hendrick de keyser's heemskerk monument: the origins of the cult and iconography of dutch naval...

Hendrick de Keyser's Heemskerk Monument: The Origins of the Cult and Iconography ofDutch Naval HeroesAuthor(s): Cynthia LawrenceSource: Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art, Vol. 21, No. 4 (1992), pp. 265-295Published by: Stichting voor Nederlandse Kunsthistorische PublicatiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3780789 .

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265

Hendrick de Keyser's Heemskerk monument: the origins of the cult and iconography of Dutch naval heroes*

Cynthia Lawrence

One of the earliest reproductions of Hendrick de Key- ser's epitaph of i6o9 in the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam (fig. I), for the renowned admiral Jacob van Heemskerk, appears in Daniel Heinsius's Nederduytsche poemata (i6i6) as an illustration to a poem on Heemskerk's death in the Battle of Gibraltar (i607).' This anonymous engraving (fig. 2), which records details of de Keyser's original design that are now lost, includes the crown at the apex, borne by the curved arms of a segmental pediment, with globes mounted to either side. The pediment is related to the body by a cartouche, containing Heems- kerk's coat of arms, which overlaps the cornice and frieze. A rectangular tablet inscribed with a Latin epigraph (see Appendix I-A) dominates the body while an oblong plaque bearing a briefer Dutch elegy (Appendix

I-B) fills the stylobate. The relief in the apron, depicting the Dutch and Spanish fleets against the backdrop of the bay and the citadel of Gibraltar, is surmounted at the lower edge by a skull. Neither the extant monument (which has suffered considerable deterioration), nor the engraving, conveys the colorful impression originally created by the work's black-and-white marble frame, set off by accents of red, gray and black stone, and by de Keyser's extensive polychromy (the globes, crest and relief) and gilding (the crown, the incised inscriptions and segments of the molding and decoration).

Although the epitaph has been noted in biographies of Heemskerk, surveys of de Keyser's sculpture, descriptions of the Oude Kerk and anthologies of Dutch sepulchral art, it has never been the subject of an extend-

* This article, part of a projected book-length study of the monuments and cult of the Dutch naval heroes, incorporates material presented in papers at the annual meeting of the College Art Association (Boston, I987), "The Low Countries and the World," (Centre for Low Coun- tries Studies, London, University College, i989), and the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference (Philadelphia, i99i). I would like to thank the staffs of the Algemeen Rijksarchief, Iconographisch Bureau and Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague; and the Gemeentearchief, the Oude Kerk and the Stichting Oude Kerk, and the library of the Scheepvaart Museum, Amsterdam, for their assistance. Marten Jan Bok, Francis Dowley, Craig Harline, Carol Janson, David Lawrence, Walter Liedtke and J.W. Smit offered insightful criticism on a late draft of this manuscript. I am also indebted to Bok for his substantive

contributions to this study, as well as his advice on problems of trans- lation. I would also like to thank my research assistants, Magdalena Kasman and Jennifer Kahane. Research in the Netherlands was sup- ported by a grant-in-aid from the American Council of Learned Societies, and a summer research grant from Temple University.

I See D. Heinsius, "Op de doot en de treffelicke victorie van de mannelicken helt Tacob Heemskerck, Admirael, begraven binnen Am- sterdam," Nederduytsche poemata, Amsterdam i6i6, facing p. 6. An earlier depiction of the epitaph in J. I. Pontanus, Rerum et urbis Amste- lodamensium historia, Amsterdam i6i I, pl. 50, and idem, Historische beschryvinge van Amsterdam, Amsterdam i6I4, pl. 55, differs in its treatment of the crown and the globes.



266 CYNTHIA LAWRENCE

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ed monographic inquiry.2 As a result of documentation recently brought to light by the restoration of the Oude Kerk and its monuments, and new access to critical records of the Amsterdam admiralty, the circumstances which prompted the commission of the monument, as well as its iconography and legacy, can now be investi- gated for the first time.

This article advances two sets of claims for the Heemskerk epitaph. First, it proposes that the unprecedented call for the work, as well as the sources and allusions of its novel program, make it an especially eloquent artifact of the political atmosphere and cultural milieu of the Dutch Republic just before the Twelve Years' Tru- ce (i609-21). Secondly, it argues that the epitaph marks the introduction of a larger phenomenon which had more far-reaching implications. Heemskerk's monument was the first in a succession of mausoleums or memorials commissioned by the States-General and the

a For Heemskerk see Pontanus, Rerum, cit. (note I), pp. 231-32; L. van den Bosch, Leven en daden van de doorluchtige zeehelden, Amster- dam I676, p. Io; J.C. de Jonge, Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche zeewezen, 6 vols., Haarlem I833-48, vol. I, pp. 209, 2I8, 318-i9; J. Elias, Schetsen uit de geschiedenis van ons zeewezen, 6 vols., The Hague I9I6, vol. ", pp. 70, 76. For de Keyser: J. Six, Hendrik de Keyser als beeldhouwer, Amsterdam ig-io, p. vii; E. Neurdenburg, Hendrick de Keyser, beeldhouwer en boummeester van Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1930, pp. 99, I09, and idem, De zeventiende eeuwsche beeldhouwkunst in de noordeljjke Nederlanden, Amsterdam 1948, p. 44.

Descriptions of the Oude Kerk are given in M. Fokkens, Be- schruvinge der wyd-vermaarde koop-stadt Amstelredam, Amsterdam I662, pp. I88-90; P. von Zesen, Beschreibung der Stadt Amsterdam, Amsterdam I664, pp. 341-42; J. Wagenaar, Amsterdam in zjjn op- komst, aanwas, geschiedenissen, voorregten, koophandel, gebouwen, 13 vols., Amsterdam 1760-68, vol. 7, pp. 340-45; De monumenten van beroemde Nederlanders in de Oude en Nieuwe Kerk te Amsterdam, Am- sterdam 1864, pp. 40-44; B. Bijtelaar, "Uittreksels van archieven, bevattende gegevens, die bij de restauratie van belang kunnen zijn," 30 June 1952, in A. van Rooijen, Stichting de Oude Kerk te Amsterdam. Beschrjjving Mariakapel en Snjjderskapel, 2 vols., Amsterdam I974, vol. I, pp. 17, 39-43; H. Brugmans, Geschiedenis van Amsterdam, 8 vols., Amsterdam 1930-33, vol. 2, pp. 215-I6, 22I; H. Voorham, in A.E. d'Ailly (ed.), Zeven eeuwen Amsterdam, 6 vols., Amsterdam I942-50, vol. I, p. 315; and van Rooijen, vol. I, pp. 3-4.

Dutch sepulchral art is discussed in Nederlands helden-toneel, Am- sterdam i690, pp. 6-7; R. P. van den Bosch, Neerlands verleden, Schie- dam 1901, pp. 97 and I00-02; P.C. Bloys van Treslong Prins and J. Belonje, Genealogische en heraldische gedenkwaardigheden in en uit de kerken der Provincie Noord-Holland, 2 vols., Utrecht i928, vol. 2, p. 42; E.J. Demoed, 'Het graf van een zeeheld," Nederlandse Historiin 4 (I970), p. I13; P. C J. van Dael, "Zerken, epitafen en praalgraven in Amsterdamse kerken," in W. G. Overbosch et at, De dood verbloe- men?, Amsterdam i982, p. i2; and E. Jimkes-Verkade, "Het helden- graf," Beelden in degouden eeuw, Kunstschrift 35 (I99I), nr. 3, p. 32-41.



Hendrick de Keyser's Heemskerk monument 267

regional assemblies and admiralties in honor of naval officers killed defending the patria.3 While these shrines paid tribute to the skill, leadership and courage of the nation's naval heroes, their mandates, inscriptions and presentation in contemporary art and literature indicate that they were also intended to inspire future generations of Dutch youth to emulate these figures' exemplary service to their country.4 If the Heemskerk epitaph and the later mausoleums are part of a larger group of officially sanctioned monuments to patriotic heroes mounted from antiquity to the present day, they also represent an important development in that tradition- the transition from the conventional church-based tomb to the modern secular memorial. 5

This paper considers these shrines as the foremost expression of the cult of the naval hero,6 one of the most important manifestations of the desire for a pantheon of contemporary national heroes in early modern times, as

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2 The Heemskerk epitaph, engraving in D. Heinsius, Nederduytsche poema ta, Amsterdam (Willem Janssen) i 6 i6

3 C. A. van Swigchem et at., Een huis voor bet woord, The Hague & Zeist I984, pp. 264-65.

4 The traditional objectives of commemorative art are noted in L.B. Alberti, Ten books on architecture, trans. C. Bartoli and J. Leoni, London 1755, ed. J. Rykwert, New York I966, pp. I58, i64. See also C. van Alkemade, Inleidinge tot bet ceremonieel, en plegtigheden der begravenissen, en der wapen-kunde, Delft 1713, p. 2 I 6; and B. Schwartz, "The social context of commemoration: a study in collective memory," Social Forces 6i/62 (1982), pp. 374-402. For the cult's presentation in moralizing books for Dutch children, see R. Ruggenberg, "Leugens over de Armada," Brabants Dagblad, i6 July 1988, p. 27.

5 See A. Yarrington, "Nelson the citizen hero: state and public patronage of monumental sculpture i805o-i88," Art History 6 (i983), pp. 315-29; idem, The commemoration of the hero i800-i864: monuments to the British victors of the Napoleonic Wars, New York i988; A. R. Young, "'We throw the torch': Canadian memorials of the Great War and the mythology of heroic sacrifice,"Journal of Canadian Stud- ies 24 (989-9go), pp. 5-28; and R. Wagner-Pacifici and B. Schwartz, "The Vietnam veterans memorial: commemorating a difficult past," American Journal of Sociology 97 (1991), pp. 376-420.

6 The history of the cult (its origins, development and propagandistic application) has yet to be written. Seventeenth-century sources include J.J. Orlers and H. van Haestens, Den Nassauschen lauren- crans: beschrjjvinge ende afteeldinge van alle de victorien, so te water a/s te lande, die Godt almachtiche de... staten der Vereenichde Nederlanden verleent heeft, Leiden i6io; E. Herckmans, Der zee-vaert lof, Amster- dam i634; idem, Theatrum victoriae, often het thooneel der zee-slagen, uyt-beeldende alle de treffeljcke overwinningen binnen veertighjaren her- waerts, b#j onse wackere en strjjdbare helden, over de vdandin onses vr4- heyds, te water, verkregen, The Hague i641; A. Thysius, Historia navalis, sive celeberrimorum praeliorum, Leiden i658; "Helden zelfsprake van den Admiraal Heemskerk," in Bloemkrans, Amsterdam i659, pp. 17-25; P. de Lange, Op de Batavise Romedn, Amsterdam i66i; J. Vos, Scheepkroon der zeehelden, Amsterdam x666; van den Bosch, Leven en daden, cit. (note 2); A. Thysen, Historia navalis, Leiden i682; Neder- lands helden-toneel, cit. (note 2); and van Alkemade, op. cit. (note 4).




well as one of the Netherlands' most cherished popular traditions. Those factors which prompted the States- General to erect an epitaph in Heemskerk's honor, and which later contributed to the selection of the work's location, typology and decoration, are reflected in the cult's later monuments as well as in its ethos. Contem- porary literary sources, which figure extensively in this study, indicate that naval heroes were honored not merely as courageous officers who had won significant victories, but also as "secular saints" who symbolized national virtue.7 During the seventeenth century, the veneration of the Dutch naval heroes developed into an established expression of patriotism which has been in- voked in the Netherlands during periods of national cri- ses into the present century.

