Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal
Encyclopedia
Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal is a city museum of fine arts in Leiden, the Netherlands
. The museum hosts a collection of altarpiece
s and religious artifacts from before the Protestant Revolution that were formally ceded to the state in 1572, but it is mainly of interest for its collection of fijnschilder
paintings from the Dutch Golden Age
.
(lakenhal) – a guild
hall for cloth merchants and beer brewers in central Leiden. Like other municipal museums in the Netherlands, after opening its doors it became a repository for municipal art collections. Where possible, artifacts from Leiden are on display. A series of stained glass windows by Willem Thibaut
commissioned for the Leiden city hall, are now installed in the stairwells, for example. The museum also includes a reconstructed statie or Catholic mission station
from after the Reformation. Because the Catholic religion was banned, there was no official church and all of the Catholic places of worship in the young Dutch Republic were called mission stations. These were semi-hidden churches that were tolerated and taxed by the state.
hang in the same spots on the walls as designed. Similarly, a very grand over-the-mantel piece by Carel de Moor
shows the inspectors in a massive wooden frame decorated with their family shields, flanked by a series of three historical allegories of the city of Leiden by Abraham Lambertsz van den Tempel
.
The museum has a café and often hosts visiting art exhibitions.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. The museum hosts a collection of altarpiece
Altarpiece
An altarpiece is a picture or relief representing a religious subject and suspended in a frame behind the altar of a church. The altarpiece is often made up of two or more separate panels created using a technique known as panel painting. It is then called a diptych, triptych or polyptych for two,...
s and religious artifacts from before the Protestant Revolution that were formally ceded to the state in 1572, but it is mainly of interest for its collection of fijnschilder
Fijnschilder
The Fijnschilders , also called the Leiden Fijnschilders , were Dutch Golden Age painters who, from about 1630 to 1710, strove to create as natural a reproduction of reality as possible in their meticulously executed, often small-scale works.Although in the seventeenth century, as in modern Dutch,...
paintings from the Dutch Golden Age
Dutch Golden Age
The Golden Age was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. The first half is characterised by the Eighty Years' War till 1648...
.
History of the building
This museum is located in a building that was originally a cloth hallCloth hall
A cloth hall or linen hall is a historic building located in the centre of main marketplaces of European towns. They contained trading stalls, particularly for the selling of cloth as well as leather, wax and salt, including exotic imports such as spices and silk...
(lakenhal) – a guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
hall for cloth merchants and beer brewers in central Leiden. Like other municipal museums in the Netherlands, after opening its doors it became a repository for municipal art collections. Where possible, artifacts from Leiden are on display. A series of stained glass windows by Willem Thibaut
Willem Thibaut
Willem Thibaut, Tybaut, or Tibout , was a Dutch Golden Age painter.-Biography:According to the RKD he lived and worked in Haarlem, but made the cartoons for the two stained-glass windows in the Janskerk in 1570....
commissioned for the Leiden city hall, are now installed in the stairwells, for example. The museum also includes a reconstructed statie or Catholic mission station
Mission Station
Mission Station is the eastern terminus station on the West Coast Express commuter rail line connecting Vancouver to Mission, British Columbia, Canada. The station is located on the north side of the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks in Mission on North Railway Avenue. The station opened in 1995,...
from after the Reformation. Because the Catholic religion was banned, there was no official church and all of the Catholic places of worship in the young Dutch Republic were called mission stations. These were semi-hidden churches that were tolerated and taxed by the state.
Paintings
On permanent display are also the old inspection room or Staalmeesterskamer where cloth was inspected and the meeting hall where disputes were decided. Four large paintings depicting the cloth industry by Isaac van SwanenburgIsaac van Swanenburg
Isaak Nicolai or Isaac Claesz van Swanenburg , was a Dutch Renaissance painter and glazier active in Leiden and Gouda. He was a city council member from 1576 and became mayor of Leiden five times.-Biography:...
hang in the same spots on the walls as designed. Similarly, a very grand over-the-mantel piece by Carel de Moor
Carel de Moor
Carel de Moor was a Dutch Golden Age etcher and painter. He was a pupil of Gerard Dou.-Biography:Carel de Moor was born in Leiden. According to Houbraken, his father was an art dealer who wanted him to study languages and only allowed him to study art when his talent for drawing surfaced at a...
shows the inspectors in a massive wooden frame decorated with their family shields, flanked by a series of three historical allegories of the city of Leiden by Abraham Lambertsz van den Tempel
Abraham Lambertsz van den Tempel
-Biography:He probably learned painting from his father, also a painter, but who died when he was still quite young, in 1636. That is the same year that he moved to Amsterdam, where he stayed until 1647, whereupon he moved to Leiden. According to Houbraken he was the son of a Mennonite preacher in...
.
The museum has a café and often hosts visiting art exhibitions.