A report on Amsterdam and Dutch Golden Age

Fishing for Souls, allegory of the Protestant-Catholic struggle

The Oude Kerk was consecrated in 1306 AD.

A river landscape with fishermen in rowing boats, windmills beyond, 1679

Amsterdam citizens celebrating the Peace of Münster, 30 January 1648. Painting by Bartholomeus van der Helst

Syndics of the Drapers' Guild by Rembrandt, depicting wealthy Amsterdam burghers.

Courtyard of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange by Emanuel de Witte, 1653. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange was the first stock exchange to introduce continuous trade in the early 17th century.

The Dutch had the largest merchant fleet in Europe in the 17th century

View of Vijzelstraat looking towards the Muntplein, 1891

The Trip brothers, arms traders, built the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam, currently the seat of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, which is a typical example of 17th-century architecture.

Photochrom of Amsterdam's Dam Square at the beginning of the 20th century

A family portrait, second half of the 17th century

People celebrating the liberation of the Netherlands at the end of World War II on 8 May 1945

The 17th-century Canals of Amsterdam were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2010, contributing to Amsterdam's fame as the "Venice of the North". Along with De Wallen, the canals are the focal-point for tourists in the city.

Interior of the Laurenskerk in Rotterdam, c. 1664

Satellite picture of Amsterdam and North Sea Canal

Portrait of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek by Jan Verkolje.

Large-scale map of the city centre of Amsterdam, including sightseeing markers,.

Osias Beert the Elder, Dishes with Oysters, Fruit, Candy and Wine, c. 1620/1625

Nieuwendammerdijk en Buiksloterdijk, Amsterdam-Noord, winter 2010

Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring

The Westerkerk in the Centrum borough, one of Amsterdam's best-known churches

The Kaaswaag (Cheese Weigh House) in Gouda, finished in 1667, was designed by architect Pieter Post (1608–1669), as was the Waag in Leiden.

A 1538 painting by Cornelis Anthonisz showing a bird's-eye view of Amsterdam. The famous Grachtengordel had not yet been established.

The Egelantiersgracht lies west of the Grachtengordel, in the Jordaan neighbourhood.

The Scheepvaarthuis, by architects Johan van der Mey, Michel de Klerk, Piet Kramer is characteristic of the architecture of the Amsterdam School.

The Begijnhof is one of the oldest hofjes in Amsterdam.

The Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam and Conservatorium van Amsterdam, two examples of 21st-century architecture in the centre of the city

The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world

The Zuidas, the city's main business district

Boats give tours of the city, such as this one in front of the EYE Film Institute Netherlands.

De Wallen, Amsterdam's Red-light district, offers activities such as legal prostitution and a number of coffee shops that sell cannabis. It is one of the main tourist attractions.

An Amsterdammer waits for a traffic light to change at the Muntplein in the heart of Amsterdam.

The Rijksmuseum houses Rembrandt's The Night Watch.

The Van Gogh Museum houses the world's largest collection of Van Gogh's paintings and letters.

The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam is an international museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art and design.

Coldplay performing at the Amsterdam Arena, 2016

The Concertgebouw or Royal Concert Hall houses performances of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and other musical events.

Stadsschouwburg, Amsterdam's best-known theatre

One of the decorated boats participating in the 2013 Canal Parade of the Amsterdam Gay Pride

Femke Halsema has been the Mayor of Amsterdam since 2018.

King Willem-Alexander, Princess Beatrix, and Queen Máxima greeting Amsterdammers from the Royal Palace of Amsterdam during Willem-Alexanders inauguration in 2013

The Amsterdam Metro is a mixed subway and above ground rapid transit system consisting of five lines.

Amsterdam Centraal station, the city's main train station

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol ranks as Europe's third-busiest airport for passenger traffic.

Police bicyclist crossing a bridge over the Prinsengracht

Originating as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, and became the leading centre for the finance and trade sectors.

- Amsterdam

Many of those moving north settled in Amsterdam, transforming what was a small harbor into one of the most important ports and commercial centres in the world by 1630.

- Dutch Golden Age

13 related topics with Alpha

Netherlands

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Country located in Northwestern Europe with overseas territories in the Caribbean.

The name of the historic County of Holland is currently used as a pars pro toto for the Netherlands.

Oak figurine found in Willemstad (4500 BC)

Franks, Frisians and Saxons (710s AD) with Traiecturm and Dorestad in the middle

Rorik of Dorestad, Viking ruler of Friesland (romantic 1912 depiction)

A Medieval Tombe of the Brabantian knight Arnold van der Sluijs

Map of the Habsburg dominions. From 1556 the dynasty's lands in the Low Countries were retained by the Spanish Habsburgs.

Dutch East India Company factory in Hugli-Chuchura, Mughal Bengal by Hendrik van Schuylenburgh, 1665

Winter landscape with skaters near the city of Kampen by Hendrick Avercamp (1620s)

Map of the Dutch colonial empire. Light green: territories administered by or originating from territories administered by the Dutch East India Company; dark green: the Dutch West India Company. In yellow are the territories occupied later, during the 19th century.