While the cult of the naval heroes can be compared with that of the heroes of antiquity, or of later kings, saints and military leaders, or with cycles of the uomini famosi or the virl illustri,8 its origins and evolution offer greater insight into the process of heroic image-making in the early modern period.9 Two aspects of this phenomenon, which are manifested in the commission and iconography of the Heemskerk epitaph, are especially relevant for the larger issue of this paper-how contemporary demotic heroes were created and honored before the modern era.

First, the emerging cult required the invention of a persona and a mode of depicting the admiral-as-hero. Although several tentative iconographies are indicated

in the portraits and monuments of eminent sixteenth- century naval commanders (such as Andrea Doria, Don Juan of Austria or Francis Drake), victories of the great sea powers (England, Spain, Portugal, as well as Venice and Genoa) were for the most part expressed as a triumph of the state, its ruler or religion. While these sentiments are retained in celebrations of the Dutch naval heroes, the pictorial and literary iconography of Heemskerk's victory and death indicates a significant change of emphasis. Here the introduction of a broader range of Christian and classical topoi contributed to the formulation of an original contemporary secular idiom in which the subject's own actions and character played a more prominent role. Furthermore, the circumstances of Heemskerk's death and its implications for the Re- public also called for new expressions of patriotism, virtue and fame. While the mausoleums of the heroes of the wars with the English (i652-74) and French (i672- 78) are more imposing and iconographically complex (figs. 5, 7, 8), they reflect analogous sentiments, expressed in terms of similar motifs. That these monuments may be an important precedent for later memorials to heroic admirals, especially those in England, has not been recognized. I 0

Secondly, the Republic's response to Heemskerk's victory and death represents an unusually revealing example of the recognition and propagandist exploita- tion of a national patriotic hero in the early modern period. I I Although such naval heroes were enthusiasti-

7 Yarrington, Commemoration, cit. (note 5), p. xiii. See also G. Jordan and N. Rogers, "Admirals as heroes: patriotism and liberty in Hanoverian England,"Journal of British Studies 28(i989), pp.201-24 (Lord Nelson); K. Wilson, "Empire, trade and popular politics in mid-Hanoverian Britain: the case of Admiral Vernon," Past and Pres- ent 121 (i988), pp. 74-109.

8 On hero cults see H.J. R. (Herbert Jennings Rose), "Hero-cult," The Oxford classical dictionary, Oxford 1991, pp. 5o5-o6; J. Whitley, "Early states and hero cults: a re-appraisal," Journal of Hellenistic Studies io8 (I988), pp. 178, i8o; F. Paulsen, Delphi, trans. G.C. Ri- chards, Washington I973, pp. i98-214; and L.R. Farnell, Greek hero cults and ideas of immortality, Oxford 1970, pp. 36i-72.

Saints and military leaders are discussed by B.F. Hupp6 in N. Burns and C.J. Reagan (eds.), Concepts of the hero in the middle ages and Renaissance, ed. Albany 1975, pp. 1-26; A. Gurevich, Medieval popular culture: problems of belief and perception, Cambridge i988, pp. 39-77; M. Cherniavsky, in 0. Ranum (ed.), National consciousness, history and political culture in early-modern Europe, Baltimore & Lon- don 1975, pp. 2-3, points out how these figures provided political identity, consciousness or definition before the emergence of the nation state; R. Starn, "Reinventing heroes in Renaissance Italy," Jour- nalof Interdisciplinary History I7 (I986), pp. 70-74, 8I-84; exhib. cat.

Die Schlacht von Sempach im Bild der Nachwelt, Sempach (Stadthaus and Ochsentor) & Lucerne i986.

For the uominifamosi and viri illustri see C. L. Joost-Gaugier, "The early beginnings of the notion of 'uomini famosi' and the 'de viris illustribus' in Greco-Roman literary tradition," Artibus et Historiae 6 (i982), pp. 97-1I5.

9 Starn, op. cit. (note 8), p. 67. See also Yarrington, "Nelson," cit. (note 5), p. 315; Jordan and Rogers, op. cit. (note 7), p. 202.

I0 See Yarrington's discussion of the Nelson memorial, op. cit. (note 5); and idem, Commemoration, cit. (note 5), pp. 6I-78 (the "Bri- tish Hall of Fame," 1795-i823, for heroes of the French Wars in St Paul's, London), and pp. 338-45 (the "Hieronauticon," a proposed national shrine to naval victory, 1799-i800). For the role of tradition in the commemoration of later Dutch naval heroes see S. de Vries, De lucht in gevlogen, de hemel in geprezen: eerbewys voor van Speyk, Haar- lem i988, pp. 35-37.

iI For the "manufacture" of national heroes, see R. Graf, "Die Mythenmaschine. Uberlegungen zum Mythos am Beispiel eines Schweizerischen Nationalmythos," in exhib. cat. Die Schlacht, cit. (note 8), pp. 58-70; M. Burleigh, "The German Knights: making a modern myth," History Today 35 (i985), pp. 24-29.




cally acclaimed at the local or regional level, these figures, as well as the cult itself, also served as an expression of and a catalyst for "popular proto-nationalist sentiments" in the Republic more generally.'2 Al- though this phenomenon is indicated in treatments of Heemskerk and Gibraltar, it is even more pronounced in those of the naval heroes from the third quarter of the century. Just as the veneration of heroes from antiquity through the Renaissance had been limited to a particular town or region,'3 Heemskerk's exploits aroused a special sense of pride in his native Amsterdam as well as in the province of Holland. At the same time, public celebrations of his victory were held throughout the land,' 4 and his state funeral and monument were officially mandated by the States-General, the Republic's highest political assembly. I 5 In this context, the Dutch memorials would also appear to be significant for those sculptural tributes to national figures commissioned during the eighteenth century in England, France and the Nether- lands. I 6

HEEMSKERK AND GIBRALTAR: THE ICONOGRAPHY

OF HEROIC ACTION Jacob van Heemskerk (fig. 3) was born on iQ March i567 into an economically secure family descended on both sides from the lesser nobility. I 7 In i 604, his hereditary ties to the regent class were

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i2 For "popular proto-nationalism" (expressions of pre-existing sentiments of collective belonging which are potentially congruent with modern states and nations), see E.J. Hobsbawm, Nations and nationalism since I780, Cambridge I990, pp. 46-79. These might include patriotic feelings arising from a common language, religion, symbols or rituals, or in opposition to foreign control, or from the consciousness of belonging to a lasting political entity. While the contributions of the cult of the naval hero to the emergence of nationalism in the Netherlands has not previously been considered, see Jordan and Rogers, op. cit. (note 7), p. 202, for the role of admirals in debates on nationhood and in emergent national consciousness in England during the early nineteenth century.

13 See Whitley, op. cit. (note 8); D.A. Bullough, "Hagiography as patriotism: Alcuin's York poem and the Northumbrian 'vitae sancto- rum'," Hagiographie, cultures et sociltds, IVe-XIIe silevs, Paris i98i, PP. 339-59; and Starn, op. cit. (note 8), pp. 74-77.

74 Resolutiin der Staten-Generaal van 1576 tot r609, vol. i4, ed. H.H.P. Rijperman, The Hague 1970, 2 June I607, p. 30; see also Appendix i i. K. W. Swart, The miracle of the Dutch Republic as seen in the seventeenth century, London i969, pp. 17-i8, proposes that attach- ment to one's city or region was not incompatible with a "profound sense of Dutch nationality."

Is Yarrington, "Nelson," cit. (note 5), p. 317, discusses state patronage as evidence of the national importance attached to the commemoration of heroes.

i6 In England there were the national monuments to "men of ac- complishment and genius" in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey; see Yarrington, Commemoration, cit. (note 5), pp. vi, and I-6o.

France had E. Titon du Tillet's Parnasse Franfois (commemorating men of genius) and Temple of victory (for men of action) of 1727; see J. Colton, The Parnasse Franfois. Titon du Tillet and the origins of the monument to genius, New Haven 1979; J. McManners, Death and the Enlightenment: changing attitudes to death in eighteenth-century France, Oxford I985, p. 330. For the shrine of 1791 to heroes of the Revolution in the Panth6on in Ste Genevieve, see Yarrington, "Nelson," cit. (note 5), p. 3 i8, and Commemoration, cit. (note 5), p. 12; and J. A. Leith, The idea ofpropaganda in France 1750 -1799: a study in the history of ideas, Toronto i965, pp. 102-03.

In the Netherlands, a monument to the defenders of the Batavian Republic was planned in The Hague in 1799; see F. Grijzenhout, "Een heiligdom der natie. Ontwerpen voor een monument ter na- gedachtenis aan de verdedigers der Bataafse Republiek in I799," Ne- derlands Kunsthistorischjaarboek 34 (I983), pp. 1-38.

17 The Hague, Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie, Afkomste ofte genealogie van het oude en edele geslachte van Heemskerck, voor zoo verre aangaat den TACK, van die van HEEMSKERCK, bygenaamt van BEEST, 1752, fols. 5v-6r. See also J.C. Breen, "Jacob van Heemskerck, 1567- 1607," Tfjdschrift voor Geschiedenis, Land- en Volkenkunde 22 (1907), pp. i6i-83; H.A. van Foreest, "Jacob van Heemskerck," in L.M. Akveld (ed.), Vier eeuwen varen, Bussum 1973, pp. 50-66; and A. van der Moer, "Jacob van Heemskerk," Marineblad94 (i984), pp. 249-56.




solidified through his marriage to Geertruyd Colter- man, the daughter of a Haarlem burgomaster who was also steward of the Kennemerland. 8 Heemskerk's socio-economic status challenges one of the fundamental assumptions about the cult of the naval heroes, namely that they personified the hallowed national ideal of the humble Dutch lad who gained wealth and social advancement through meritorious service at sea.'9 Heemskerk's career (as recorded in his monument's La- tin inscription) is replete with incidents attesting to his courage and compassion,20 as well as to his leadership and navigational skills.2 ' These legends, which became part of the fabric of Dutch naval folklore, contributed to the creation of a topos that shaped the evolving iconography of the cult.

On the recommendation of the Dutch East India Company, Heemskerk was named in i607 by Johan van Oldenbarnevelt (one of the company's founders, and secretary of the States-General) to lead the Republic's navy in an expedition against Spain. Distinguished by the stadtholder, Prince Maurits of Orange, with the ex- ceptional rank of admiral-of-the-fleet, Heemskerk sailed from Amsterdam at the end of March with a convoy of 30 ships. On 25 April, his forces scored a stunning victo-

ry over a powerful Spanish fleet in the Bay of Gibraltar (figs. 22, 23).22 While Dutch losses were light, Heems- kerk took a cannonball in his leg and died soon after.23

Although the States-General initially learned of these events in a bulletin received on 2 June,24 the official report subsequently filed by Lambert Hendriksz. Moy, Heemskerk's rear-admiral, described them in greater detail.25 This document provided material for the texts of an unprecedented number of pamphlets (e.g. fig. 4), poems and songs which brought the battle and Heems- kerk's victory and death to a wider audience.26 Not only did these tracts introduce images and literary references which contributed to the iconography of the cult, but they also offer insight into the country's intense response to Gibraltar and its hero, to the States-General's unprecedented decision to commission a state funeral and a monument in Heemskerk's honor, and to the inventive iconography introduced in de Keyser's design.

