Unique carpets
125 years ago on the 24th of April a small museum in the centre of Amsterdam was founded.
Museum Our Lord in the Attic is still here and after three years of restoration (walls, stairs and the lighting) the church will be refurbished. The final project will be the matting, this will be completed exactly on the 125th anniversary of this museum.
All of the rush is harvested by a team of 4 at Rush Matters. They cut the rush between mid June and August on the rivers Gt. Ouse in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire and the Nene in Northants.
Last summer they cut 2750 bolts of rush, it took 8 weeks to collect. The rush is collected from special rush cutting aluminium punts. The drying process is outdoors. The bolts of rush are stood against a hedge and turned every day until dry. Drying takes between 5-8 days. There are no chemicals used in any part of the process.
The plaiting is all made by hand. This project has been made to the particular specifications as the plait is narrower. There is a total of 4500m of plaiting, 95m of binding plait, for the church.
10 people have been involved in this job. There are 3 them working full time and the rest work part time.
The matting is made in sections in the atelier and is brought into the church and will be sewn together on site to fit wall to wall.
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Canal Stories
400 years of life in the canal district
In 2013, Amsterdam celebrates the 400th anniversary of its inner-city canals. Cromhouthuizen, Geelvinck Hinlopen Huis, Ons'Lieve Heer op Solder and Museum Willet-Holthuysen have pooled their resources to present Life in the Canal District: real-life stories about intriguing people who lived along the canals.
Presentations in each house highlight the lives of various residents; Father Parmentier lived at Ons'Lieve Heer op Solder, the affluent Cromhout family occupied four buildings on Herengracht, Abraham and Louisa Willet-Holthuysen left their home to the city of Amsterdam as a museum, while Dunya Verwey and Jurn Buisman
are the current residents of Geelvinck Hinlopen House.
For some who lived by the canals, life was a roller-coaster ride: evicted and forced to move in the Wallen neighbourhood or married in aristocratic style at Cromhout House, while the Willets’ kept a veritable menagerie and elsewhere Dolle Mina was founded – Canal Stories reveals what life was really like.
A Canal Stories guide is available in March 2013 at participating museums, providing a tour of the canals accompanied by personal stories of the people who lived there.
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Boxbed
March 2013
In the furthest of the three houses, the contours of a Boxbed are beginning to form. Research has confirmed the suspicion that in the seventeenth century, when the attic church’s first priest Petrus Parmentier lived here, there must have been a bedstead. The largely authentic 17th-century bedstead wall one floor above, provided considerable information about the probable appearance of the bedstead. Pre-decimal wood measurements, traditional carpentry joints and hand-planed planks ensure as faithful a reconstruction as possible. Once the work is finished, the boxbed will be furnished appropriately.
Antependium (altar cloth)
December 2012
Our Lord in the Attic has several eighteenth-century antependia that can be traced to the inventory of ’t Haantje. Expensive fabrics were often donated to the church, so the antependia in the museum collection are made of various textiles. They were trimmed to the shape of the altar table with braid. Since the fabrics are sensitive to light, the original antependia were seldom brought out for use. After a long search, we found silk cloth with designs from the mid-eighteenth century. It was woven in France on old looms. With this antependium, the altar has something of the atmosphere of the period before the church became a museum.
Altar carpet
November 2012
A carpet was recently laid over the altar steps. It is a replica of the carpet that covered the steps in the final years before the church was decommissioned. A photo taken around 1890 provided a model for the reconstruction. The carpet was woven at Lichtenvoorde in the Netherlands by Brink & Campman.
Sanctuary lamp
August 2012
The 1731 sanctuary lamp is back in place in the church. The sanctuary lamp is suspended from a so-called sanctuary-lamp hanger. This special hanger is 2.5 metres long. The whole construction hangs from the ventilation aperture in the ceiling.
Return of the organ
September 2012
A restorer with Elbertse organ-makers is currently working on the last phase of replacing the 690 pipes of the church organ. Once the pipes have been positioned they have to be tuned: that requires extreme precision. Soon the organ will be revealed in all its former glory.
