Rembrandt's Birthplace
The virtual edition is a presentation of the house of Rembrandt will walk you through the background, architecture and daily life of Leiden in the years after the siege of Leiden by the Spanish in 1573.
The virtual edition is a presentation of the house of Rembrandt will walk you through the background, architecture and daily life of Leiden in the years after the siege of Leiden by the Spanish in 1573.
(c) Smithsonian Institution. All rights reserved.
Voyager
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Whether you're a lover of Rembrand's work or interested in Dutch 16th century life, this presentation of the house of Rembrandt will walk you through the background, architecture and daily life of Leiden in the years after the siege of Leiden by the Spanish in 1573.
[]
Introduction
articles/introduction-en.html
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Nowadays the area where Rembrandt was born is far from what it must have looked like at the beginning of the seventeenth century. In preparation of the Rembrandt celebration of 2019, new research focused on how his birth house and the surroundings must have looked like.
[]
Locating the Birthplace of Rembrandt
articles/TheOriginalMillHouse.html
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In 1573, because of the Spanish Siege, the grandparents of Rembrandt had to seek protection within the walls of Leiden. It meant abandoning their grain mill.
[]
Seeking protection for the Spanish
articles/Siege.html
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In the autumn of 1575, a year after the relief of Leiden, the grandmother of Rembrandt, bought a corn windmill - a post mill type - from Jan van der Does, lord of Noordwijk. It was named the Rhine after the river running nearby.
[]
Erecting "the Rhine" - a post mill
articles/therhine.html
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During the Dutch Golden Century, the Netherlands became a major economic power in Europe, in part due to their innovative use of wind power to fuel their industries.
[]
Harnessing wind power
articles/windpower.html
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Rembrandt was born in the so-called Mill House belonging to his grandmother and his stepgrandfather Claes Cornelisz. van Berckel. Unlike one would think, the mill and the mill house were not interconnected. In fact they stood opposite eachother. The Mill was erected on the city wall, while the Mill House lay below on the street.
[]
The Mill House of Claes Cornelisz.
articles/architecture.html
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After pinpointing Rembrandt's exact birthplace, the second step in the reconstruction process was to conduct a volumentric study of what was known as the Mill House.
[]
Volumetric Study
articles/VolumetricStudy.html
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The Mill House is a fine example of sixteenth-century vernacular architecture. It is a typical one-story brick house with a dormer that has a stepped gable. All elements in the reconstruction are carefully chosen based on well documented examples, still present in Leiden.
[]
Sixteenth Century Architecture
articles/architecturenew.html
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More than once the property was divided and extensions were built to house various family members. This efficient use of space is part of a bigger phenomenon in Leiden around the turn of the seventeenth century.
[]
Redeveloping the Mill House
articles/volumes.html
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Just before Rembrandt's parents married in 1589, his father bought half of the Mill, including its tools, and also the southside of the Mill House together with the garden. This was the first step in de development of the birth house of Rembrandt.
[]
The Rembrandt House (1589)
articles/rembrandthouseone.html
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When Rembrandt's grandmother passed away in 1600, also the north part of the Mill House was divided among family members.
[]
The Rembrandt House (1600)
articles/1600.html
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Leiden is the city of bricks. All the elements were present for a thriving export industry: clay as source material, turf for firing the kilns, and waterways for transportation.
[]
Early Modern Brickwork
articles/brickwork.html
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Until 1700, the use of wooden cross-windows was common in Leiden. They are still visible in several places in the city - for example at Levendaal 153, after which the model was created.
[]
Cross-window
articles/crosswindow.html
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In vernacular architecture around the end of the sixteenth century, roof framings were composed of stacked trusses, with a roof pitch of 59 degrees.
[]
Roof Construction (ca. 1600)
articles/roofconstruction.html
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The roofs of ordinary Leiden houses around 1600 are covered with so-called Dutch pantiles. This locally produced product has been in use since the middle of the 16th century and was extremely popular for various reasons.
[]
Dutch Pantiles (>1545)
articles/roofing.html
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During Rembrandt's time, it was common for people to sleap in cupboard-beds. In Leiden, typically cupboard-beds were ingeniously combined with a storage cellar underneeth.
[]
Sleeping and storage
articles/sleeping-and-storage-en.html
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This fly-through provides a good insight on the location of the Mill House in relation to the city wall, the white gate and of course the Rhine - the post mill that was operated by his family.
[]
Fly-through
articles/flytrough.html
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''
[]
End of Tour
articles/end-of-tour-en.html
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''
References tour one: "The Mill House"
articles/referencesone.html
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''
[]
References tour two: "Sixteenth Century Architecture"
articles/referencestwo.html
The Mill House
Rembrandt's Birthplace
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The roofs of ordinary Leiden houses around 1600 are covered with so-called Dutch pantiles. This locally produced product has been in use since the middle of the 16th century and was extremely popular for various reasons.