Although later historical treatments of Heemskerk's victory treat Gibraltar as a pivotal event which determined the Republic's future independence as well as its success as a trading nation, contemporary sources dis- cuss its impact in more immediate terms. First of all, prior to the battle, the Republic had experienced few

i8 Ajkomste, cit. (note I7), fol. 6r; Breen, op. cit. (note 17), pp. 14- I5.

i9 Although the careers of some officers followed this route, the different experience of others calls for a reassessment of this "useful patriotic myth" of "exemplary social mobility"; see S. Schama, The embarrassment of riches, New York i987, pp. 248-49; A.T. van Deur- sen, Popular culture, religion and society in seventeenth-century Holland, Cambridge 199I, pp. 76-78.

20 Heemskerk first gained recognition following voyages (1595 and I596) in search of a polar route to the Far East. Contemporary accounts of the second expedition, which was trapped for the winter off Nova Zembla when the Kara Sea froze, praised his safeguarding of the cargo and crew; see S. P. L. Honor6 Naber (ed.), Reizen van Willem Barents, Jacob van Heemskerk, Jan Cornelisz Rijp en anderen naar het noorden (0594-97), herhaald door Gerrit de Veer, 2 vols., The Hague 19I7; Pontanus, Rerum, cit. (note i), pp. I30-42; Orlers and van Haestens, op. cit. (note 6), pp. I03-07; Herckmans, Zee-vaert, cit. (note 6), pp. i82-92; and van der Moer, op. cit. (note 17), p. 251. For the role of paternalism in the public image of naval officers see Scha- ma, op. cit. (note 19), p. 248, and Jordan and Rogers, op. cit. (note 7), pp. 2i6-I7.

2i Heemskerk's later expeditions to Indonesia (I598, i6oi and i603) established his reputation as a commander; his capture of a treasure-laden Portuguese battleship near Malacca (i603) prefigured Hein's capture of the Spanish treasure fleet in I628; see Pontanus, Rerum, cit. (note I), pp. 206-07; G. de Veer, Oost-Indische en West- Indische voyagien, Amsterdam i6i9; Herckmans, Zee-vaert, cit. (note 6), pp. i88-90; W. van Westzanen, Derde voornaemste zee-getogt (der

verbondene vrye Nederlanden) na de Oost Indien, Amsterdam i648; and van der Moer, op. cit. (note 17), p. 254.

22 For contemporary accounts of Gibraltar, see Orlers and van Haestens, op. cit. (note 6), pp. 206-i2; Pontanus, Rerum, cit. (note i), p. 226; Herckmans, Zee-vaert, cit. (note 6), pp. 190-92; and note 26 below. See also Breen, op. cit. (note 17), pp. i6-i8; van der Moer, op. cit. (note I7), p. 255.

23 Thysius, op. cit. (note 6), p. I75; J. F. L. de Balbian Verster, "De slag van Gibraltar door Vroom," Zesdejaarverslag van de Vereeniging Nederlandsch Historisch Scheepvaart Museum, Amsterdam I922, p. 47.

24 Resolutiin, cit. (note 14), pp. 30-3I. 25 W. P.C. Knuttel, Catalogus van de pamfletten-verzameling, be-

rustende in de Koninklyke Bibliotheek, io vols., The Hague 1978, vol. i, nr. 1374.

26 The number of pamphlets published in the Republic during i607/08 increased over the previous year by nearly 6oo% (38 to 215); see van Deursen, op. cit. (note i9), pp. 138-39, and C. Harline, Pamphlets, printing and political culture in the early Republic, Dord- recht i987, pp. 8-9. For accounts of the victory, see Knuttel, op. cit. (note 25), vol. I, nrs. I370, 1371, 1373, I375, 1375a, 1379 and I397. Gibraltar was also celebrated in poems included in D. F. Scheurleer, Van varen en vechten, 3 vols., The Hague 19I4, vOl. I, pp. 73-93. For pamphlet accounts of Heemskerk's death, see Knuttel, vol. i, nrs. I376, I378 and 1396. See also "Epitaphium," in Scheurleer, vol. i, p. 99; D. Heinsius, op. cit. (note i), pp. 6-12; Scheurleer, vol. I, pp. 94- 98; P.C. Hooft, "Grafschrift voor Jacob van Heemskerck, Amster- dammer," in Scheurleer, vol. i, p. ioi; and P. Scriverius, "Graf- schrift," ibid., vol. i, p. ioi.




recent military successes on either land or sea. Authors seeking comparisons with Gibraltar were compelled to look back to the victories of Maurits and the army at Turnhout and in Gelderland and Overijssel (I 597), and to campaigns (involving transport flotillas as well as land forces) at Nieuwpoort (i 6oo), Ostend (i 6o i), Grave (i6o2), and Aardenburg and Sluis (I6o4).3 Secondly, although the Dutch repeatedly triumphed over Spanish forces, whose ships were incapable of navigating broad rivers and marshland, they had enjoyed few large-scale victories at sea. While contemporary tracts frequently compare Gibraltar to the British defeat of the Armada (i588), in which there had been a significant Dutch presence, 2 or to the attack on Cadiz by an Anglo-Dutch squadron almost a decade later,29 that the battle had been won by the Republic's fledgling navy, fighting on its own so far from home, provoked unprecedented expressions of patriotic pride from all quarters.

If a major naval victory was gratifying to the country at large, it was especially satisfying for the States-Gen- eral, which had ordered the reorganization of the navy and the formation of the regional admiralties nearly a decade earlier;30 Gibraltar signaled the emergence of the Republic as a naval power. Also, by opening the Mediterranean, the outcome of the confrontation directly benefited the Republic's shippers and merchants. This aspect of Heemskerk's triumph contributed to his enormous popularity in Amsterdam and played to the advantage of Oldenbarnevelt and those commercial in- terests he represented. However, the foremost significance of Gibraltar was that by overwhelming the Spa- nish fleet in its own waters, the Republic gained the dominant position in the negotiations leading to the Twelve Years' Truce and its promise of a permanent peace.3 ' Tracts heralding the approaching truce sometimes present the battle in sepulchral terms, calling it a service of "klagh-dienst" (mourning), or a will, or even an "'epitaphium" for the Thirty Years' War.32

Popular perceptions of Gibraltar played a central role in the heroization of Heemskerk and in the origins of the cult. That the battle broke a long-standing military stalemate caused many pamphleteers to interpret it as reaffirming divine support for the Republic's struggle,33 or for the Protestant cause.34 At the same time, the confrontation was also described in terms of still other metaphysical associations which are even more specific to the iconology of Dutch marine tapestries and paint-

Aii

... . ......

4 Title page of Jiet eerste nieu dicht gestelt, Amsterdam (Broer jansz. and Pieter de Kat) 1607

27 These events are summarized in Orlers and van Haestens, op. cit. (note 6), p. 220 (index). Prints recording the victories are listed in F. Muller, De Nederlandsche geschiedenis in platen, 4 vols., Amsterdam I 863-70: Nieuwpoort, vol. i, nrs. I 1 35-54; Ostend, vol. i, nrs. I I 6 i- 63; Grave, vol. I, nrs. I 182-88; and Aardenburg and Sluis, vol. i, nrs. I210-13.

a8 Orlers and van Haestens, op. cit (note 6), pp. 34-56 (Spanish Armada), and pp. 206-i2 (Gibraltar); see also Scheurleer, op. cit. (note 26), vol. I, pp. 35-43; Muller, op. cit. (note 27), vol. i, nrs. 976- 8o.

29 Scheurleer, op. cit. (note 26), vol. I, pp. 47-57. 30 H.E. Grootmeijer, "De Admiraliteiten: beknopt overzicht der

diverse organisaties," Marineblad 8o (1970), pp. 47i-8i; Maritieme geschiedenis der Nederlanden, ed. L. M. Akveld et at., 4 vols., Bussum '977, vol. 2, pp. 3i6-2i.

3i For pamphlets discussing the peace and its implications see Knuttel, op. cit. (note 25), vol. I, nrs. I398, 1405 and 1474; see also Harline, op. cit. (note 26), pp. 8-io, 193-99 and 20i-09. For the terms of the peace: Orlers and van Haestens, op. cit. (note 6), pp. 2I2-20.

32 Knuttel, op. cit. (note 25), vol. i, nrs. I395, 158i and i6ig. 33 Knuttel, op. cit. (note 25), vol. i, nr. 148i; and Scheurleer, op.

cit. (note 26), vol. x, pp. 78-90. See Young, op. cit. (note 5), p. 13 (a victory granted by God indicates the justice of the cause).

34 L. Goedde, Tempest and shipwreck in Dutch and Flemish art: convention, rhetoric and interpretation, University Park i989, pp. 42-43 (Armada). See also Jordan and Rogers, op. cit. (note 7), pp. 205 -o6.




ings (figs. 21, 22) as well as the naval battle depicted on the apron of Heemskerk's epitaph (fig. I7). Because the sea represented the mutability of fortune, these scenes projected connotations of disaster brought to some and prosperity to others, or of "high ambitions brought to grief and modest ones rewarded."3 5 Depictions of ships confronted by the destructive forces of nature, or by enemy vessels, have also been interpreted as symboliz- ing the concept of faith tested by trial,36 or as "pitting destruction and defeat against survival and victory."37 In terms of the latter, it has been proposed that, on yet another level, these works may allude to the birth of the Dutch Republic and its rise to power.38 Not only did they evoke sentiments of patriotic pride, they also served as potent "nationalistic propaganda" endorsing the validity of the country's "assertation of self-determina- tion."39

The differing attitude towards the Republic's army and navy is one of several factors which account for the idolization of Heemskerk (and the later naval heroes).40 Until this point the country's military campaigns had primarily involved land-based forces largely composed of foreign mercenaries. On the other hand, its naval officers and the majority of its seamen (usually youths drawn from the maritime provinces) were Dutch.4' Even though the navy increasingly relied on the recruit- ment of foreigners (from Scandinavia and Germany) after i 650, it continued to be perceived as a more national institution, with stronger links to the populace.42 Gi- braltar has been singled out as one of the early "activities

at sea... in which the people would see their own kindred glorified. "43 Furthermore, the origins of the Dutch navy in the defensive fleets mounted by Calvinist maritime communities during the revolt contributed to a continuing sense of a historic, patriotic mission which played an important role in the cult's ethos and in its long-term popular appeal.44

Finally, the unprecedented intensity of the country's response to Heemskerk's victory and death was also a consequence of the lack of contemporary flesh-and- blood idols with whom the Dutch could identify.45 Un- like the Republic's historical heroes (such as the Bata- vians, or the leaders of the revolt), Heemskerk was not temporally distant; nor was he, in contrast to Maurits, Frederik Hendrik, and other members of the House of Orange, socially remote.46 From Heemskerk on, the naval heroes were presented, and widely perceived, as accessible salt-of-the-earth types who remained within the realm of the common man, despite their wealth and fame.47 Although the States-General's mandate calling for his funeral and monument established Heemskerk as an official hero, the public's acclaim makes clear that he was also accepted as a genuine folk hero-one whose popularity extended to all classes of Dutch society.48

INVENTING A PATRIOTIC HERO: PROTOTYPES AND

SOURCES Heemskerk's presentation in contemporary art and literature indicates that at the time of Gibraltar the secular "citizen hero" was still partially conceived in terms of a sacredfigura (that of Christ, or of a Christian

35 Goedde, op. cit. (note 34), p. 9. 36 Ibid., p. 38; S. Mertens, Seesturm und Schif/bruch: eine motiv-

geschichtliche Studie, Hamburg 1987. 37 G. Keyes, Cornelis Vroom: marine and landscape artist, Alphen

aan den Rijn i985, p. 17. 38 Ibid., p. i8. 39 Ibid., p. I8; Goedde, op. cit. (note 34), pp. 21-23, discusses

seafaring and the emergence of a new national self-awareness in the Republic.