The submission of Diponegoro to General De Kock at the end of the Java War in 1830. Painting by Nicolaas Pieneman

Rotterdam after German air raids in 1940

Former Prime Ministers Wim Kok, Dries van Agt, Piet de Jong, Ruud Lubbers and Jan Peter Balkenende with Prime Minister Mark Rutte, in 2011

The Christmas flood of 1717 was the result of a northwesterly storm that resulted in the death of thousands.

Map illustrating areas of the Netherlands below sea level

The Delta Works are located in the provinces of South Holland and Zeeland.

Common seals on Terschelling, a Wadden Sea island

The Binnenhof, where the lower and upper houses of the States General meet

De Wallen, Amsterdam's red-light district, offers activities such as legal prostitution and a number of coffeeshops that sell marijuana, symbolising the Dutch political culture and tradition of tolerance.

The Netherlands has a culture of respectful and friendly debate. From left to right, members of the House of Representatives Sander de Rouwe (CDA), Ineke van Gent (GL), Han ten Broeke (VVD), Kees Verhoeven (D66) and Farshad Bashir (SP), 2010

Provinces and territories of the Netherlands

The Peace Palace (Vredespaleis), in The Hague

General Onno Eichelsheim is the current Chief of Defence.

Zr. Ms. Holland, a Royal Netherlands Navy offshore patrol vessel

Historical GDP per capita development (Our World in Data)

A proportional representation of Netherlands exports, 2019

The Netherlands is part of a monetary union, the Eurozone (dark blue), and the EU single market.

Natural gas concessions in the Netherlands. Today the Netherlands accounts for more than 25% of all natural gas reserves in the EU.

The Groningen gas field whose discovery in 1959 transformed the Dutch economy, generating €159 billion in revenue since the mid-1970s.

Population of the Netherlands from 1900 to 2000

Population pyramid of the Netherlands in 2017

In Rotterdam almost half the population has an immigrant background.

Population density in the Netherlands by municipality. The largest urban area, the Randstad is clearly visible along the west coast.

Knowledge of foreign languages in the Netherlands, in per cent of the population over the age of 15, in 2006

An international primary school in The Hague

View on the Utrecht Science Park of Utrecht University. The building in the centre is the library.

Portrait of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723), known as "the father of microbiology"

A regional train operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS)

Bike passage at Rotterdam Centraal station

Dutch people in orange celebrating King's Day in Amsterdam, 2017

Johan Cruyff Arena, the largest Dutch concert venue

Dutch star football players Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie during a game with the Netherlands against Denmark at Euro 2012

New Amsterdam as it appeared in 1664. Under British rule it became known as New York.

Eustachius De Lannoy of the Dutch East India Company surrenders to Maharaja Marthanda Varma of the Indian Kingdom of Travancore after the Battle of Colachel. (Depiction at Padmanabhapuram Palace)

A Dutch doctor vaccinating Indonesian patients

The four largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht.

In the Republican period, which began in 1588, the Netherlands entered a unique era of political, economic, and cultural greatness, ranked among the most powerful and influential in Europe and the world; this period is known as the Dutch Golden Age.

Republic of the Seven United Netherlands in 1789

Dutch Republic

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Federal republic which existed from 1588, during the Dutch Revolt, to 1795 (the Batavian Revolution).

Silver coin: 1 ducaton Overijssel – 1734

Amsterdam Stock Exchange courtyard, 1653

Silver coin: 1 ducaton Gelderland – 1792

The united provinces, with Drenthe and the Generality Lands

Dutch East India Company factory in Hugli-Chuchura, Mughal Bengal. Painting by Hendrik van Schuylenburgh, 1665

Because Dutch trade, science, military, and art were among the most acclaimed in the world during much of the 17th century, this period became known in Dutch history as the Dutch Golden Age.

Later, a court ruled that the company had to reside legally in a single city, so Amsterdam is recognized as the oldest such institution based on modern trading principles.

Dutch Empire

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The Dutch Empire or Dutch colonial empire (Nederlandse koloniale rijk) comprised the overseas territories and trading posts controlled and administered by Dutch chartered companies—mainly the Dutch West India Company and the Dutch East India Company—and subsequently by the Dutch Republic (1581–1795), and by the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands after 1815.

The formal declaration of independence of the Dutch provinces from the Spanish king, Philip II

The Portuguese victory at the Battle of Guararapes, ended Dutch presence in Brazil.

Primary Dutch and Portuguese settlements in Asia, c. 1665. With the exception of Jakarta and Deshima, all had been captured by the Dutch East India Company from Portugal.

Overview of Fort Zeelandia on the island of Formosa, 17th century

Batavia, built in what is now Jakarta, 1682

Dutch conquests in the West Indies and Brazil

View of Table Bay with ships of the Dutch East India Company, c. 1683

Expansion of the Dutch East Indies in the Indonesian Archipelago

Map of the Dutch colonial possessions around 1840. Included are the Dutch East Indies, Curaçao and Dependencies, Suriname, and the Dutch Gold Coast.

Sukarno, leader of the Indonesian independence movement

Dutch colonists in Suriname, 1920. Most Europeans left after independence in 1975.

Contemporary countries and federated states which were significantly colonised by the Dutch. In the Netherlands, these countries are sometimes known as verwantschapslanden (kindred countries).

The Stadthuys in Malacca, Malaysia, believed to be the oldest Dutch building in Asia

The Stadhuis of Batavia, said to be modelled after the Dam Palace itself.

