Vermeer's Delft Today: Oostpoort (The East-Gate) & Paardenmarkt
in collaboration with Adelheid Rech
in collaboration with Adelheid Rech
The Oostpoort was built in 1400. This corner of Delft, perhaps one of the most enchanting, has through the ages attracted the attention of numerous artists. Some of the seventeenth-century painters that portrayed its charm include Jan van der Velde the Younger, Jan van Goyen, Gerbrand van der Eeckhout and Jan de Bisschop' Near the Oostpoort once stood the Oostmolen (East Mill), one of the nine mills located along the walls of Delft during the sixteenth century. Due to the drastic decline in the local beer industry all but four were torn down by the end of the sixteenth century. The Oospoort was once known as Saint Catherines' Gate and is the oldest medieval entranceways to Delft. Since it was the gate farthest from the Great Fire of 1536 it still remains largely in tact.
The water-gate is connected to a piece of the old city wall. From the high-ceilinged ground floor it was possible to fire shots through loopholes. In 1514, the towers were raised with a hexagonal floor and given a steep spire. Today the upper area serves as a studio-house while the former battlement parapet is open for art exhibitions. A good many well-intentioned visitors mistake the Oostpoort for the turrets on the far right-hand side of Vermeer's View of Delft. The Oostpoort is the last remaining one from the nine former city gates of Delft. Most of them were demolished in the 19th century (between 1834 and 1847). In the photograph above one can make out some of the characteristic landmarks represented in Van der Velde's drawing: the Oostpoort, its water-gate an in the distance, the majestic spire of the Nieuwe Kerk on the Market Place.
Today the towers are echoed by the tall twin towers of Maria Jesse church in the background, and a villa stands on the place of the former windmill forming all together an elegant silhouette and a perfect place to rest.
One should note that the two drawings to the upper left were made from very near the same vantage point. There made be good reason for this. As Michiel C. Plomp has pointed out, the Oostpoort must not have been the only picturesque Delft gate, and yet none was represented so frequently. "The explanation is probably that the area right in front of the gate was not only an attractive location, but also home of a prominent inn, 'De Prins.' (The Prince). The inn stood opposite the Strasgracht (city mote) at the corner of the Pynaeckerse Vaert. It is not difficult ito imagine artists.
staying or pausing at this spot along the main road from The Hague to Rotterdam would be inspired to sketch the Oospoort from this spot. Curiously, De Bisschop's drawing shows the Rondeel romantically overgrown with vegetation, whereas Johannes De Ram's map of 1675–1678 depicts it in a tidy state. Perhaps both artists, with very different intentions, exaggerated the truth."1 Furthermore, De Bisschop seems to have taken another poetic licence: he eliminate the mill that at that dated had not been destroyed.
After the infamous explosion of the gunpowder magazine in 1654 that completely devastated the north-east Delft, the whole area was restructured. Some new streets were laid down while some old ones changed their directions only slightly. In the painting of the explosion Van der Poel shows this place as a mere desert of stone and wooden beams.
Since the provincial government of Holland and West-Friesland was still in need of military warehouses (apart from the Armamentarium at the south of the city) a large, single-storey, two-nave building, the Artillery depot, was erected 1671 at the east side of the Paardenmarkt, exactly on the place of the exploded magazine. This depot served mainly as a shed for large gun carriages. Today one cannon on a carriage has survived and is exhibited in the courtyard of the Artillery depot.
Today's Paardenmarkt displays nearly the same topographical layout as it did in the late seventeenth century. It serves as a parking lot and is still flanked by the Artillery depot (in the background of the photograph to the left) as well as a large building and houses on the other two sides. The peaceful atmosphere today is hardly compatible with the havoc and despair Van der Poel's paintings.
MUSEUM HET PRINSENHOF
The Museum het Prinsenhof of Delft, established in 1911, offers a unique opportunity to explore the history of the Netherlands, Delft and delftware. The museum is housed in a building of great historical importance, the site of some of the most dramatic and consequential events of Dutch history. It was once the court of William of Orange, the Father of the Dutch Nation. In the museum you will also discover the role the citizens of Delft played in the history of the Netherlands and how delftware became the global brand it is today. The building is an urban palace built in the Middle Ages as a monastery. Later it served as a residence for William the Silent. William was murdered in the Prinsenhof in 1584; the holes in the wall made by the bullets at the main stairs are still visible.
address: Sint Agathaplein 1, 2611 HR Delft
opening hours:
September 1, 2018–28 February 2019:
Tuesday–Sunday from 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
during school holidays:
Monday - Sunday from 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
closed on King's Day (27 April), Christmas Day and New Year's Day
VERMEER CENTRUM DELFT
The Vermeer Centrum Delft is volunteer-run organization that provides information about Vermeer, demonstrates his painting techniques and exhibits reproductions of his works. It also has a shop that sells Vermeer-related objects. The Vermeer Centrum Delft is an organization that is completely run by more than eighty enthusiastic volunteers. The Centrum is located on the historical spot of the former St. Lucas Guild, where Vermeer was head of the painters.
address:
Voldersgracht 21, Delft
openings times:
opened daily from 10 a.m.–5 pm.
open on 24 and 31 December from 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
open on 26 December and 1 January from 12 a..m..–5 p.m.
closed on 25 December
Free guided tours on Friday and Sunday
Friday at 11:30 a.m. (Dutch)
Sunday at 10:30 a.m. (English)
Sunday 12 a.m. (Dutch)
The shop and Café Mechelen have the same opening times.
OUDE & NIEUWE KERK
For information on opening time and tickets, click here.
GENERAL & FLOWER MARKETS
The main market in Delft, in Dutch, de Markt, draw visitors from both afar and from the neighboring cities like The Hague and Rotterdam. It is located between City Hall and the spectacular Nieuwe Kerk and is open on Thursday. Jumbled together some 150 stalls are sell cheese, fish, vegetables, bread, nuts and other food, can be purchased as well as clothing, bicycle accessories and electronic gadgets. Around the market, pubs and open-air terraces afford excellent places to rest and have a cup of coffee.
The flower market takes place on the Brabantse Turfmarkt, a five-minute walk from the general market. This piece of Delft boasts dozens of flower merchants and thousands of flowers. On Saturdays the location hosts a smaller version of the general market with some 50 stalls.
Also interesting is the weekly art and antiques market frequented by tourists who want to enjoy the beautiful city and hunt for good deals. The antiques and vintage market is open on Thursdays and Saturdays from April through October. On Thursdays it is located along the canal in the street known as Hippolytusbuurt. On Saturdays the market is bigger and includes a book market. It sprawls along the Voldersgracht and the canals in the Hippolytusbuurt and Wijnhaven.