40 P. Geyl, The revolt of the Netherlands, 555 -i609, London i966, p. 235; Schama, op. cit. (note I9), pp. 240-46. A strong foreign presence was also manifested in the international group of advisors retained by the States-General, and by the highly visible circle of expatriate noblemen who had sought refuge at the court of Maurits.

41 Schama, op. cit. (note I9), pp. 246-47. For the growing numbers of foreigners in the Dutch navy, see H. L. Zwitser, 'De militie van den staet,' het leger van de Republiek der Verenigde Nederlanden, Amster- dam i99i, ch. 3.

42 Schama, op. cit. (note i9), p. 246; van Deursen, op. cit. (note i9), P. 77.

43 Geyl, op. cit. (note 40), p. 235; Schama, op. cit. (note i9), pp. 247-48.

44 Schama, op. cit. (note 19), p. 246; cf. the remarks of Jordan and Rogers, op. cit. (note 7), pp. 202, 222, on British admirals as "the seaborne defenders of king, constitution and country."

45 Van Deursen, op. cit. (note 19), pp. 76-78; Schama, op. cit. (note 19), pp. 248-49. For antique precedents see Whitley, op. cit. (note 8), p. 175, on the heroization of contemporaries; and Farnell, op. cit. (note 8), pp. 36i-72, on cults of real persons.

46 Van Deursen, op. cit. (note 19), p. 76, on the fact that these figures could be admired, but not imitated; Schama, op. cit. (note i9), p. 248; and P.P. Bober and R. Rubinstein, Renaissance artists and antique sculpture: a handbook of sources, Oxford i986, pp. 128-29, dealing with the image of Hercules as less remote than the other Olympian gods.

47 Van Deursen, op. cit. (note I9), p. 78; van den Bosch, op. cit. (note 2).

48 Schama, op. cit. (note I9), p. 248. See also Jordan and Rogers, op. cit. (note 7), pp. 202, 220-24.




.. ..... ............... 0

1 .. . ... ...... !...

l I I I i | | w X'tel.F.;E~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.. ... ........ S

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--3 11mou Ieh t Epitaph of Isa Swes i64 AsedaOdeK




6 Monument of Piet Hein, after 1637. Delft, Oude Kerk

saint or martyr).49 To some degree, the legends of the naval heroes, just as those of the leaders of the revolt, depend on formulas introduced in earlier hagiographies or martyrologies. Although the relation of the Repub- lic's suppressed cult of saints to the emerging pantheon of the naval heroes calls for further investigation, it initially suggests an intriguing example of the secular transformation of sacred figures and symbols. Likewise, the extent to which the iconography of the gallant

- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-.

_E WI _~~~~~

7 Rombout Verhulst, Monument of Maerten Tromp, i658. Delft, Oude Kerk

seamen parallels that of the "heroes" of the Counter- Reformation church should also be taken into account.

While Heemskerk's armor and the cannonball that ended his life were revered as relics,50 his status as a secular saint is even more explicitly indicated in tracts which draw a comparison between his having given his life so that his countrymen might live in peace and freedom, and the sacrificial death of Christ.5' In this instance, the formal and iconographic parallels between

49 Starn, op. cit. (note 8), pp. 70 (saints as models for heroes) and 71 (saints and heroes as interchangeable); I. Zupnick, "Saint Sebastian. The vicissitudes of the hero as martyr," in Concepts of the hero, cit. (note 8), pp. 239-67; and Yarrington "Nelson," cit. (note 5), p. 315, and Commemoration, cit. (note 5), p. xiii (Nelson as a secular saint). See J. Becker, "'Een tropheum zeer groot?' Zu Marcus Gheeraerts Portrat von Willem van Oranje als St Georg," Bulletin van het Rjksmuseum 34 (i986), pp. 3-36, who discusses the Netherlandish tradition of depicting rulers in the guise of saints, and the continued framing of a portrait historid in the figura of a Catholic saint, even under a Protestant regi- me. For figures of St George in later monuments to fallen heroes, see Young, op. cit. (note 5), pp. 13-I9. Cf. R. A. Beddard, "Wren's monu-

ment for Charles i and the cult of the royal martyr," Architectural History 27 (984), pp. 36-49; and M.J. Harvey, "The Tomb of Mont- morency as 'recompense du martyre'," Gazette des Beaux-Arts I14 (i989), pp. 63-80.

5o For displays of arms or armor, see van Swigchem et al., op. cit. (note 3), pp. 264-67, and note 84 below. For the cannonball, see "Op de Koegel daer den Admirael Heemskerck voor Gibraltar met geschoten wierd, nu hangende in 't Toorentjen te Welsen, daer die gebruyckt werdt om Mostart mee te malen," in Scheurleer, op. cit. (note 26), vol. I, pp. I0'-03. For the veneration of van Speyk's remains see de Vries, op. cit. (note 1o), pp. 25-26.




4~~~~~~~~~

8 Rombout Verhuist Monument of Michtel de Ruyter 1683. AmsCerdam Neuwe.Kerk

3 .; .. ... ... .1 . ..

a Robu Vehlt, Mnumn oicel deRuyei63 mtedm iucK

the battle scene on the epitaph and reliefs depicting Christ's crucifixion in earlier Netherlandish as well as contemporary Flemish epitaphs are especially sugges- tive. That the image of the naval heroes as patriotic martyrs depends in part on sacred prototypes is also indicated in the typology and placement of the later mausoleums. Over the century, preference for simple monuments such as Heemskerk's gave way to demand for elaborate wall-tombs (figs. 6-8) which resemble contemporary Catholic altars.52 This association was fre-

quently enhanced by their location-either in former chapels (fig. 7), or even on that space in the choir originally occupied by the high altar (figs. 6, 8).53

Heemskerk's status as a hero is also indicated in terms of antique models and references. Heinsius's poem describes him as seated beside Jupiter at a banquet of the gods,54 a passage which not only proclaims Heems- kerk's immortality in terms of an apotheosis, but which also compares him to Hercules in its allusions to the latter's entry, following his death, into the assembly of

5i Young, op. cit. (note 5), pp. i8-zo, suggests how Christ's crucifixion is linked with wartime sacrifice in the iconography of World War x memorials. See also M. H. Leff, "The politics of sacrifice on the American home front in World War ii," The Journal of American History 77 (199i), pp. 296-3i8; Jordan and Rogers, op. cit. (note 7), pp. 2i6-17, for parallels with Nelson, and de Vries, op. cit. (note Io), p. 28, for van Speyk's "resurrection."

52 B. de Monconys, journal des voyages de monsieur de Monconys, 3 vols., Lyons i665-66, vol. 2, p. 133: "fait comme un Autel de Chapel- le."

53 An important precedent for these monuments is that of William of Orange (fig. i i) in the choir of the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft; see E.

Jimkes-Verkade, "De ikonologie van het grafimonument van Willem i, Prins van Oranje," in exhib. cat. De stad Deift: culltuur en maatschapp#j van 1572 tot i667, Delft (Het Prinsenhof) i98i, pp. 214-27. On the tradition of placing monuments in the choir, see van Swigchem et al., op. cit. (note 3), pp. 262- 63. For a contemporary view of the role of the graves of the naval heroes in the secularization of the Dutch church interior, see J. L. Heldring, "In de Amsterdamse Nieuwe Kerk," NRC Handelsblad, 30 July i99i; J.J. van Galen, "De Natie 47: de Nieuwe Kerk van god los," NRC Handelsbiad, 3 August i99i.

54 Heinsius, op. cit. (note I), p. 6; Scheurleer, op. cit. (note 26), vol. I, p. 95.




gods on Mount Olympus.5 5 Hercules, the pre-eminent Baroque hero, became one of the cult's most important topoi. His completion of the Twelve Labors (and other services on behalf of mankind) were frequently described in Dutch art and literature during the decade preceding Heemskerk's death. 5 6 Just prior to Gibraltar, Hercules' feats were presented by Karel van Mander as an example of how mortals could become heroes.57

That Hercules had earned immortality through his courageous actions accounts for relief depictions of his labors on sarcophagi from antiquity through the Renais- sance. 58 This tradition may also figure in the iconography of the Heemskerk relief (fig. 17), as well as in those included in the monuments of later naval heroes (figs. 5, 7, 8). Interpretations of Hercules' strength as a warning to potential enemies are echoed in the descriptions of the campaigns of Heemskerk and the members of the cult against the Republic's foes. Elsewhere Hercules was credited with the defeat of tyrants, the freeing of subject nations, and the restitution of liberty-topoi of Florenti- ne republicanism which were especially relevant for the Dutch Republic at the time of Heemskerk's death. 59

The most important reference to Heemskerk as a contemporary Dutch Hercules appears in his epitaph's Lat- in inscription which records that "with Herculean courage he destroyed the powerful [Spanish] fleet in the

Straits of Hercules."60 While these lines were undoubt- edly prompted by the battle's geographic locale, they may also allude to the parallels between the heroes' "labors." Until Hercules broke through the mountain bar- rier and formed the present Straits, the Mediterranean had no outlet. Just as he had opened the land-locked sea by creating this passage, Heemskerk's victory unlocked it for the Republic's naval and merchant fleets. The epitaph also includes a formal reference which further underscores this association. The rocky heights on either side of the Straits of Gibraltar (fig. 23f) had been left in place by Hercules in memory of his achievement. These twin markers, which also denoted the limits of his wanderings towards the west, were subsequently trans- formed into columns, the so-called columnae Herculis (fig. 9),6 Iwhich came to symbolize the boundaries of the known world. This tradition may account for de Key- ser's inclusion of modified Tuscan columns to either side of the Latin inscription comparing Heemskerk to Hercules.62 Allusions to the columnae Herculis may also be intended in contemporary views of the Heemskerk grave-site (fig. 23b), which prominently include the flanking columns in the arcade of the Oude Kerk ambu- latory as a frame.

Antique examples of the demotic patriotic hero, which appear in histories of Rome and in biographies of

55 Bober and Rubinstein, op. cit. (note 46), p. i64. The eventual secularization of the cult is suggested in a poem commemorating the death, in i658, of Witte de With, which describes him in heaven with "Heemskerk and the other heroes"; see Scheurleer, op. cit. (note 26), vol. 2, p. 229.

56 See M. Morford, Stoics and neostoics: Rubens and the circle of Lipsius, Princeton i99i, ch. 5, for the depiction of Hercules as a Stoic hero.

