Despite the tour being in Dutch, Sean liked the medieval prison with it’s tools of the trade (the stocks, execution swords etc.) We did not let on that we understood only 10% of the tour commentary and carried out what we thought was appropriately timed polite laughs when the guide appeared as though he was making a joke. The Prison Gate was the prison of the Court of Holland from 1420 to 1828. Baddies who were suspected of capital crimes like murder, forgery or crimes against the Monarch, were incarcerated here awaiting trial. Up to 15 inmates crowded into each cell which had very low doorways and ‘toilets’ that emptied directly into the Hofviver (the big pond in front of the prison). The accused were tried by the judges who, if not satisfied with the evidence elicited from an interrogation, would send the accused to the torture chamber to see if they could remember any better. The torture chamber is charmingly decorated with original rustic Delft blue tiles - whether for cosy ambience or easy wipe clean purposes, I am not sure. After they had a fair trial, the guilty were not imprisoned, but either banished or subject to corporal punishment or the death penalty. The museum has some of the equipment to assist with the trial and just punishment including thumb screws, branding irons, execution swords and axes, racks and pillory boards. The most famous prisoner of the prison was Cornelis de Witt , who was convicted of perjury. Later with his brother Johan he was lynched by the mob in front of the Prison. There is a grisly painting of the De Witt brothers’ mutilated corpses strung up at the Rijksmuseum.
I enjoyed the gallery which is just one room, but extravagantly crammed with 150 paintings in the 18th century style. This was the collection of Prince Willliam V, Prince of Orange-Nassau (1748-1806) who was the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. Collecting was an assumed duty for an eighteenth-century head of state. From 1774 William V, regularly opened his picture gallery to the public, the first public gallery in the Netherlands.
William seemed to be fond of still life paintings, portraits, hunting scenes and genre scenes (depictions of everyday life, including a painting of a man de-fleaing himself and another of a man getting a tooth pulled). All the paintings of different sizes and jammed into every inch of wall space, are by Dutch and Flemish Masters such as Abraham Bloemaert, Frans Hals, Jan Steen, Jan Vemeer and Rubens. Very opulent.
Apart from an evening spent at the Not Out, (becoming rather a habit I’m afraid), that was it for our weekend goings-on because Sean had the Black Plague, I mean the Common Cold. This is alarming because it hints that winter is ahead.
Indeed the weather is becoming chilly. Today had a top of 9°C. This morning I was hailed on as I went for a morning run, pea sized, but ouch! Yesterday as I rode home from ‘work’ I got completely drenched and Sean ditto.
‘Work ‘is my volunteer position at the Expatriate Archive Centre where I have just commenced. The archive collects and preserves diaries, letters, photos, documents and any material that records the social history of an expatriate’s life, living anywhere in the world. One of my roles so far has been to read and summarise material, so that it can be keyword coded and archived. Once archived; researchers, students and historians can find and use the material to research the social and emotional impact of workers and families living abroad, or the cultural and political changes of specific countries over time. How wonderful to read somebody’s private diary for a legitimate purpose! I don’t even feel like I’m prying. The people that I work with are lovely too, an international team and English is spoken. They also have a cupboard full of instant noodles for hungry volunteers to lunch on.
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