We know for certain that the library had three doors: one leading to the ‘groene kamer’ (‘green room’), another to the ‘groote kamer’ (grand salon), the third to the landing and stairs to the other floors. This is not only corroborated by the 1974 plans, but also by one of Pieter’s almanac entries where he mentioned the keys to some of the rooms on the upper floor. The plans and sections made in 1974, moreover, allow for the reconstruction of their dimensions and position with a high degree of certainty (except perhaps for the door towards the stairs, whose off-centred position on the wall may hint at a shift contextual to possible modifications of the stairs). When it comes to their appearance, there is no direct evidence to help us accurately reconstruct what they looked like.
From Pieter’s almanac entries we know that some of the doors in the house were painted. In November 1666, two unspecified doors were painted by Willem Jacobsz van der Valck with a technique that was used to reproduce the effect of walnut tree wood (‘noteboomen’). In December 1685 and January 1686, he mentions having Paulus Fouchier painting a Mercurius - the Roman god associated with trade and financial prosperity - on the door of his home office as well as six ‘room doors’ (‘Camerdeuren’) and two small doors (one of which in the attic) with unspecified subjects.
The doors proposed in this 3D reconstruction are provisionally based on the doors of the Trippenhuis (‘deur met oplegstukken’ see drawing below by Henny Brouwer). Another possibility would be the ‘paneeldeuren’ (panel door) type as visible in the second drawing below. More research on this house could potentially uncover more information about original doors and their appearance.
Written by Chiara Piccoli