57 Karel van Mander, Het schilder-boeck, "Wtlegginghe op den Metamorphosis," Utrecht i969, bk. 9, fols. 73-79. See also E.M. Waith, The Herculean hero in Marlowe, Chapman, Shakespeare and Dryden, London I962; M.-R. Jung, Hercule dans la littiraturefran- faise du XVI siecle: de i'Hercule courtois a iHercule baroque, Geneva I966. Among the many depictions of Hercules in late sixteenth and early seventeenth-century Dutch art is Goltzius's Hercules and Cacus of I613 (Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum), in which its owner, Johan Colterman (1591-i649), is portrayed as the hero; see P.J.J. van Thiel and C. J. de Bruyn Kops, exhib. cat. Pryst de list, Amsterdam (Rijks- museum) i984, pp. 85, 88.

58 L. D. Ettlinger, "Hercules Florentinus," Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz i6 (1972), pp. I32-33; Bober and Rubinstein, op. cit. (note 46), pp. I34-35. See also M. Kuhlenthal, "The Alberini sarcophagus: Renaissance copy or antique?," The Art Bulletin 56 (1974), pp. 414-2I, and Pietro Lombardo's tomb for Ad- miral Pietro Mocenigo (d. 1476) in SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, with

two reliefs of the labors. 59 Ettlinger, op. cit. (note 58), p. 137; Kuhlenthal, op. cit. (note 58),

p. 421.

6o See Heinsius, in Scheurleer, op. cit. (note 26), p. 95. A similar reference to the "Straits of Hercules" appears in the inscription of a medal struck in honor of Gibraltar; see P. Bizot, Histoire mitallique de la Ripublique de Hollande, Paris i688, pp. 121-22.

6i C. Paradin, "Plus outre," Devises heroi4ues, Lyons I557, pp. 29-

31. An anonymous poem on Heemskerk's victory refers to Gibraltar's "dubbelt Pylaert Strand" (twin-pillared strand); see Scheurleer, op. cit. (note 26), vol. i, p. 9i. The columnae Herculis were also included in the arms of Charles v; see E.E. Rosenthal, "The invention of the columnar device of Emperor Charles v at the Court of Burgundy in Flanders in I 5i 6," Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 36 (I973), pp. I98-230; S. Sider, "Transcendant symbols for the Haps- burgs: Plus Ultra and the columns of Hercules," Emblematica 4 (I989), pp. 257-71. The columns later appeared in the iconography of Frederik Hendrik; see Bizot, op. cit. (note 6o), pp. I71-75, and of Willem i I I; see G. Keyes, exhib. cat. Mirror of empire: Dutch marine art of the seventeenth century, Minneapolis (Minneapolis Institute of Art) & Cambridge i990, p. 66 and nr. 135.

62 De Keyser first used modified Tuscan columns in the Amster- dam Rasphuis of I 603. Similar supports are included in the arcade of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange and the Zuiderkerk nave, projects contemporary with the Heemskerk epitaph.




its military leaders, also provided a model for literary treatments of Heemskerk and the later naval heroes. Perhaps the most important sources for these legends in the Republic at the beginning of the seventeenth century were the works of Cicero and Livy, which were part of the curricula at Latin school and university. Although Tacitus's Agricola was familiar to a more limited audience (primarily scholars such as Heinsius and their students), this laudatio for his deceased father-in-law expresses sentiments echoed in contemporary descriptions of Heemskerk's death, in the iconography of his monument, and in the ethos of the cult more generally.

HEEMSKERK' S FUNERAL AND MONUMENT: THE

STATES-GENERAL AND THE ADMIRALTY On 2 June 1607, the day the States-General received notice of Heemskerk's death, the assembly issued a resolution (Appendix II) calling for him to be honored by a state funeral and by either a "swaren sarcksteen" (a massive grave slab) or a "matige tombe" (a modest monument), both to be erected with public funds ("tot last van de Generaliteyt") as an expression of the country's gratitude.63 The same resolution also requested that the monument include "a representation of the aforementioned victory... that it may inspire future generations to serve their country with the same courage and duty." Although there is no indication of precisely where these proposals originated, it should be realized that certain members of the assembly, including the representatives of the Amsterdam admiralty, and Jan Colterman, Heemskerk's father-in-law, who served as the leader of the Haarlem delegation, would have had a particular stake in securing his fame. 64

As noted in a resolution of the Amsterdam admiralty, Heemskerk's body arrived in Amsterdam on 5 June I607.65 Two days later, admiralty officials cancelled their afternoon appointments to make the final arrange- ments for his funeral, which was held the next day with over 8oo official mourners as well as a large local crowd in attendance.66 As recorded in a contemporary drawing (fig. Io) which was later engraved (fig. 23d), the cortege suggests a posthumous triumphal procession, thereby recalling the States-General's wish that Heemskerk had returned alive so that he could partake in the celebration of that victory "that he obtained through the grace of God and his own courage and manly spirit and resolution" (Appendix 1I).67 Heemskerk's was the first state

tr ~lu Fourre

9 "PIus outre," from Claude Paradin, Devises heroiques, Lyons 1557

63 Resolutri~, cit. (note 34), pp. 30-3I. 64 Colterman attended meetings of the States-General during the

crucial period from 6 March through 9 June i607. He resumed his position in i 609, the year that Heemskerk's monument was completed and installed.

65 The Hague, Algemeen Rijksarchief. Resolutidn, Amsterdam Ad- miraliteit, 6 June I607; Breen, op. cit. (note 17), p. 19.

66 Resolutitn, cit. (note 65), 7 June I607. See van Swigchem et al., op. cit. (note 3), pp. 254-55; Muller, op. cit. (note 27), vol. i, nr. I245; and R. Hirsch, Doodenritueel in de Nederlanden voor I700, unpublish- ed diss., Amsterdam i92i. The comparison with van Speyk's funeral is instructive; see de Vries, op. cit. (note xo), pp. 25-31.

67 For the funeral see Orlers and van Haestens, op. cit. (note 6), p. 2i2; Wagenaar, op. cit. (note 2), vol. 7, p. 343; van den Bosch, op. cit. (note 2), p. 102; and Breen, op. cit. (note 17), p. i9. See also B. de Montfaucon, Antiquity explained, and represented in sculptures, by the learned Father Montfaucon, trans. D. Humphreys, 5 vols., London 1722, triumph for a naval victory: vol. 4, p. i04, funeral processions: vol. 5, pp. 8-g, funerals of great men: vol. 5, pp. i0-iI.




io D. Vinckboons, Heemskerk's funeral procession, pen and ink, with wash, ca. i6o8. Paris, Fondation Custodia, F. Lugt Collection

funeral held in the Netherlands since that of William of Orange (d. I 584); three later naval heroes (Piet Hein, d. i629, fig. 6; Maerten Tromp, d. x653, fig. 7; and Michiel de Ruyter, d. i677, fig. 8) were also honored by similar tributes.

Although there was a precedent for the States-Gen- eral's call for Heemskerk's funeral, the assembly's decision to commission a monument in his honor, as proclaimed in the epitaph's Latin inscription, marked a significant departure from the pattern of its earlier patronage. Resolutions and financial records of the States- General indicate that its commissions for art had never been extensive, and that before the Twelve Years' Truce, orders for paintings and decorative art were relatively rare. At this point the assembly's potential as a patron was constrained by its preoccupation with the war as well as its limited budget. Works ordered by the States-General through the second decade of the century consisted primarily of gifts intended to further the diplomatic aims of the Republic.68 Commissions for

pictures and tapestries reveal a preference for subjects underscoring the country's military and naval prowess or supporting the validity of its struggle against Spain. 69 In i6I4, the States-General issued a resolution calling for a tomb for William of Orange, an elaborate memorial (fig. ii) designed and executed by de Keyser shortly after the completion of the Heemskerk epitaph, which became the country's foremost patriotic shrine.70 The assembly's resolutions through the end of the truce also include orders for pictures of naval battles,7' works which have obvious implications for its explicit request for a depiction of the victory at Gibraltar in Heems- kerk's monument, as well as portraits, medallions, chains, plates and vessels.72

Following the States-General's resolution of 2 June i607, there is no further mention of the epitaph in its proceedings. That the only subsequent reference to the monument appears in a resolution (Appendix i i i) of the Amsterdam admiralty of I3 June i609 suggests that this group was charged with assigning and supervising the

68 J. G. van Gelder, "Notes on the royal collection, i v. The 'Dutch gift' of i6io to Prince Henry of 'Whalis', and some other presents," The Burlington Magazine o05 (i963), pp. 542-44.

69 Tapestries depicting the triumphs of Alexander the Great were ordered in i6o6 and i609. In 1613, representatives of the States- General purchased Otto van Veen's series of pictures recording the legend of the Batavians.

70 The tomb was discussed by the States-General on 14 November i6I3; de Keyser's name appears in a resolution of 8 February i6;4

(possibly in relation to a model), followed by the assembly's acceptance on 12 February i614; see Jimkes-Verkade, op. cit. (note 53), p. 214. Neurdenburg, Hendrick de Keyser, cit. (note 2), p. 97, suggests that de Keyser's initial design for the monument may date from I 6o0, the year in which the Heemskerk epitaph was completed.

75 Keyes op. cit. (note 37), pp. ii, i8-20, and I I, 24 and 42 (the States-General as a patron of Vroom); see also Keyes, op. cit. (note 6i), p. io.

72 Van Gelder, op. cit. (note 68), p. 542.




commission.7 However, that it was representatives of the States-General who inspected the completed work indicates the assembly's continued involvement in the project. The delegation of the Heemskerk epitaph to the Amsterdam admiralty (which, like the other regional admiralties, was administratively and financially under the jurisdiction of the States-General) established a precedent for the assignment of those mausoleums later mandated by the national or the regional assemblies to that admiralty with which the deceased was affiliated. In some cases, commissions by these institutions were subsequently passed on to his family which determined the monument's typology and program, and even, in some cases, covered its cost.

The admiralty resolution describes the on-site in- spection of the Heemskerk epitaph by Willem van Ma- thenesse and Dirck Sticke, members of the States-Gen- eral who were assigned as counselors to the admiralty, and the (unnamed) advocat fiscal (financial adviser).74 This document, which establishes a terminus ante quem for the monument's completion, also indicates that there was no prior financial agreement with the sculptor. Al- though the officials named were authorized to negotiate a price, the outcome of their deliberations is not recorded. The resolution furthermore shows that the epitaph was well received. All of the later Oude Kerk monuments commissioned by the admiralty are, in varying degrees, modeled after it (see figs. 5, 24).

The admiralty resolution also identifies the Heems- kerk epitaph's sculptor as Hendrick de Keyser (1565- I621). De Keyser, who had been employed by the admiralty from i599 to produce decorative emblems for its ships,75 had also held the post of Amsterdam's city ar- chitect since 1595.76 At the time of Gibraltar he was involved in this capacity in two important projects the Stock Exchange (to i6ii) and the Zuiderkerk and its tower (to i6I4). These assignments, especially the com-

s~~~V my

iI Hendrick de Keyser, Monument of William of Orange, i621.

