1675 Tulp was to be dismissed in 1975, but he changed his lifestyle and prevented dismissal. In 1676, he was ennobled by Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
, paying a large amount of money. He was appointed as colonel in the Schutterij
Schutterij
Schutterij refers to a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire. Their training grounds were often on open spaces within the city, near the city walls, but, when the...
, the Dutch volunteer city guard. The Knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
-baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
Tulp became an officer in the Dutch state army.
As a widower, he remarried Katharina Resteau. From that marriage came four children, but both sons, twins, died young. His second wife was painted twice. With the death of Dirck Tulp the male line of the Tulp family died out. Dirck's daughter would later marry the Russia specialist, mayor Nicolaes Witsen
Nicolaes Witsen
Nicolaas or Nicolaes Witsen was mayor of Amsterdam thirteen times, between 1682-1706. In 1693 he became administrator of the VOC. In 1689 he was extraordinary-ambassador to the English court, and became Fellow of the Royal Society. In his free time he was cartographer, maritime writer, and an...
.