Paintings dating back to 1610-1620 have been discovered by chance at a house on Oude Delft in the city centre.
The Van Dijk family bought the listed monument in December 2013, and have been renovating and restoring it to use as their home.
Whilst burning off a layer of old paint from wooden beams on the ceiling they uncovered the paintings. Seven out of nine beams have been worked on to date.
The Van Dijk family is enthusiastic about the house and the discovery, and the challenge of preserving it all. Parts of the house date back to 1544, and it was probably a warehouse of a nearby brewery originally, converted to housing around 1575. “We plan to live in the house, but we can’t just yet. We’re using 3D modelling in our plans. With windows from 1850, and beams from 1550, we need to make sure the house flows and fits with the different time periods. We’d like to make it a museum eventually,” says Olga van Dijk.
Some beams are painted with leaves, curls and flowers. Others depict hunting scenes with trees, men, animals and weapons. The people are so precisely portrayed that the details of their clothing can be seen. They make a motley crew with wide brimmed hats, baggy trousers, garters and wide sashes. Guns and sashes distinguish army officers from farmers carrying spears and even a pitchfork.
Delft art historian, Irene Groeneweg, is a specialist in Dutch costume history and was called in to assess the paintings. “The special fashion is so clear, such as the Zwarte Piet style trousers and cross details on the knees, it was possible to puzzle the pieces together and date the pictures accurately to the period 1610-1620,” she says. The soldiers also provided another clue for dating. They look exactly the same as figures depicted in a book by Adam van Breen on weapon handling, published in 1618.
There have been similar finds in Amsterdam, Den Bosch, Heusden, Leeuwarden and Zwolle. However, interior paintings with this theme are still rare. What makes the Delft discovery so unique is the artistic quality and the remarkable condition of the paintings.
The paintings can be viewed on Open Monument Day on September 13 and 14 2014 at Oude Delft 68, Delft. For more information see the Open Monument Day website and you can also check out Delta’s article on the event.
What’s hiding at TU Delft? is a series by Delta highlighting objects and collections hidden around the university. Want to suggest an exhibit? Email us at deltainternational@tudelft.nl
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