Delft, Nieuwe Kerk

mencement of the Exchange in i6o8, may account for the two-year gap between the States-General's call for the monument and its completion.77

De Keyser's friendship with the poet and historian P. C. Hooft, the son of one of the burgomasters of Am- sterdam, may also have played a role in the award of the commission and in the epitaph's design. Shortly before Gibraltar, Hooft had prophetically observed that once the negotiations for the anticipated truce were accom- plished, de Keyser would be in a position to use his art

73 Resolutien, cit. (note 65), 13 June I6o0. 74 Ibid. Mathenesse was appointed as counsel to the admiralty on

12 May i607, and Sticke on 6 September 1597; see The Hague, Alge- meen Rijksarchief, Alfabetische index op de commissie boeken van de Staten-Generaal (op de namen der benoemden), 2 vols., undated manuscript, vol. 2, fols. 490-91 (where Mathenesse is mistakenly listed as Adriaen Mathenesse, who was appointed to the Council of State in the same month), and vol. 3, fols. 722-23 (Sticke). On the latter, see also W.F.H. Oldewelt, "De Hoeflijserse Schald (i6i6-i68i)," Amsteloda- mum 51 (1959), pp. 38-40.

75 W. Troost, "Hendrick de Keyser als scheepsdecorateur," Ons Amsterdam II (1971), PP. 350-52.

76 Wagenaar, op. cit. (note 2), vol. 7, p. 173 (Stock Exchange), and vol. 9, p. 408 (biography); A. W. Weisman, Hendrik de Keyser, Am- sterdam i887, p. 52.

77 The columns, brackets, cartouches and masks included in the arcade of the Stock Exchange are similar to those in the epitaph. Masks resembling the one at the top of the relief also appear in contemporary busts by de Keyser; see Neurdenburg, De zeventiende eeuwsche beeld- hou wkunst, cit. (note 2), nrs. I0 (i6o6) and i I (i6o8).




for the glory of the Republic.78 He later published two poems on Heemskerk's death (including the Dutch inscription on the epitaph), as well as additional verses celebrating the truce and a eulogy on the occasion of de Keyser's death in i 62I.79 Hooft's background in classical languages and literature, as well as his extensive con- tacts in Dutch classicist circles (especially with scholars at the university in Leiden, Heinsius among them),80 suggest that he may also have contributed the monument's unattributed Latin epigraph. It also raises the question of his involvement in the invention of the iconographic program of the epitaph, which in terms of its classical references is unparalleled at this point in de Keyser's career.

HEEMSKERK 'S EPITAPH: ICONOGRAPHY OF LOCA-

TION, TYPOLOGY AND DESIGN Heemskerk was buried in the Oude Kerk, a late Gothic church originally dedicated to St Nicholas, the patron of Amsterdam, and of the seamen, shippers and merchants who were still predominant in the neighborhood.8' The Oude Kerk was the parish church of Heemskerk's family, as well as the official church of the Amsterdam admiralty. His epitaph inaugurated a shrine to that organization's heroic admirals which eventually included the monuments of Cornelis Jansz. (de Haan) (d. i633; fig. 24), Abraham van der Hulst (d. i666), Willem van der Zaan (d. i669), Isaac Sweers (d. i674; fig. 5), and Gilles Schey (d. 1703). Prominently mounted in this public setting, these shrines were accessible to worshippers as well as to those

merely seeking shelter or diversion (see fig. 25). 82 Heemskerk's grave was excavated between the second

and third columns on the north side of the choir, oppo- site the Snijderskapel (fig. 12).83 As illustrated in fig. 23b, his helmet, armor and sword were hung on the column to the left of the grave,84 and his monument was mounted on that to the right. While the elongation of the Heemskerk epitaph suggests that it was designed to be hung on a column (rather than a wall), whether it was conceived in terms of this particular column is un- clear.85 That this may have been the case is indicated by the column's historical associations. It had earlier sup- ported a panel recording the memorial service for Char- les v which was held in the Oude Kerk on 2i April 1559.86 The replacement of the plaque by the Heems- kerk monument represents the physical supersession of a symbol of the Habsburg empire by one representing the new Dutch Republic. Consequently, just as associations linked to the sites of the altar-like wall tombs of the later naval heroes (figs. 6-8) encouraged certain perceptions of these figures, the iconological significance of the location of the Heemskerk epitaph may also have underscored the crucial role of his victory in winning the Republic's eventual freedom from Habsburg rule.

Although the States-General's resolution stipulated that Heemskerk's grave should be marked by either a slab or a tomb, both were eventually included. The grave was covered by a black marble grave slab, decorated with a roundel containing his coat of arms in relief (a rampant lion, as in fig. i6).87 Since the States-General

78 Wagenaar, op. cit. (note 2), vol. II, p. 408; for the full text see H. W. van Tricht et al., De briefwisseling van Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, 3 vols., Culemborg 1976-79, vol. i, pp. 89-go (Leiden, 3 May i607).

79 P. C. Hooft, Gedichten, ed. F. A. Stoet, 2 vols., Amsterdam i899, vol. I, p. 70 (poems on Heemskerk's death). The publication of the epitaph's inscription in i609 has long suggested a tentative terminus ante quem; see Neurdenburg, Hendrick de Keyser, cit. (note 2), p. 99.

For the Twelve Years' Truce see "Op het Bestandt," Hooft, vol. I, pp. 81-85, and "Vertooningen over het Twaelfjarige Bestandt," vol. I, pp. 85-87; see also "Grafschrift van Mr. Henrick de Caisar, beeldthou- wer," vol. I, pp. 182-83.

8o Hooft was a student at the university from November i6o6 to July i607. See S. Groenveld, Hooft als historieschryver, Weesp i98i, p. ii; M. A. Schenkeveld, Dutch literature in the age of Rembrandt, Amsterdam & Philadelphia i99i, p. 17.

8i I. H. van Eeghen, "De geestelijke en wereldlijke functionarissen verbonden aan de Oude of S. Nicholaas Kerk te Amsterdam tot I 578," Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis 37 (1950), pp. 65 -109.

82 Van Swigchem et al., op. cit. (note 3), pp. 68-69, 158-59 (describing how monuments for national heroes could be visited dur-

ing a promenade through the church). 83 Van Rooijen, op. cit. (note 2), VoL. I, p. 3; van Swigchem et al.,

op. cit. (note 3), pp. 255, 256-57. 84 J.J. Nieuwenhuysen, "De helm en het harnas van Jacob van

Heemskerck," De Navorscher i856, p. 348; R. van Luttervelt, "De wapenrusting en het zwaard van Jacob van Heemskerck," Maandblad Amstelodamum 1953, pp. 73-76.

85 Whether the Oude Kerk column itself actually figured in the iconography of the Heemskerk memorial is conjectural. For the antique precedent of the triumphal column, which served as a commemorative victory monument, see Montfaucon, op. cit. (note 67), vol. 4, pp. i o-io. Yarrington, Commemoration, cit. (note 5), pp. 15-33, discusses those columns mounted in honor of heroes in England and France.

86 Wagenaar, op. cit. (note 2), vol. 7, pp. 344-45; R. P. van den Bosch, op. cit. (note 2), p. I02.

87 Van Swigchem et al., op. cit. (note 3), "Gebeeldhouwde grafzer- ken," pp. 258-59; van Rooijen, op. cit. (note 2), vol. I, p. 3. The wooden gate that closed off the grave was later replaced by a metal railing; see Bijtelaar, in van Rooijen, op. cit. (note 2) vol. i, p. 6o.



Hendrick de Keyser's Heemskerk monument 28i

T e o e gaacK

i. The sit ofHe mk r'g av

did not specify the typology of the tomb, the choice of an epitaph, the most popular monument type in the Neth- erlands at this point, would initially appear to have been made by the Amsterdam admiralty.88 However, it seems even more likely that the decision reflected the preference of the churchwardens, since all of the subsequent monuments to naval heroes (such as figs. 5 and 24) mounted in the Oude Kerk are of this type.89 Con- versely, the mausoleums of Johan van Galen (d. i653) and de Ruyter (fig. 8), commissioned by the States-Gen- eral and placed in the Nieuwe Kerk, are both wall tombs.

The design of the Heemskerk epitaph is consistent with the States-General's call for a "modest" monu-

ment. Although objections to the inclusion of richly decorated tombs in Dutch Protestant churches were sometimes raised during the early seventeenth century,90 sepulchral art was cautiously tolerated in most parishes because of its didactic potential. Nevertheless, examples of contemporary monuments with effigies, or sacred or allegorical figures or symbols, were relatively rare.9' In the case of de Keyser's earlier epitaph for the Hoorn physician Petrus Hogerbeets (i6oi; fig. 13), the sculptor had been specifically requested by the deceased's family to exclude figures from the frame of the monument, because they might confuse impressionable parishio- ners.92 Beginning with the Hein monument (fig. 6, after i637), effigies as well as portrait busts and medallions

88 Van Swigchem et al., op. cit. (note 3), pp. 26o-6i. 89 Bijtelaar states that the epitaph was mounted without objection

from the church; see van Rooijen, op. cit. (note 2), vol. I, p. 38. Also van Swigchem et al., op. cit. (note 3), pp. 264-65. Ibid., pp. 156-57, on the series of epitaphs commemorating scholars mounted from I579 in the Leiden Pieterskerk as a potentially significant parallel for the Heemskerk epitaph and the other monuments in the Oude Kerk pantheon.

90 Van Swigchem et al., op. cit. (note 3), p. 157. However, the poem

" Incarnacie" of i607 calls for the erection of a most sumptuous tomb in Heemskerk's honor; see Scheurleer, op. cit. (note 26), vol. I, p. ioo.

9! Neurdenburg, De zeventiende eeuwsche beeldhouwkunst, cit. (note 2), p. 42, interprets this as a response to the Iconoclasm. See also E. de Jongh, "De schaduwen van Daedalus," in Beelden in de gouden eeuw, cit. (note 2), p. 12 (reservations regarding graven images).

92 Neurdenburg, De zeventiende eeuwsche beeldhouwkunst, cit. (note 2), p. 42; van Deursen, op. cit. (note xq), p. 244; and van Swigchem et at., op. cit. (note 3), pp. 68-69.




4:~~~~-

AS .. ..t i . .. .:

I3 Hendrick de Keyser, Monument of Petrus Hogerbeets, I 6o i. Formerly Hoorn, Grote Kerk; destroyed

began to assume an increasingly prominent role in the iconography of the cult's shrines.93 Although allegorical figures and motifs (see fig. 8) were also introduced in monuments commissioned during the second half of the century, religious references continued to be excluded.

While the architectonic emphasis of the Hogerbeets epitaph is retained in that of Heemskerk, it is expressed in terms of a more classicizing mode.94 Classicism

played a significant role in the architecture and iconography of the mausoleums, since it implied a connection between the naval heroes (sometimes referred to as "Ba- tavian Romans," "Hollandish Romans" or "Dutch Ro- mans") and the naval heroes of ancient Rome.95 As Al- kemade later observed, just as the Romans had erected trophies and arches in honor of their admirals' courage and service to the nation, so the States-General erected monuments to its naval heroes.96 The antique references of the memorials may also have imposed an aura of historical distance which underscored the eternal fame of those they honored."7

READING THE HEEMSKERK EPITAPH: FORMAT, IN-

SCRIPTIONS AND SEPULCHRAL ICONOGRAPHY While the Heemskerk monument resembles contemporary Dutch epitaphs, its format and decoration (the pediment with a coat of arms and maritime symbols, the central inscription, and the scene of battle in the apron) also recall those of church plaques (fig. 4), 98 and fron- tispieces or title pages. This is particularly true of Jo- hannes van Doetecum's engraving (fig. i5) for the title of Lucas Jansz. Waghenaer's De spieghel der zeevaerdt (I584), a popular guide to navigation, which is accepted here as an important source for de Keyser's design.99 That Dutch maritime manuals, as well as illustrated histories and geographies, also provided models for the iconography and decoration of the later mausoleums has not been fully appreciated.