Christian cross, altar, pulpit, and organ in the Dutch Reformed Church in Vosburg, South Africa.

Gedung Sate, an early 20th century colonial building which incorporates modern Western neo-classical style with indigenous elements in Bandung, Indonesia.

The Great Post Road (Grote Postweg), spanning West to East Java

The Dutch Empire in 1750{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}

The Dutch Empire in 1795{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}

The companies' domination of global commerce contributed greatly to a commercial revolution and a cultural flowering in the Netherlands of the 17th century, known as the Dutch Golden Age.

The war with Spain led many financiers and traders to emigrate from Antwerp, a major city in Flanders and then one of Europe's most important commercial centres, to Dutch cities, particularly Amsterdam, which became Europe's foremost centre for shipping, banking, and insurance.

Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-Up Collar (1659), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Rembrandt

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Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman.

The Prodigal Son in the Brothel, a self-portrait with Saskia, c. 1635

Portrait of Saskia van Uylenburgh, c. 1635

Rembrandt Memorial Marker Westerkerk Amsterdam

Rembrandt's only known seascape, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, 1633. The painting is still missing after the robbery from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990.

The Abduction of Europa, 1632. Oil on panel. The work has been described as "...a shining example of the 'golden age' of Baroque painting".

A typical portrait from 1634, when Rembrandt was enjoying great commercial success

Self Portrait, 1658, Frick Collection, a masterpiece of the final style, "the calmest and grandest of all his portraits"

The Hundred Guilder Print, c. 1647–49, etching, drypoint and burin on Japan paper, National Museum of Western Art.

Rembrandt drawing of an Indian Mughal painting

Role-playing in self-portrait as an oriental potentate with a kris/keris, a Javanese blade weapon from the VOC era (etching, c. 1634)

The Night Watch or The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq, 1642. Oil on canvas; on display at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The Polish Rider – Possibly a Lisowczyk on horseback

The Man with the Golden Helmet, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, once one of the most famous "Rembrandt" portraits, is no longer attributed to the master.

Slaughtered Ox (1655), Musée du Louvre, Paris

Rembrandt statue and the sculptures of The Night Watch in 3D at the Rembrandtplein in Amsterdam

In 1775, a 25-year-old Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote in a letter that "I live wholly with Rembrandt" ("...ich zeichne, künstle p. Und lebe ganz mit Rembrandt."). At the age of 81 (1831), Goethe wrote the essay "Rembrandt der Denker" ("Rembrandt the Thinker"), published in the posthumous collection of his works.

The Jewish Bride, c. 1665–9, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. In Vincent van Gogh's own words (1885), "I should be happy to give 10 years of my life if I could go on sitting here in front of this picture [The Jewish Bride] fortnight, with only a crust of dry bread for food." In a letter to his brother Theo, Vincent wrote, "What an intimate, what an infinitely sympathetic picture it is,"

Rembrandt Laughing, 1628, J. Paul Getty Museum

The Girl in a Picture Frame, 1641, Royal Castle, Warsaw

The evangelist Matthew and the Angel, 1661

Moving Rembrandt's The Night Watch for the 1898 Rembrandt Exhibition

A young Rembrandt, c. 1628, when he was 22. Partly an exercise in chiaroscuro. Rijksmuseum

Self-Portrait in a Gorget, c. 1629; Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg

Self-portrait, 1630, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm

Self-Portrait with Velvet Beret and Furred Mantle 1634

Self-portrait at the age of 34, 1640, National Gallery, London

Self-Portrait, oil on canvas, 1652. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Self-portrait, Vienna c. 1655, oil on walnut, cut down in size. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Self Portrait as Zeuxis, c. 1662. One of 2 painted self-portraits in which Rembrandt is turned to the left.<ref name="W1">White, 200</ref> Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne

Self-Portrait with Two Circles, c.1665–1669. Kenwood House, London

Self-portrait at the age of 63, dated 1669, the year he died. National Gallery, London

The Stoning of Saint Stephen, 1625, The first painting by Rembrandt, painted at the age of 19.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Starcky |first=Emmanuel |title=Rembrandt |publisher=Hazan |year=1990 |isbn=978-2-85025-212-9 |page=45}}</ref> It is currently kept in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon.

Artist in His Studio, 1628, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Bust of an old man with a fur hat, the artist's father, 1630

Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, c. 1630

Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, 1632

Portrait of Aeltje Uylenburgh, 1632, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Portrait of Saskia van Uylenburgh, c. 1633–1634

The Blinding of Samson, 1636, which Rembrandt gave to Huyghens

The Archangel Raphael Leaving Tobias' Family, 1637, Louvre

The Landscape with Good Samaritan, 1638, Czartoryski Museum, Kraków

Scholar at his Writing Table, 1641, Royal Castle, Warsaw

Aristotle with a Bust of Homer, 1653, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Young Girl at the Window, 1654, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm

Portrait of Jan Six, a wealthy friend of Rembrandt, 1654

Bathsheba at Her Bath, modelled by Hendrickje, 1654

A Woman Bathing in a Stream, modelled by Hendrickje, 1654

Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther, 1660

Saint Bartholomew, 1661, J. Paul Getty Museum

The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis (cut-down), 1661–62

Lucretia, 1666 (Minneapolis Institute of Art)

