'Dutch Golden Age’ Amsterdam meets Ancient Rome
Previously
in A for Art, I wrote how contemporary art helped me research Naming in Dead
set in early 1600s Amsterdam. The Dutch Masters depicted the everyday lives of
the growing middle class, their tastes in clothes, interior design and
pastimes. A different type of image helped me gain insights into the way Amsterdammers
saw themselves at that time, one resembling a movie story-board.
I
felt sure the city authorities would have wanted to organise a local celebration
to mark the signing of the Twelve Years’ Truce with Spain in 1609, and
eventually found this picture of the play they staged in Dam Square. The
central image shows smart citizens, in capotain hats, bonnets and cloaks,
clustering round an enormous stage adorned with sculptures of Roman gods. The
outer images capture scenes from the dramatized life of Lucius Tarquinius
Superbus, the last King of Rome.
Clearly,
Amsterdam’s Reformed Protestants were not as austere and prudish as their
English Puritan counterparts are often portrayed. Tarquinius’ life would have
been a lurid spectacle, with brutal portrayals of patricide, kidnap, rape and
suicide.
Also,
this choice suggests the city saw itself as establishing a new age, similar in
significance to the dawn of the Roman Republic. With less central control than in
neighbouring monarchies, the Dutch Republic’s political system was enabling Amsterdam’s
middle class to thrive in an unprecedented, confident way.
Karen Haden’s historical crime novel Naming the Dead, set in early 1600s Amsterdam, is available from Sharpe Books on Kindle Unlimited and to buy at Karen Haden Books