Bartholomeus van Bassen

Bartholomeus van Bassen Corneliszoon (* 1590, † 1652 in The Hague) was a Dutch architect and painter of the Baroque period and an important representative of the Golden Age of the Netherlands. He gained particular as city architect of The Hague and builder of the palace of Frederick V of the Palatinate in Rhenen awareness.

Family and private life

Only the annual figures of his birth and death are known; about his family, his private life and his training is also little known. Maybe he was born in Delft and trained, where in any case he joined in 1613 the Guild of St. Luke; his earliest work dates back to 1614. In 1622 he became a member of the painters' guild in The Hague, had thus be moved into the residence. His grandfather Ernst van Bassen Bartolt was registrar at the Hague Hof van Holland, ( the oldest, occupied exclusively with learned lawyers Supreme Court ), which had perhaps led him to move. 1624 married van Bassen Aaltgen Pietersdr van Gilst. The couple had a son, Aernoudt Ernst, whose life and career are not handed down to the fact that he was married to the daughter of Cornelis van Poelenburch ( 1594/95-1667 ).

Gerrit Houckgeest (1600-1661) is the only painter, of which it is recorded that he was a pupil of van Bassens.

Builder and architect

From 1629 to 1634 van Bassen was engaged in private residences of the Governor Frederick Hendrick on Honselaarsdijk and the Ter Nieuburch Castle at The Hague. 1630-1631 he worked as a senior architect at the Palace of the " Winter King " Frederick V of the Palatinate in Rhenen.

In 1638 he was promoted in 1639 to the Hague builder and city architect, a position he held until 1650.

He built 20 bridges over newly dug canals; the most famous was the Bosbrug. Together with Pieter Adriaansz Noorwits he designed the Nieuwe Kerk, the first designed specifically for Protestants in the Hague church, which was built from 1649 to 1656. Van Bassen designed and realized various almshouses, 1645, for example, the Hof van Wouw on Long Beestenmarkt with its two magnificent corner houses. Also the design of the Hofgarten ( Tuin of the Hesperides ) is to come from him. His last major construction project was the Boterhuis (butter house ) on the Prinsegracht.

Painter

Van Bassen was also a talented and successful painter in his lifetime, for the subject, mainly architectural perspectives and inside views of churches dedicated to.