The Return of the Prodigal Son, detail, c. 1669 - Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

Self-portrait, c. 1628–29, pen and brush and ink on paper

Self-portrait in a cap, with eyes wide open, 1630, etching and burin

Seated Old Man (c.1630), red and black chalk on paper, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm

Suzannah and the Elders, 1634, drawing in Sanguine on paper, Kupferstichkabinett Berlin

Self-portrait with Saskia, 1636, etching, Rijksmuseum

An elephant, 1637, drawing in black chalk on paper, Albertina, Austria

Self-portrait leaning on a Sill, 1639, etching, National Gallery of Art

Christ and the woman taken in adultery, c. 1639–41, drawing in ink, Louvre

Beggars I., c. 1640–42, ink on paper, Warsaw University Library

The Diemerdijk at Houtewael (near Amsterdam), 1648–49, pen and brown ink, brown wash, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

The Three Crosses, 1653, drypoint etching, state III of V, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Virgin and Child with a Cat, 1654, original copper etching plate above (the original copper plate), in Victoria and Albert Museum, example of the print below

Christ presented to the People, drypoint etching, 1655, state I of VIII, Rijksmuseum

Two Old Men in Conversation /Two Jews in Discussion, Walking, year unknown, black chalk and brown ink on paper, Teylers Museum

A a child being taught to walk (c. 1635). David Hockney said: "I think it's the greatest drawing ever done... It's a magnificent drawing, magnificent."<ref name="Hockney2014">{{Cite web |last=Lewis, Tim |date=16 November 2014 |title=David Hockney: 'When I'm working, I feel like Picasso, I feel I'm 30' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/nov/16/david-hockney-interview-i-feel-like-picasso |access-date=16 June 2020 |website=The Guardian |quote=David Hockney (2014): "There's a drawing by Rembrandt, I think it's the greatest drawing ever done. It's in the British Museum and it's of a family teaching a child to walk, so it's a universal thing, everybody has experienced this or seen it happen. Everybody. I used to print out Rembrandt drawings big and give them to people and say: 'If you find a better drawing send it to me. But if you find a better one it will be by Goya or Michelangelo perhaps.' But I don't think there is one actually. It's a magnificent drawing, magnificent." |archive-date=16 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516011950/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/nov/16/david-hockney-interview-i-feel-like-picasso |url-status=live }}</ref>

A young woman sleeping (c. 1654). Shows Rembrandt's calligraphic-style draughtsmanship.

His contributions to art came in a period of great wealth and cultural achievement that historians call the Dutch Golden Age, when Dutch art (especially Dutch painting), whilst antithetical to the Baroque style that dominated Europe, was prolific and innovative.

A depiction of a biblical scene was informed by Rembrandt's knowledge of the specific text, his assimilation of classical composition, and his observations of Amsterdam's Jewish population.

Baruch Spinoza

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Dutch philosopher of Portuguese Sephardic Jewish origin.

Statue (2008) of Spinoza by Nicolas Dings, Amsterdam, Zwanenburgwal, with inscription "The objective of the state is freedom" (translation, quote from Tractatus Theologico-Politicus, 1677)

Map by Balthasar Florisz van Berckenrode (1625) with the present location of the Moses and Aaron Church in white, but also the spot where Spinoza grew up.

Spinoza lived where the Moses and Aaron Church is located now, and there is strong evidence that he may have been born there.

Ban in Portuguese of Baruch Spinoza by his Portuguese Jewish synagogue community of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 6 Av 5416 (27 July 1656).

"Baruch Espinosa", son of Michael Espinosa was erased from the list of pupils of the school Ets Haim, Amsterdam, 17th century. His brother "Ishac" is registered just above.

Statue of Spinoza, near the Museum Het Spinozahuis in The Hague by Frédéric Hexamer

Spinoza and the Rabbis by Samuel Hirszenberg (1907)

Spinoza's house in Rijnsburg from 1661 to 1663, now a museum

Spinoza House in The Hague, where Spinoza lived from 1670 until his death in 1677

The opening page of Spinoza's magnum opus, Ethics

Engraving of Spinoza, captioned in Latin, "A Jew and an atheist"

Inspired by the groundbreaking ideas of René Descartes, Spinoza became a leading philosophical figure of the Dutch Golden Age.

Spinoza was raised in the Spanish-Portuguese-Jewish community in Amsterdam.

Utrecht

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Fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht.

The Dom Tower seen from Downtown Utrecht. The remaining section of the Cathedral of Saint Martin is not connected to the tower since the collapse of the nave in 1674 due to a storm.

Lambert de Hondt (II): The Surrender of Utrecht on 30 June 1672 to the French king Louis XIV, 1672, Centraal Museum Utrecht

People celebrating the liberation of Utrecht at the end of World War II on 7 May 1945

Oudegracht (the 'old canal') in central Utrecht

View of the Oudegracht from the Dom Tower

Aerial view of Utrecht from the Dom Tower

View on the Science Park campus of Utrecht University. The building in the centre is the library.

Miffy statue at the Nijntjepleintje in Utrecht

Prins Clausbrug across the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal

team pauses with their coach by the Muntbrug, a rotating bridge built in 1887.