Closer examination of the epitaph's format suggests how it was intended to be read and interpreted. The monument is divided into two zones, one "high" and the other "low," designations which refer to the location of the zones as well as to the comparative abstruseness of

93 The appearance of the effigy indicates a new interest in the subject's personality and character which is paralleled by develop- ments in Dutch historiography; see H. Kampinga, De opvattingen over onze vaderlandse geschiedenis bj de Hollandse historici der i6e 6 I7e eeuw, Utrecht i980 (ed. princ. The Hague 1917), pp. 52-53. For Tacitus's interest in the personal standards and motives of his historical subjects, see Tacitus, ed. T.A. Dorey, New York i9%, p. 156.

94 While it is generally held that this transition did not occur until later in de Keyser's career, the special demands of the Heemskerk epitaph required a more classicizing language, which in turn affected the development of de Keyser's vocabulary at an even earlier stage.

95 The iconography of Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli's statue of Andrea Doria (ca. 1540; Genoa, Palazzo Ducale) provides an interest- ing comparison; see S. ffolliott, Civic sculpture in the Renaissance: Montorsoli'sfountains at Messina, Ann Arbor i984, pp. 24-33.

96 Van Alkemade, op. cit. (note 4), p. 2i6.

97 This observation is an extension of that expressed by E. Haver- kamp-Begemann, Rembrandt: the Nightwatch, Princeton 1982, p. 87, where he says that the antique costume of the musketeer "removes him from reality into the historical or allegorical realm."

98 C. A. van Swigchem, "Een Goed Regiment." Het burgerljke ele- ment in het vroegegereformeerde kerkinterieur, The Hague iq88, p 39- 44; van Swigchem et al., op. cit. (note 3), pp. 284-85; S. Sullivan, "Abraham van Beyeren's visserij-bord in the Groote Kerk, Maas- sluis," Oud Holland ioi (1987), pp. ii5-25; and E. deJongh, exhib. cat. Still life in the age of Rembrandt, Auckland (Auckland City Art Gallery) I982, nr. i8b.

99 Exhib. cat. Lof der zeevaart, Rotterdam (Maritiem Museum Prins Hendrik) i966-67, nr. i2i; D. de Vries, "Chartmaking is the power and glory of the country. Dutch marine cartography in the seventeenth century" in Keyes, op. cit. (note 6i), p. 6i, fig -I.




1 De Chfselk .evat 0.AlmaGoeKr

h. _

e u hl s te m4 ore

abstract motifs (the crown, globes and coat of arms) and the Latin inscription, while the lower includes those which could be understood without special know- ledge-the Dutch verse, the battle and the skull. The epitaph is designed (and hung) so that the "low" motifs are at eye-level, a mode of presentation devised to enga- ge the viewer that was retained in the later memorials.

The Heemskerk monument includes several elements common to Baroque sepulchral art. However, their introduction as well as their evolution in the monuments of the later naval heroes, suggests conceptual innova-

1'A

0 -il~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~l

AmS HAL X XXXi :U

ii5 Johannes van Doetecum, tidle page of Lucas Jansz. Waghenaer, De spieghel der zeevaerdt, Leiden (Plantijn) 1584

tions in monument design which in turn indicate changing social and cultural values in the Republic. Achieve- ments, shields and other heraldic devices, which establish the deceased within a larger family unit, provided the most important form of associational identifi- cation in the early modern period.'I0'1 Consequently, they were sometimes numerous and usually prominently displayed. Since the coat of arms on the Heemskerk epitaph (fig. '6) was polychromed (azure, a silver lion

rampant, with red tongue and claws), its original impact was greater.'102 The monuments of the later naval heroes, especially those who were descended from the no-

ioo P. Aries, The hour of our death, New York 1982, p. 2i8, discusses the division of a medieval monument into two parts, an inscription, and a prayer for the soul of the deceased. The latter, which invites a dialogue between the deceased and those who pray for him, suggests an instructive analogy to the presentation and reception of the lower zone of the Heemskerk epitaph.

iot Van Swigchem et a., op. cit. (note 3), pp. 136-37; S. Marshall, The Dutch gentry, rgoo-'65o: family, faith and fortune, Westport

1987, p. 2. i02 B. Bijtelaar, "Herstelwerkzaamheden aan het monument voor

Jacob van Heemskerk," 2i March I974, in van Rooijen, op. cit. (note 2), vol. 1, p. 3 (argent on azure or vert); Luttervelt, in van Rooijen, op. cit. (note 2), vol I, p. 56, refers only to the azure, as does Wagenaar, op. cit. (note 2), vol. 7, p. 344. Their conclusions are consistent with depictions of the shield in contemporary heraldic manuscripts.




I6 Heemskerk epitaph, detail showing the crown, globe and coat-of- 1..... .7 Heemskerk epitaph, detail showing the relief and skull arms

bility, present even more impressive heraldic displays, including the arms of the various branches of their families-a development consistent with the proliferation of shields on contemporary escutcheons. At the same time, the mausoleums also attest to the deceased's ties to groups other than his family in their prominent inclusion of the shields of cities or institutions with which he had been associated, or which had commissioned his monument. Conversely, the public display of their arms in this context reflected honor back on these groups.

Recognition of the propagandistic potential of memorials also influenced the language and content of their inscriptions.'03 While the Latin epigraph (incised Ro- man majuscules in black marble) reviews Heemskerk's numerous accomplishments, Hooft's poem (incised script in blackened limestone) eulogizes his victory and death at Gibraltar. Although bilingual inscriptions were sometimes included in the monuments of the later naval heroes, their introduction in Heemskerk's epitaph is an intriguing indicator of changing attitudes towards language in the Republic around i6oq, and the problems this presented for sepulchral art. By the beginning of the

truce, not only had the number of Netherlanders who could read their native language vastly increased, but this mother tongue was also more widely accepted as a vehicle for serious literature (as in the works of Hooft and Heinsius, especially the latter's Nederduytsche poe- mat). 104 The rise in literacy, as well as the new political and cultural significance of the vernacular, is reflected in the inclusion of Hooft's Dutch inscription, placed where it could easily be read. Latin, however, was not only the traditional epigraphic language,'I5 it was also an international one.I06 Consequently, the Latin inscription reinforced those antique references noted earlier, while at the same time making Heemskerk's deeds and valor known to a wider audience.

The epitaph's few explicit references to Heemskerk's death are further muted by their mode of presentation. While his end is noted in both inscriptions, the monument contains only one traditional sepulchral motif the skull at the base of the apron (fig. 17).1 07 Not only is this memento mori an overt reference to the hero's fate, but also, as a traditional stimulus to meditation, it prompts the viewer to contemplate the context and im-

1o3 Sepulchral monuments and their inscriptions have received little attention in investigations of the interaction of words and images in art. Although S. Alpers, The art of describing, Chicago i983, p. 174, discusses the interplay of the fictive title page and vanitas motifs in Steenwijck's Allegory of the death of Admiral Tromp, she does not seem to consider that the same phenomenon may be operative in the inscription and decorative elements in Tromp's monument (which she includes as an illustration). See Alberti, op. cit. (note 4), pp. i69-70; and Aries, op. cit. (note Ioo), pp. 22I-30.

I04 Schenkeveld, op. cit. (note 8o), p. 17. io5 The Latin lines are closely related to the sepulchral epigram

(verses devoted to the commemoration of the deceased). However, in terms of their secular focus (Heemskerk's patriotism), they could also be regarded as a modern literary extension of the classical lamentation consolation or laudation, or the contemporary funeral oration or eulogy, which figured in the increasingly elaborate funeral services for naval heroes.

io6 See van Swigchem et a, op. cit. (note 3), p. I57; Geyl, op. cit. (note 40), pp. 286-87.

I07 The skull can be compared to those in de Keyser's portals for the churchyards of the Zuiderkerk (i603) and Westerkerk (1620); see Neurdenburg, Hendrick de Keyser, cit. (note 2), figs. 3, 4, 7, 8.




plications of Heemskerk's death, as portrayed in the relief just behind it. While this restrained use of funereal imagery reflects contemporary notions of sepulchral de- corum, it is also consistent with antique attitudes, eloquently presented in Tacitus's eulogy for Agricola, which considered that excessive expressions of grief were incompatible with the celebration of a hero's eternal fame through a glorious death. I 08 Elsewhere, Taci- tus acknowledged that his great sorrow was assuaged by his delight in contemplating those virtues which would make Agricola immortal. A similar metaphysical contrast is suggested in de Keyser's juxtaposition of the battle and the skull, reinforced by the proximity of Hooft's lines reminding the viewer that Heemskerk left his honor to the Republic by laying down his life at Gibraltar, thus increasing the Republic's honor with his own.

ICONOGRAPHIC INNOVATIONS: THE CROWN, GLOBES

AND RELIEF De Keyser also introduced several novel motifs in the Heemskerk epitaph-the naval crown, the globes, and the relief of the battle. Although the crown and the relief can each be traced to a classical prototype, the globes, and the relief as well, depend on contemporary examples. Both the crown and the battle scene were retained in the monuments of the later naval heroes, and in the iconography of the cult more generally.

THE NAVAL CROWN The crown (figs. 2 and i6) at the apex, composed of seven ships' prows mounted on a fillet, is the epitaph's most explicit expression of Heems- kerk's status as a hero. '09 Both contemporary as well as later Dutch sources variously refer to it as a "scheeps- kroon" (a naval crown), I I ? a "stevenkroon" (a crown of prows), I I I an "admiraalskroon" (an admiral's crown) or a "zeekroon" (a marine crown). While contemporary pamphleteers frequently called for Heemskerk to be crowned, it was always with a crown of laurel, I 2 a traditional mark of honor signifying bravery, as well as fame preceding death, that he appears in his portraits (see fig. 23c). In a poem of i607 Heemskerk is awarded a "sege- kroone" (triumphal crown) in honor of his "doode kruijn" (skull), a literary pun alluding to his heroic death.'I '3 These lines suggest that a similar contrast between the epitaph's counterbalanced crown (at the apex) and skull (at the base) may have been intended. Another literary juxtaposition of these motifs refers to the "zege-kroone [die] kleeft op Heemskerk's doode kruijn" (the crown of victory fastened to Heemskerk's skull), II 4an image which suggests the familiar emblem- atic motif of the skull crowned with laurel (see fig. i8) which appears in seventeenth-century Dutch still lifes.'I5

The crown also associates Heemskerk with the great admirals of antiquity. It is based on the corona navalis

io8 Dorey, in Tacitus, cit. (note 93), p. 9; Tacitus, The Agricola and the Germania, trans. H. Mattingly, London 1970, p. 99. See also Jim- kes-Verkade, op. cit. (note 2), p. 35.

