Staalstraat & the Staalhof
Why is it significant?
Stand on the bridge in Staalstraat and look both ways: a narrow lane of old houses, a canal lined with trees, and in the distance a white church tower that seems to float above the rooftops.
Key Facts
| Place | Staalstraat & the Staalhof |
|---|---|
| Address | Staalstraat 7, 1011 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Geo Coordinates | 52.36830, 4.89790 |
| Part of Walk | Rembrandt's Amsterdam: The Night Watch, the Syndics & the Amstel |
| Generated | Generated |
Stand on the bridge in Staalstraat and look both ways: a narrow lane of old houses, a canal lined with trees, and in the distance a white church tower that seems to float above the rooftops. It is one of the most picture-perfect spots in the city, which is fitting, because one of Rembrandt's greatest pictures was made for this street.
The name comes from the staalmeesters, the sampling officials of the cloth trade. Cloth was one of Amsterdam's big businesses, and every bolt of dyed fabric had to meet a standard. The staalmeesters compared it against official samples, staal, and stamped it with a lead seal if it passed. They met in their guild hall here, the Staalhof.
In 1662 they commissioned a group portrait from Rembrandt. By then he was bankrupt, out of fashion and living in a modest rented house, yet he produced one of the masterpieces of portraiture. Five men in black sit around a table covered with a red oriental carpet, with a servant behind them, and they look straight out at you... as if you had just walked into their meeting and interrupted something important. One of them is half rising from his chair. Studies of the canvas have shown that Rembrandt changed the positions of his figures several times, searching for exactly that moment of surprise.
And you have almost certainly seen those faces before. For generations, the five syndics stared out from the lid of an American cigar brand called Dutch Masters, which made them perhaps the most reproduced Dutch businessmen in history.
Now look along the canal to your left, the Groenburgwal. In 1874 the French painter Claude Monet stood near here and painted that same church tower rising above the water and the trees. Rembrandt and Monet, two centuries apart, on one small bridge. Follow the Groenburgwal to the church itself, the Zuiderkerk.