It was the most important city in the Netherlands until the Dutch Golden Age, when it was surpassed by Amsterdam as the country's cultural centre and most populous city.

Dutch East India Company

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Chartered company established in 1602, when the States General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out trade activities in Asia.

The "United East India Company", or "United East Indies Company" (also known by the abbreviation "VOC" in Dutch) was the brainchild of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, the leading statesman of the Dutch Republic.

Replica of the VOC ship Duyfken under sail

Founded in 1602, the Dutch East India Company (VOC), started off as a spice trader. In the same year, the VOC undertook the world's first recorded IPO. "Going public" enabled the company to raise the vast sum of 6.5 million guilders quickly. The VOC's institutional innovations and business practices laid the foundations for the rise of modern-day global corporations and capital markets that now dominate the world's economic systems.

In terms of creating and sustaining an effective corporate identity (or corporate culture), the United East India Company (VOC) was a successful early pioneer at the dawn of modern capitalism.

17th century plaque to Dutch East India Company (VOC), Hoorn

Return of the second Asia expedition of Jacob van Neck in 1599 by Cornelis Vroom

Mughal Bengal's baghlah was a type of ship widely used by Dutch traders in the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, the Malacca Straits and the South China Sea

Reproduction of a map of the city of Batavia c.1627, collection Tropenmuseum

Dutch Batavia in 1681, built in what is now North Jakarta

The Isle of Amboina, a 17th-century print, probably English

Graves of Dutch dignitaries in the ruined St. Paul's Church, Malacca, in the former Dutch Malacca

Dutch East India Company factory in Hugli-Chuchura, Mughal Bengal. Hendrik van Schuylenburgh, 1665

The Oost-Indisch Huis (Reinier Vinkeles, 1768)

A bond from the Dutch East India Company (VOC), dating from 7 November 1623. The VOC was the first company in history to issue bonds and shares of stock to the general public. It was the VOC that invented the idea of investing in the company rather than in a specific venture governed by the company. The VOC was also the first company to use a fully-fledged capital market (including the bond market and the stock market) as a crucial channel to raise medium-term and long-term funds.

Both sides of a duit, a coin minted in 1735 by the VOC

Scale model of Dutch trading post on display in Dejima, Nagasaki (1995)

Ground-plan of the Dutch trade-post on the island Dejima at Nagasaki. An imagined bird's-eye view of Dejima's layout and structures (copied from a woodblock print by Toshimaya Bunjiemon of 1780).

Overview of Fort Zeelandia (Fort Anping) in Tainan, Taiwan, painted around 1635 (National Bureau of Archives, The Hague)

The Dutch Square in Malacca, with Christ Church (centre) and the Stadthuys (right)

Gateway to the Castle of Good Hope, a bastion fort built by the VOC in the 17th century

One of the oldest known stock certificates, issued by the VOC Chamber of Enkhuizen, dated 9 September 1606. The VOC was the first recorded joint-stock company to get a fixed capital stock. The VOC was also the first publicly listed company ever to pay regular dividends. The VOC was possibly in fact the first ever blue-chip stock. In Robert Shiller's words, the VOC was "the first real important stock" in the history of finance.

A 17th-century engraving depicting the Amsterdam Stock Exchange (Amsterdam's old bourse, a.k.a. Beurs van Hendrick de Keyser in Dutch), built by Hendrick de Keyser (c. 1612). The Amsterdam Stock Exchange (Beurs van Hendrick de Keyser), launched by the Dutch East India Company in the early 1600s, was the world's first official (formal) stock exchange when it began trading the VOC's freely transferable securities, including bonds and shares of stock.

Courtyard of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange (Beurs van Hendrick de Keyser) by Emanuel de Witte, 1653. The process of buying and selling the VOC's shares, on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, became the basis of the world's first official (formal) stock market, a milestone in the history of capitalism.

Crowd gathering on Wall Street (New York City) after the 1929 crash. The 1929 Wall Street Crash is often considered one of the worst stock market crashes in history. For better or worse, the VOC-created quasi-casino stock market system has profoundly influenced the evolution of the global economy since the Dutch Golden Age.

The Dam Square in Amsterdam, by Gerrit Adriaensz Berckheyde, c. 1660. In the picture of the centre of highly cosmopolitan and tolerant Amsterdam, Muslim/Oriental figures (possibly Ottoman or Moroccan merchants) are shown negotiating. While the VOC was a major force behind the economic miracle of the Dutch Republic in the 17th-century, the VOC's institutional innovations played a decisive role in the rise of Amsterdam as the first modern model of a (global) international financial centre.

The shipyard of the United East India Company (VOC) in Amsterdam (1726 engraving by Joseph Mulder). The shipbuilding district of Zaan, near Amsterdam, became one of the world's earliest known industrialized areas, with around 900 wind-powered sawmills at the end of the 17th century. By the early seventeenth century Dutch shipyards were producing a large number of ships to a standard design, allowing extensive division of labour, a specialization which further reduced unit costs.

Jan Vermeer's View of Delft (ca. 1660–61). During the Dutch Golden Age, the VOC significantly influenced Delft's economy, both directly and indirectly.

