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372 Route 43 AMSTERDAM. Royal Palace
The Royal Palace (Het Paleis ; Pl. D, 3), formerly the town-hall,
a massive and sober building in a severe pseudo-classical style, was
begun by Jac. van Campen in 1648, immediately after the peace of
Westphalia, and substantially finished in 1655 at a cost of eight
million florins. It rests on a foundation of 13,659 piles; length
262 ft., width 207 ft., height 108 ft., height of tower 167 ft. The
gables are embellished with reliefs by Artus Quellin the Elder,
celebrating allegorically the glories of the great commercial city and
‘queen of the seas’. The vane on the tower represents a merchant-
vessel (‘een koggeschip’), formerly the crest of the city. The whole
arrangement and fitting up of the interior also carry us back to the
days when the representatives of a wealthy and powerful municipal-
ity congregated here. All the apartments are richly adorned with
“Sculptures in marble by Artus Quellin and his assistants, which
produce a very imposing general effect. The building was converted
to its present use under King Louis Bonaparte (p. 380).
The Entrance for visitors (adm., see p. 367) is at the back of the build-
ing, in the Voorburgwal. We ascend the staircase to the first floor and enter
the North Gallery, the walls of which are lined with white marble. The
gallery is now divided into three rooms, the first of which contains figures
of Jupiter and Apollo, by Quellin. In the second room, above the doors
leading to what were originally the secretary's office and the room for
marriages, are reliefs emblematical of Discretion and Fidelity, by Quellin.
The third room is adorned with statues of Mercury and Diana, by Quellin.
We now pass through a vestibule, in which is a statue of Psyche by
Fr. Barzaghi, to the Royal Apartments, which are sumptuously fitted up
with heavy silk hangings (generally covered) and furniture in the style of
the First Empire. — The Quren’s bep Room, originally the burgomaster’s
room, contains Marcus Curius Dentatus as a husbandman, one of the largest
pictures by Gov. Flinck; Fabricius in the camp of Pyrrhus, by Ferd. Bol; and
a ceiling by Corn. Holsteyn. — The ArpEs-pE-Camps’ WaiITING Room con-
tains a ceiling-painting by J. G@. van Bronchorst and an elaborately executed
chimney-piece. The painting above the latter, by Jan Lievens, represents
the Consu] Suessa ordering his father to dismount to do him reverence. —
The old court-room, called the Virrscuaar (comp. p. 450), which we
inspect from a gallery with ceiling-paintings by J. G. van Bronchorst, is
adorned with a fine frieze supported by four *Caryatides, by Quellin,
emblematical of Disgrace and Punishment. The reliefs of the frieze re-
present Wisdom (the Judgment of Solomon), Justice (Brutus ordering his
sons to execution), and Mercy (Zaleucus suffering one of his eyes to be
put out for his son). The walls are covered with white marble.
The yellow Tea Room, with a ceiling painted by W. van Helt-Stocade
(1655) and an elaborate chimney-piece, contains a Florentine mosaic cab-
inet, a rich set of Sévres ornaments, etc, — The Smatz Dininc Room
contains (over the huge chimney-pieces) Jethro counselling Moses to appoint
judges (Exodus xviii), by Bronchorst. Opposite is Solomon’s Prayer, by
Gov. Flinck. On the side-wall, between the chimney pieces, is a picture
by Jac. de Wit, Moses choosing the Seventy Elders. The clever deceptive
paintings (imitation of reliefs) above the doors are by the same master,
The Larce Dininc Room, formerly called the South Gallery, is also
richly adorned with white marble. The four statues, Saturn and Cybele,
Mars and Venus, correspond to those in the former North Gallery, and
like them are by Quedlin. Above the doors which formerly led to the
chambers for cases of bankruptcy and marine insurance are two fine reliefs,
one representing the Fall] of Icarus, with an ornamental moulding of rats
and mice gnawing empty boxes and papers, and the other Arion on the
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