Alternative altarpieces
August 2012
In the eighteenth century, Amsterdam’s clandestine Catholic churches had various paintings available for the decoration of the altar. Often these showed appropriate scenes for the various festivals of the liturgical year. Het Hart (former name of Our Lord in the Attic) had four in the eighteenth century. The only painting actually described is a Crucifixion. And that is the very work which is now missing. Today, in addition to Jacob de Wit’s Baptism of Christ which appears over the altar, the church also has a Pentecostal scene and a Resurrection of Christ painted by Norbert van Bloemen in 1737. The latter are now on permanent display in a depot-like construction behind the altar in the museum.
Reconstruction of the sacristy
August 2012
On the first floor of the church the reconstruction of the sacristy is already well under way. Here items required for celebrating mass are kept and this is also where the priest dresses for his ecclesiastical duties.
Traces of previous constructions enabled a credence cabinet to be made. This is where the liturgical vestments are kept. Long garments are hung in the wardrobe on the right.
The museum decided to leave the doors and drawers open to allow visitors to see the altar ornaments close up.
Altarpiece replaced
July 2012
The altarpiece by the famous eighteenth-century artist Jacob de Wit showing the Baptism of Christ at the Jordan, has returned to its place above the altar at Our Lord in the Attic. The painting was commissioned in 1716 by Van Schaick, the priest here at the time.
Madonna is back
April 2012
Our seventeenth-century Madonna has been away for two years, being restored. Now the statue is her old self again and the Virgin is back in place.
The Madonna is probably part of the original inventory of Het Hart, as the church was known in the seventeenth century. Restorer Aleth Lorne estimates that it was made in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century. Lorne suspects that it originated from the Southern Netherlands, probably Liege.
Before restoration.
After restoration.
RTV-Noord Holland filmed the return of the figure. Watch at: http://www.rtvnh.nl/nieuws/78951/Ons+Lieve+Heer+heeft+Maria+weer+terug
New light on the print room’s function
March 2012
The discovery of wallpaper in the print room sheds new light on its original function. Now the museum has to find a new name for the room, which was probably used for the church.
As mentioned in an earlier blog, the wallpaper was discovered on a door hidden behind a wall. Research suggests that the wallpaper was probably hung when the church was still functioning. In fact the whole room was probably decorated with the same paper. Remains of the paper were also found on the wall beside the door. A paper restorer has reconstructed the design and now all the walls of the room are hung with the wallpaper.
Little is known at present about the room’s function. From the design of the wallpaper it seems that this was not part of the residential section, since the motif suggests a church-like association. Perhaps it was a cloakroom, where congregants could hang a coat or leave an umbrella.
Sconces for the Parlour
January 2012
One aspect of the refurnishing of the parlour is the lighting in this wonderful room. This is being done as far as possible in the style of the period in which the room was built, in the years 1661-1663. In addition to the brass chandelier already in the collection, it was decided to have two replica sconces cast in brass. The original model is from Amsterdam’s Portuguese Synagogue and the casts were superbly executed by Brink & van Keulen. They will soon be on display on the wall in the parlour.
A splendid altar
December 2011
The altar has been put back together temporarily and the various restored objects returned to their place; the two putti are back where they belong at the base of the altar columns, six wooden candlesticks are once again on display, as is the magnificently restored tabernacle, and all the way up, the angels with gilt trumpets.
Altarpiece back in place?
Oktober 2011
This week a banner was hung above the altar showing Jacob de Wit’s Baptism in the River Jordan (1716). It is not the actual painting, which is still in one of the big chests behind the altar. While restoration work continues, most of the furnishings and paintings remain stowed away.
This altarpiece gives the altar the appearance of normality, in preparation for the actual refurbishment due to begin soon.
Peat bunker becomes a sacristy
September 2011
The discovery of two doors in the storeroom in our bicycle shed has resulted in a reallocation of what we thought was a peat bunker.
The two old cupboard doors turned out to fit neatly in the side of the museum’s tiny fourth-floor room. Along with traces of a low cupboard on another of the walls, the doors indicate that this had at one time been the church sacristy. When the museum is refurbished, the room will therefore be restored to its original function. The old cupboard doors have been replaced and the low cupboard has been reconstructed.