A replica of the VOC's Halve Maen (captained by Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the service of the Dutch Republic) passes modern-day lower Manhattan, where the original ship would have sailed while investigating New York harbor

In the Age of Sail, the Brouwer Route, devised by VOC navigator Hendrik Brouwer in 1611, greatly reduced the voyage between Cape of Good Hope (Dutch Cape Colony) to Java (Dutch East Indies) from almost 12 months to about 6 months, compared to the previous Arab and Portuguese monsoon route. The Brouwer Route played a major role in the European discovery of the west coast of Australia.

A typical map from the Golden Age of Netherlandish cartography. Australasia during the Golden Age of Dutch exploration and discovery (c. 1590s–1720s): including Nova Guinea (New Guinea), Nova Hollandia (mainland Australia), Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), and Nova Zeelandia (New Zealand).

Australia (Nova Hollandia) was the last human-inhabited continent to be explored and mapped (by non-natives). The Dutch were the first to undisputedly explore and map Australia's coastline. In the 17th century, the VOC's navigators and explorers charted almost three-quarters of the Australian coastline, except the east coast.

Detail from a 1657 map by Jan Janssonius, showing the western coastline of Nova Zeelandia

The VOC's economic activity in Mauritius largely contributed to the extinction of the dodo, a flightless bird that was endemic to the island. The first recorded mention of the dodo was by Dutch navigators in the late 1590s.

Natives of Arakan sell slaves to the Dutch East India Company, c.1663 CE.

Charles Davidson Bell's 19th-century painting of Jan van Riebeeck, the founder of Cape Town, arriving in Table Bay in 1652

The statue of Willem de Vlamingh with the Hartog Plate, Vlieland

Monument to the "Tsar-Carpenter" Peter I of Russia (Peter the Great) in St. Petersburg, Russia. In order to learn more about the 17th-century Dutch maritime power, Tsar Peter I came to work incognito as a ship's carpenter at the VOC's shipyards in Amsterdam and Zaandam/Saardam, for a period of four months (1697).

The Flying Dutchman by Albert Pinkham Ryder, c. 1887 (Smithsonian American Art Museum). The legend of the Flying Dutchman is likely to have originated from the 17th-century golden age of the VOC.

Cape Dutch style-influenced eclectic building of the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk in Swellendam. The Cape Dutch architecture, along with Afrikaans language and Afrikaans literature, is among the lasting legacy of the VOC-era Afrikaans culture in South Africa.

Black, green, pink, and white peppercorns. In terms of spice trade, the VOC was an early pioneering model of the global supply chain in its modern sense. Dutch word "peperduur" – which literally translated as "pepper expensive" or "as expensive as pepper" – is an expression for something that is very costly.

VOC Trade Cloth, 1675–1725, with Mughal tent hanging / summer carpet motif. Made in India for the Indonesian market. Fine textiles from India were a popular luxury import into Indonesia, and some still survive as treasured heirlooms.

The arrival of King Charles II of England in Rotterdam, 24 May 1660 by Lieve Verschuier. King Charles II of England sailed from Breda to Delft in May 1660 in a yacht owned by the VOC. HMY Mary and HMY Bezan (both were built by the VOC) were given to Charles II, on the restoration of the monarchy, as part of the Dutch Gift.

Johan Nieuhof's An embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces (1665).

The cover of the Hortus Malabaricus by Hendrik Adriaan van Reede tot Drakenstein.<ref>Manilal, K. S. (1984), 'Hortus Malabaricus and the Ethnoiatrical Knowledge of Ancient Malabar,'. Ancient Science of Life 4(2): 96–99</ref><ref>Manilal, K.S.: Hortus Malabaricus and the Socio-Cultural Heritage of India. (Calicut: Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy, 2012)</ref><ref>Dharmapalan, Biju (2012), 'Hortus Malabaricus: Celebrating the Tricentennial of a Botanic Epic,'. SR 49(10): 26–28</ref><ref>Manilal, K. S. (2005), 'Hortus Malabaricus, a book on the plants of Malabar, and its impact on the religious of Christianity and Hinduism in the 17th century Kerala,'. Indian Journal of Botanical Research 1(1): 13–28</ref>

Title page of Rumphius's Herbarium Amboinense (1741–1750)

Title page of Hortus Cliffortianus (1737). The work was a collaboration between Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) and Georg Dionysius Ehret, financed by George Clifford III, one of the directors of the VOC.

Title page of Musa Cliffortiana (1736), Carl Linnaeus's first botanical monograph.

Carl von Linné (Carl Linnaeus) lived and studied for three years, from 1735 until 1738, in the Dutch Republic – a seminal period in his life and career (see articles Herman Boerhaave, Johannes Burman, Engelbert Kaempfer, Georg Eberhard Rumphius, Carl Peter Thunberg, George Clifford III and Hartekamp). VOC people's scientific contributions had a considerable influence on his work.<ref>Heniger, J.: Hendrik Adriaan van Reed tot Drakestein (1636–1691) and Hortus Malabaricus: A Contribution to the History of Dutch Colonial Botany. (Rotterdam: A.A.Balkema, 1986). Heniger (1986): "Allure by the fame of Dutch botany, the young Linnaeus here spent some years, 1735–1738, to complete his schooling."</ref><ref>Skott, Christina (2010), 'The VOC and Swedish Natural History: The Transmission of Scientific Knowledge in the Eighteenth Century,'; in Siegfried Huigen, Jan L. de Jong & Elmer Kolfin (eds.), The Dutch Trading Companies as Knowledge Networks. (Brill, 2010), pp. 361–392</ref><ref>Thijsse, Gerard (2018), 'A Contribution to the History of the Herbaria of George Clifford III (1685–1760),'. Archives of Natural History 45(1): 134–148. {{doi|10.3366/anh.2018.0489}}</ref><ref>Barth, Nadine; van Andel, Tinde (2018), 'Paul Hermann's Ceylon Herbarium (1672–1679) at Leiden, the Netherlands,'. Taxon 67(5): 977–988</ref><ref>Jarvis, C.E. (2019), 'Georg Rumphius' Herbarium Amboinense (1741–1750) as a source of information on Indonesian plants for Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778),'. Gardens' Bulletin Singapore 71: 87–107</ref>

Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg was a VOC physician and an apostle of Linnaeus.

$With the support of Governor of the VOC-rule Dutch Cape Colony Ryk Tulbagh, French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille studied the stars of the southern hemisphere from 1750 until 1754 from Cape of Good Hope, when he was said to have observed more than 10,000 stars using a {{convert|0.5|in|mm}} refracting telescope.<ref name="Wisconsin-Madison">{{cite web|url=http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/extra/Lacaille.html|title=Abbé Nicolas Louis de Lacaille (1713–1762)|website=Department of Astronomy. University of Wisconsin-Madison|access-date=1 August 2016}}</ref> were newly created in 1763 by Lacaille appearing in his star catalogue, published in 1756.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/lacaille.htm |title=Lacaille's southern planisphere |author=Ian Ridpath}}</ref>$

Black swans on the shore of the Swan River (Western Australia), with the Perth skyline in the background. The thousand-year-old conclusion "all swans are white" was disproved by the VOC navigator Willem de Vlamingh's 1697 discovery.

Hansken, a young female Asian elephant from Dutch Ceylon, was brought to Amsterdam in 1637, aboard a VOC ship. Rembrandt's Hansken drawing is believed to be an early portrait of one of the first Asian elephants described by science.

$Rembrandt's self-portrait as an oriental potentate with a kris/keris, a Javanese blade weapon from the VOC era (etching, c. 1634). Also, he was one of the first known western printmakers to extensively use (the VOC-imported) Japanese paper. It's important to note that some major figures of Dutch Golden Age art like Rembrandt and Vermeer never went abroad during their lifetime. More than just a for-profit corporation of the early modern world, the VOC was instrumental in 'bringing' the East (Orient) to the West (Occident),<ref>Seneviratne, Nadeera (2010), 'Globalising Hansken: An Elephant in The Netherlands,'; in Leelananda Prematilleke (ed.), Abhinandanamālā: Nandana Chutiwongs Felicitation Volume. (Bangkok: SPAFA Regional Centre of Archaeology and Fine Arts, 2010), pp. 259–273</ref><ref>Kim, Myung-Eun; Bae, Soo-Jeong (2015), 'A research on the exchange of costume culture between Netherlands and Japan through 17th–18th century Dutch East India Company,'. The Korea Society of Costume – Journal of the Korean Society of Costume 65(4): 109–123</ref><ref>Kim, Myung-Eun; Bae, Soo-Jeong (2015), 'A Study on Orientalism in the Paintings of Delft School in 17th Century Netherlands,'. The Korea Society of Costume – Journal of the Korean Society of Costume 65(8): 136–150</ref> <ref>Schrader, Stephanie; et al. (eds.): Rembrandt and the Inspiration of India. (Los Angeles, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2018) {{ISBN|978-1-60606-552-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Rembrandt and the Inspiration of India (catalogue)|url=http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/rembrandt_india/downloads/rembrandt_india_checklist.pdf|access-date=18 October 2019}}</ref> and vice versa.<ref>Sugita, Genpaku: Rangaku Kotohajime: Dawn of Western Science in Japan. Translated from the Japanese by Matsumoto Ryozo and Kiyooka Eiichi. (Tokyo: Hokuseido Press, 1968)</ref><ref>Goodman, Grant K.: Dutch Impact on Japan, 1640–1853. (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1967)</ref><ref>Nagazumi, Yōko (ed.): Large and Broad: The Dutch Impact on Early Modern Asia. Essays in Honor of Leonard Blussé. (Tokyo: Toyo Bunko, 2010)</ref><ref>North, Michael; Kaufmann, Thomas DaCosta (eds.): Mediating Netherlandish Art and Material Culture in Asia. (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2014)</ref>$

Still Life with a Chinese Porcelain Jar, by Dutch Golden Age painter Willem Kalf (c. 1660s). 17th-century Chinese export porcelain wares (imported by the VOC) are often depicted in many Dutch Golden Age genre and still-life paintings.

Shop window display of Delftware in the market place, Delft. East Asian–inspired Delftware, a lasting cultural and economic legacy of the VOC era.

Blaeu's Atlas Maior (1662–1672), a monumental multi-volume world atlas from the Golden Age of Dutch/Netherlandish cartography (c. 1570s–1670s) and a widely recognized masterpiece in the history of mapmaking. Willem Blaeu and his son Joan Blaeu were both official cartographers to the VOC.