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Until 1700, the use of cross-windows was common in Leiden. The design features a center post and intermediate sill that divide the frame into four. The two upper sections are provided with leaded glass until about 1650, afterwards also with glass in wooden rods. The bottom two window openings have wooden turning shutters. Wooden cross windows are still visible in several places in the city centre and have been documented in building history research. Cross-windows can be seen nowadays in the side facade of the city carpenter’s yard (1611) on the Smidsteeg.
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For basic comfort an inglenook fireplace for heating and cooking is indispensable. An old postcard of the Weddesteeg shows a building, on the spot where Rembrandt’s house once stood, with part of a tiled fireplace visible.
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During Rembrandt's time, it was common for people to sleep in cupboard-beds, which were essentially enclosed spaces where individuals slept half-sitting up. Typically located in the darkest areas of the house, such as corners or between rooms, the cupboard-bed was often placed near the fireplace for warmth. Made primarily of wood, the design aimed to prevent the cold from penetrating the structure. The floor of the cupboard-bed was generally less than a meter above the room's floor, allowing for easy entry and exit. Furthermore, underneath the cupboard-bed was a storage cupboard that provided a dark space. By lowering the floor beneath the cupboard-bed by about a meter, a small, chilly cellar could be created to store root vegetables and other foodstuffs, serving as a precursor to modern-day refrigeration.
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The floor in ordinary people’s houses usually consists of red fired tiles. These can be simply red and unglazed, or glazed in different colours like yellow, green and black. Apart from the different styles the tiles can be laid in different patterns, like chequers, stretcher bond or diagonals. For comfort and to avoid cold feet in some cases a wooden floor is laid down, sometimes only in part of the house.
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This little house was bought in 1589 by Rembrandt’s father together with the southside of the Mill House. The bill of sale describes it as ‘a newly built little house’ (Nieut gemaeckt huysken).
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In 1600 Rembrandt’s father inherited this newly built back annex (‘’t nieuwe achterhuysgen"). The inheritance was conditional. His aunt is allowed to live here till she dies. Rembrandt probably never knew this great-aunt. By the time of his birth in 1606 the house is rented out.
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Leiden is a city of bricks. Due to the presence of iron rich clay and turf, both the ground material and the fuel required for baking were widely available. Therefore Leiden already in the fifteenth century made the transition from timber houses to brickbuild houses.
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Rembrandt was born in the so-called "Mill House". Contrary to what one might think, the house was not connected to the mill, which was erected on top of the city wall.
Post Mill
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[]
The Rhine
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By the end of the sixteenth century, the city became more and more dependent on the collection of rainwater. Because of demographic growth and intensive industrialization of the city, the canals and even groundwater became polluted. Most households collected rainwater in wooden barrels. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the first underground cisterns appeared. They became commonplace in early modern times until in the nineteenth century a tap water system was constructed, in which water was supplied from the dunes.
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In the seventeenth century on the street side of the ground level the facade had a wooden front. The wooden front allowed for a maximum of daylight in the dwelling.
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Just before Rembrandt's parents married in 1589, his father bought this house together with the volume behind.
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When Rembrandt's grandmother passed away in 1600, also the north part of the Mill house was divided. The northernmost side with the stepped gable was inherited by Rembrandt's cousins, while the middle parts was inherited by the father of Rembrandt.
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After the division of the inheritance of Rembrandt's grandmother in 1600, the northern part of the Mills house became the property of Rembrandt's cousins. Sources state that also Rembrandt's stepgrandfather - Claes Cornelisz. van Berckel - remained living here until he passed away.
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The garden proved to be key in locating the original birth house of Rembrandt. It remained unbuilt throughout the first half of the seventeenth century, which is quite remarkable since demographic pressure caused most available plots to be developed.
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The Mill House
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Introduction
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The Mill House
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Seeking protection from the Spanish Siege
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Erecting a new Post Mill
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Harnessing wind power
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The Mill House
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Volumetric Study
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Sixteenth Century Architecture
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Sixteenth Century Architecture
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Buildings
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Buildings
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Southside of the Mill House
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Southside of the Mill House
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Newly built little house
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Middle and Northern Part of the Mill House
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The Middle Part of the Mill House
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The North Side of the Mill House
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New Back Annex
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Flytrough
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References
[]
01 - The Mill House
''
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Sixteenth Century Architecture
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Overview
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Brickwork (1/2)
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Brickwork (2/2)
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Cross Windows (1/2)
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Cross Windows (2/2)
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Roof Construction (1/2)
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Roof Construction (2/2)
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Rainwater
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Floor
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Heating and kitchen
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Cupboard bed and storage space
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References
[]
02 - Sixteenth Century Architecture
cm
1
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Default
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