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Document Details : Title: Amsterdam sierlijk verbonden met God Subtitle: Het lofdicht op het Amsterdamse stadhuis van Constantijn Huygens Author(s): BUSSELS, Stijn , PLEZIER, Laura , VAN VAECK, Marc Journal: Spiegel der Letteren Volume: 59 Issue: 2-3 Date: 2017 Pages: 261-290 DOI: 10.2143/SDL.59.2.3285106 Abstract : In 1657 Constantijn Huygens wrote a poem to congratulate the Amsterdam burgomasters for their new Town Hall. The poem was distributed via various media. An analysis of the content of the poem in combination with a view on its divergent bearers gives precious insights in what we today call ‘mediality’ and ‘materiality’. It reveals how the Dutch Golden Age made a conscious use of particular media, as well as particular materials and developed explicit discourses on the use of media and materials. Thus content, medium and material were closely interconnected. In his poem Huygens subordinated the physical appearance of the Town Hall to an instangible force, God’s grace for Amsterdam. By contrast, the bearers of the poem were more and more made of sustainable, rich material. However, this article will clarify that even the material nature of the successive bearers was associated with higher non-material values. |
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