Regions of Oceania (including Australasia, Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia). "The Island Continent" Australia was the last human-inhabited continent to be largely known to the civilized world. The VOC's navigators were the first non-natives to undisputedly discover, explore and chart coastlines of Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Tonga, and Fiji.

Abel Tasman's routes of the first and second voyage

Wall of Fort Zeelandia/Fort Anping, Tainan (Taiwan)

The Castle of Good Hope (Kasteel de Goede Hoop in Dutch), Cape Town, South Africa

The restored conference room of the {{ill|Heeren XVII|nl|Heren XVII}} (the VOC's board of directors) in the East Indies House/Oost-Indisch Huis, Amsterdam

A replica of the VOC vessel Batavia (1620–29)

19th-century illustration Halve Maen (Half Moon) in the Hudson River in 1609

Anonymous painting with Table Mountain in the background, 1762

Dutch church at Batavia, Dutch East Indies, 1682

A naval cannon (Dejima, Nagasaki, Japan). The letters "VOC" are the monogram of the "Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie" and the letter "A" represents the "Amsterdam" Chamber of the company.

The Seri Rambai at Fort Cornwallis, George Town, Penang, Malaysia

Aerial view of Galle Fort (Galle) – a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Sri Lanka

Malacca City (Malacca) – a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Malaysia

Sword of the East India Company, featuring the V.O.C. monogram of the guard. On display at the Musée de l'Armée in Paris.

Frontispiece from Voyage dans l'intérieur de l'Afrique by François Levaillant

First Flag of the Dutch East India Company

Second Flag of the Dutch East India Company, adopted with red stripe around 1630 or 1663 and beyond, for the purpose of better visibility at sea against a light sky

Flag of the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch East Indies Company

Later flag of the Dutch East Indies, after Dutch East India Company was dissolved

Late 18th-century plate in European style, with Dutch/VOC ships, Canton porcelain, painted there on a "blank" from Jingdezhen.

Purchase Contract signed July 5, 1797, between 'Committee for the Affairs of East India Trade and Property' (on behalf of the Batavian Republic) and De Coninck Firm, notarised by Jan Harmsen. Since the VOC had incurred debts of millions, its Indian merchandise in Batavia was sold to the firm. The VOC was unable to send its ships; the firm itself was responsible for collecting the merchandise from Batavia. The merchandise included spices (Nutmeg, Cloves, Black and Brown pepper), dyes (Indigo, Sappan wood, Caliatour wood), Coffee, and Powdered sugar.

Kopi luwak, coffee seeds from faeces of palm civet, Lampung, Indonesia. Coffee cultivation in Indonesia began in the late 1600s and early 1700s, in the VOC period. Indonesia was the fourth-largest producer of coffee in the world in 2014.

The VOC consisted of six Chambers (Kamers) in port cities: Amsterdam, Delft, Rotterdam, Enkhuizen, Middelburg and Hoorn.

In 2006 when the Dutch Prime Minister Jan Pieter Balkenende referred to the pioneering entrepreneurial spirit and work ethics of the Dutch people and Dutch Republic in their Golden Age, he coined the term "VOC mentality" (VOC-mentaliteit in Dutch).

Antwerp

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Largest city in Belgium by area at 204.51 km2 and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region.

Scaldis (the Scheldt) and Antverpia, Abraham Janssens, 1609, oil on panel, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp

Osias Beert the Elder, from Antwerp. Dishes with Oysters, Fruit, and Wine, c. 1620/1625

Sack of Antwerp in 1576, in which about 7,000 people died.

Antwerp and the river Scheldt, photochrom ca. 1890–1900

Antwerp, Belgium, from the left bank of the Scheldt (c. 1890 – 1900)

"View of Antwerp with the frozen Scheldt" (1590) by Lucas van Valckenborch

The German bombardment of Antwerp, October 1914, by Willy Stöwer

One of the many Marian statues which feature on Antwerp street corners

Official poster of the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp

Main building of the Middelheim campus at the University of Antwerp.

Amsterdam replaced Antwerp as the major trading center for the region.

Most went to the United Provinces in the north, starting the Dutch Golden Age.

Dutch Finis Belli, a fortified ship meant to break the Spanish blockade.

Fall of Antwerp

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The Fall of Antwerp on 17 August 1585 took place during the Eighty Years' War, after a siege lasting over a year from July 1584 until August 1585.

Parma nearly died during the attack on his pontoon bridge in 1585. Famiano Strada: Histoire de la guerre des Païs-Bas, 1727.

Defeat of the rebels on the Kouwensteinsedijk near the pontoon bridge, 26 May 1585. Lamberecht Causé in Famiano Strada Histoire de la guerre des Païs Bas, 1727.

Many migrated north, especially to Amsterdam, which became the capital of the Dutch Republic.

Many of Antwerp's skilled tradesmen were included in the Protestant migration to the north, laying the commercial foundation for the subsequent "Dutch Golden Age" of the northern United Provinces.

Royal Palace of Amsterdam

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The then Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima kiss on the balcony of the Royal Palace on their wedding day in 2002

The Royal Palace of Amsterdam in Amsterdam (Dutch: Koninklijk Paleis van Amsterdam or Paleis op de Dam) is one of three palaces in the Netherlands which are at the disposal of the monarch by Act of Parliament.

The palace was built as a city hall during the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century.