Examination of the colours used shows that the woodwork behind the altar was originally painted as imitation wood. The motif has been restored by the painters.
Imitation wood requires a special technique: first a light ground is applied, then a layer of yellow-brown with the mock structure of wood brought into the wet paint with a wide long-bristled brush.
Painting the details in colour.
August 2011
The attic church has had its new colour for a while now: caput mortuum. Now to paint the small details.
A new coat for the confessional
July 2011
The confessionals at the back of the church are currently being painted.
Wallpapering the rooms in the back of the church.
June 2011
Behind a partition in the confessionals restorers discovered some old wallpaper. The paper features a red-and-white floral motif on a grey background. The wallpaper in the left confessional is from around 1850.
This and other finds indicate that several rooms in the last of the three houses were decorated with wallpaper. The origin of the wallpaper is being researched.
Church garden
May 2011
On 10 May the museum is celebrating, and various aspects of the restoration programme are being finished in time for festivities to mark the anniversary of the building of the church attic.
The baluster rail found earlier and restored, which cordoned off part of the church floor, has been replaced. This 19th-century division of the floor is known as the church garden.
It was behind this rail that the Catholic ladies from Vredenburg House would sit during mass.
Hat hooks
April 2011
Hat hooks are being attached in the church. One of these planks with knobs is original, and one is imitation. Until recently, these hooks were placed above the chairs at the back of the church. Nobody really knew what they were for and where they were supposed to be. Extensive research has revealed that the hooks were for hats and collection bags and that they belonged above the men’s benches. That is where they will now return.
Harmonizing and marbling the altar
21th of March 2011
Harmonizing the altar means that the dammage in the paint layer from the 19th century will be repaired in order to approach the original marble effect. At the same time the first brushstrokes have been made on one of the two columns. Here, a completely "new" marbling will be applied by restoration painter Leonieke Polman.
An empty house full of stories
17th of March 2011
The construction work on the foundations of the museum will start in april. This will create dust within the building and therefor the collection of paintings and furniture, have been stored.
The now empty house will be filled with stories about the house with the church in the attic, through an audio tour.
Come and visit Our Lord in the Attic with the audio tour ‘An empty house full of stories’. .
The putti will be restored in the church
7th of March 2011
The putti, that will decorate the altar, will be restored. In the mean time, work is being done on the marbling of the alter as well. To achieve a harmoneous result it has been decided to work on these two projects simultaneously.
Preparing the alter for marbling.
24th of February 2011
On one of the columns of the alter, the authentic 19th century marbling has been revealed. The pattern found will be used as an example for the imitation that will be applied on the remaining parts of the alter. The preparations are in full swing. The ground layer has been applied already. An alter that fully resembles the 19th century situation will be the final result.
Restauring the back house
14th of February 2011
A large part of the back house has temporarily been closed to the public due to restoration activities. These activities include work on the staircases, window frames, walls and electrical wiring..
The church is completely pink!
7th of February 2011
The church is now fully covered in the pink colour named Caput Mortuum.The painting will proceed in the rooms behind the alter, amongst others the lady chapel.
Wired work of art
17th of January 2011
To hide the electrical wiring, the electrician and carpenter search for solutions together, like true artists. Each day the two men encounter new challenges. With a creative mind and a thorough knowledge of all the nooks and crannies in the building, they set out to solve these issues. By using excisting holes they do as little damage to the fabric of the building as possible. For example, this weeks project is an electrical route through the chimney near the confession booth.
The window frame in the church, looking onto the courtyard will be replaced.
6th of January 2011
In the lightshaft on the side of the church, water damage has been found in the outer wall and on one of the window frames. The window frame will be replaced and the wall will be repaired. This construction work will be done by the firm Schakel and Schrale. Because of these activities the painting room and the 17th century kitchen will be temporarily closed to the public.
Restoration Our Lord in the Attic Museum has begun
Our Lord in the Attic Museum started restoring, refurbishing, expanding and rebuilding. Carefully and step by step. A process which will bring the monument back to its former glory. The museum will still be open to the public during the restoration, so that you can witness the transformation up close. See how century old wooden floors are restored, how plaster is repaired and how the church is painted in a spectacular colour.
