Jacob van Campen a renowned Dutch artist and

Acquired From: Leen Helmink

Colouring: Uncoloured

Condition: Very Good

Confirmed: Yes

Date Acquired: 8/2/2021

Dealers ID No.: M498/2 (STK1820)

Description: Jacob van Campen a renowned Dutch artist and architect, designed Amsterdams new city hall (Burgerzaal), constructed between 1648 and 1650. On the ground floor, he envisioned an elaborate inlaid floor featuring a celestial map at the centre, flanked by a world map in two hemispheres. Each terrestrial hemisphere measured over six meters in diameter and was crafted from copper and white or red marble.nOver the following century, the floor became worn and the maps were eventually filled in. However, a contemporary impression of the original design survives in an engraving from Van Campens 1661 publication, Afbeelding van 't Stadt huys van Amsterdam. In dartigh Coopere Plaaten geordineert (Depiction of the City Hall of Amsterdam in Thirty Copper Plates) (link). This engraving provides a rare glimpse of the ground floors original grandeur.nThis engraving is a 1719 reissue. One hemisphere shows Hollandia Nova (modern-day Australia) while the other hemisphere shows North and South America, with California depicted as an islanda common cartographic misconception of the time. The engraving also illustrates how visitors entered the grand chamber of the Burgerzaal through portals at either end of the building, marked F and A on the floor plan asand corresponding to architectural elevations labelled A.nThe concept of a floor map was later echoed by the State Library of New South Wales, which commissioned a marble floor map for its main vestibule in 1946, drawing inspiration from the Dutch design.

Engraver: Quellinus, Hubertus (1619-1687)

First published: Afbeelding van 't Stadt huys van Amsterdam. In dartigh Coopere Plaaten geordineert Amsterdam: Dancker Danckerts, 1661

Image Size (cm): 76×43.5

Mapmaker: Campen, Jacob van (1595-1657)

Price: 1,600

Primary Category: World

Sheet size (cm): 81×43.7

Shirley ID #: 423 Mapping the World

Technique: Copper Engraving

This state: 1719

Website: Click here