I09 While the present crown is not the original, it is consistent with that illustrated in fig. 2; see van Rooijen, op. cit. (note 2), vol. I, p. 6o. Bijtelaar, op. cit. (note I02), p. 6o, notes a payment (2 February 1768) of Dfl. I6 to Pieter van 's Herenberg for a copper crown to be placed above Heemskerk's crest. The same document lists a payment of Dfl. 7 to the plasterer who made the model; a receipt of 8 March I768 from Jacob Otten Husly breaks the costs down into Dfl. 5.10 for executing the model, and Dfl. I.Io for materials.

IIo Von Zesen, op. cit. (note 2), pp. 341-42; VoS, Op. cit. (note 6). III Wagenaar, op. cit. (note 2), vol. 7, pp. 340-45. See also Woor-

denboek der Nederlandsche taal, vol. I 6, The Hague & Leiden I 940, col. 1564, which lists the first reference to the stevenkroon as appearing in Vondel's poem on Hulst's death in I666; see Scheurleer, op. cit. (note 26), vol. 2, pp. 207-09.

152 These suggest the corona laurea (a crown made from a single branch which was sometimes gilded), or the corona triumphalis (a wreath in which laurel leaves were intertwined with threads and leaves of gold). Both types appear in sepulchral art, while laurel is used in wreaths, swags and frames for inscriptions. See Paradin, op. cit. (note 6i), pp. 248-49: "Me pompa prouexit apex"; G. de Tervarent, Attri- buts et symboles dans Part profane, i450-i600, Geneva I958, pp. 128-

29. Montfaucon, op. cit. (note 67), vol. 4, p. 105, notes that a crown of olive leaves (corona oleagina) was sometimes awarded to those who had been victorious in a naval battle.

113 Scheurleer, op. cit. (note 26), vol. I, pp. 90-93. 114 Herckmans, Theatrum victoriae, cit. (note 6), p. I i. 115 See Paradin, op. cit. (note 6i), p. 257: "Victoria limes"; and

exhib. cat. Ildelheid der ildelheden: Hollandse vanitas-voorstellingen uit de zeventiende eeuw, Leiden (Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal) 1970, nr. 27.

I i6 Although it has been claimed that these terms refer to different types or orders of distinction, or that they were reserved for individ- uals of different social status, Roman historians appear to have used them interchangeably. See V. Maxfield, The military decorations of the Roman army, Berkeley i98i, p. 75; G. de Lairesse, The art of painting, London 1738, pp. 579-80; and Montfaucon, op. cit. (note 67), vol. 4, p. io6.

1I 7 Pliny the Elder, The natural history, trans. H. Rackham, 4 vols., London & Cambridge (Mass.) i968, vol. 4, p. 39I; von Zesen, op. cit. (note 2), pp. 34I-42, refers to the monument's gilded naval crown ("schepenkroon"). While the number of prows in the classical corona navalis is not indicated, Paradin's (our fig. i9) has at least 12. The seven in the Heemskerk crown may refer to the Republic's seven provinces.




i8 'Victona limes, from Claude 19 Classis monulmenta subacte," from Claude Paradin, Devises heroiques, Lyons Parading Devises heroiquest Lyons 1557 '557

(sometimes called a corona rostrata or a corona classi- ca), II 6 a gold crown decorated with prows or sterns,' I 7

which was a military decoration awarded to the first sailor to board an enemy ship, or to a commander who had destroyed an entire fleet or achieved a signal victory. I I 8 The design of the corona navalis was derived from the decoration of the rostrum, the first speakers' platform in Rome, which was adorned with the prows of vessels captured at Actium. It was these prows, or rostra, which gave the platform its name (and which are the source of the corona rostrata).'"g Pliny the Elder describes the later Augustan rostrum as "graced by the rams of ships... like a wreath crowning the Roman nation."' 20

Although modern scholars have called the Heems- kerk crown a corona navalis, it is not consistent with either of the two forms that decoration takes on Augus- tan coins, which are the only formal source to survive from the first century. In the first example, a single projecting prow is attached at the front of a corona muralis (a crown with a crenellated wall) to form a corona

muralis et rostrata.12' In the second, stylized prows, shown in profile, alternate with laurel leaves to create a corona laureata et rostrata. ' 22 Although its treatment of the prows has been simplified, de Keyser's crown was probably modeled after that naval crown, as depicted in Claude Paradin's Devises heroi4ues (fig. i9), a popular sixteenth-century emblem book reissued in Dutch in i6oo (Antwerp) and i603 (Leiden).I23

THE GLOBES The epitaph also includes stone spheres (figs. 2 and i6) which were originally polychromed to represent terrestrial and celestial globes.'24 While the inclusion of paired globes in a sepulchral monument is apparently unique at this point, the placement of the Heemskerk globes at either end of the cornice is analogous to the location of those in the title pages of Abra- ham Ortelius's Theatrum orbis terrarum of 1573,12 5 and De spieghel der zeevaerdt (fig. I5). De Keyser's globes would therefore seem to retain the same reference the sailing of the seas through the charting of the skies,

II8 P. Steiner, "Die dona militaria," Bonner Jahrbiicher 114-15 (I906), pp. 36-38; G.R.W. (George Ronald Watson), "Crowns and wreaths," The Oxford classical dictionary, cit. (note 8), p. 300; Max- field, op. cit. (note I I6), pp. 74-76.

II9 I.A.R. (Ian Archibald Richmond) and D.E.S. (Donald Emrys Strong), "Rostra," The Oxford classical dictionary, cit. (note 8), p. 937. See also Alberti, op. cit. (note 4), p. I58.

i 2o Pliny, op. cit. (note I17), vol. 4, pp. 391-93. I2I H. Mattingly, Coins ofthe Roman Empire in the British Museum,

6 vols., London I923-68, vol. I, p. 23, nr. I I0 (pl. 4, nr. 6), reverse with head of Agrippa wearing the combined mural and rostral crown. Max- field, op. cit. (note i i6), p. 76.

122 Ibid., vol. i, p. iI6, nr. 721 (p. 2 1, nr. io).

123 Paradin, op. cit. (note 6i), p. 254: "Classis monumenta subacte.")

I24 See Catalogus der Bibliotheek, Nederlandsch Historisch Scheep- vaart Museum, 3 vols., Amsterdam i960, vol. i, pp. 98-103; 0. Brown, Spheres, globes and orreries, Cambridge I983; P. van der Krogt, "List of old globes in the Netherlands," Der Globusfreund, I983, pp. 31-32 and 78-i06, and idem, Old globes in the Netherlands, The Hague i984. Keyes, op. cit. (note 6i), nr. I 3 I, pp. 35I-54, includes a pair of celestial and terrestrial globes by Jodocus Hondius the Elder.

i25 De Vries, op. cit. (note 99), p. 6X; C. Keeman (ed.), Atlantes Neerlandici: bibliography ofterrestrial, maritime and celestial atlases and pilot books published in the Netherlands up to i88o, Amsterdam i967.




probably as a complimentary reference to Heemskerk's renown as a navigator. While globes were placed on either side of the pediment in the Hein monument (fig. 6), they were omitted in the later memorials.

At the same time, the presence of the globes in a sepulchral monument raises the question of whether they might also be interpreted, on another level, either as references to vanitas, or to the triumph of virtue. ' 2 6 Paired celestial and terrestrial spheres, similar to those in the Heemskerk and Hein monuments, appear in earlier Netherlandish art as an expression of the metaphysical opposition of the everlasting and the ephemeral (and the moral choices they represent).'27 In later Dutch vanitas still lifes (fig. 20, for instance), paired globes have been interpreted as an allusion to the acquisition of a place in heaven by leading a virtuous life on earth. 1 28 Consequently, the Heemskerk globes might also seem an appropriate motif in a monument commemorating a patriotic hero who had won immortality through his courageous death-a sentiment echoed in the epitaph's Latin inscription: "anima coelo gaudet, corpus hoc loco jacet" (his soul rejoices in heaven, his body lies here). I 2 9

THE RELIEF The apron contains the epitaph's most important iconographic component, the depiction of the Battle of Gibraltar (figs. 2, 17) expressly called for by the States-General. Mounted from the upper corners and the mask in the center, the alabaster relief suggests a miniature fictive tapestry similar to wall hangings (fig. 2z) depicting naval campaigns commissioned by the

2o Edwaert Collier, Vanitas still life, ca. i664. Leiden, Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal

States-General and the admiralties from the last quarter of the sixteenth century.'30 At the same time, it also recalls reliefs of naval battles included on Roman triumphal arches and columns, and sarcophagi,'3' as well as those in the portraits and monuments of sixteenth-century naval heroes. ' 32 Since historiated reliefs were rarely introduced in northern sepulchral art during the Renaissance,'33 the Heemskerk battle scene marks an important revival of this classical tradition in the Netherlands during the early Baroque.

x26 B. Haak, "De vergankelijkheidssymboliek in zestiende-eeuwse portretten en zeventiende-eeuwse stillevens in Holland," Antiek I (I967), pp. 23-30, and ibid., 2 (i968), pp. 399-41 I. See alsoL. Moller, "Bildgeschichtliche Studien zu Stammbuchbildern i i. Die Kugel als Vanitassymbol," Jahrbuch der Hamburger Kunstsammlungen 2 (i952),

pp. 157-77; exhib. cat. Ijdelheid, cit. (note ii5), nrs. 7, 9, 20, 24, 26 and 32; and de Jongh, op. cit. (note 98), nrs. 39, 40, 44 and 45.

127 See E.H. Zeydel, The ship offools by Sebastian Brandt, New York i944, pp. s6o-6x. See also de Jongh, op. cit. (note 98), p. 20?.

x28 De Jongh, op. cit. (note 98), nr. 40; see also nrs. 40d and toe. In P. Steenwijck's Vanitas still life, an allegory of the death of Maerten Tromp, the celestial globe has been interpreted as illustrating the conviction suggested earlier, namely the virtuous hero's attainment of a place in heaven; see de Jongh, p. 224. For references to naval heroes in several other works, see ibid., nrs. 42 and 42b (Tromp), and 45 (Aucke Stellingwerf).

129 See ibid., p. 234, for the significance of the celestial sphere in a work commemorating the death of Stellingwerf in i665.

130 See Keyes, op. cit. (note 37), vol. I, pp. 2I-22, and note 9, and Keyes, op. cit. (note 6i), pp. 6 and 8-io. See also M. Russell, Visions of

the sea: Hendrick Vroom and the origins of Dutch marine painting, Lei- den iq83, pp. I i6-40 (Vroom's tapestries), especially pp. 137-38 (the Middelburg tapestries).

13i For reliefs on arches and columns see Alberti, op. cit. (note 4), P. 170, and Montfaucon, op. cit. (note 67), vol. 4, pp. o07-o8 (arches) and pp. X so-io (columns). For reliefs on sarcophagi, see Montfaucon, vol. 5, p. 68; and vol. 4, pp. i84-85, for a relief of a naval battle included in a monument.

132 See Sebastiano del Piombo's portrait of Andrea Doria (ca. 1526; Rome, Palazzo Doria-Pamphilj) which includes a fictive antique relief at the base, and Lorenzo Bregno's monument for Benedetto Pesaro (ca. 1503; Venice, S. Maria Gloriosa dei Frari), which contains four reliefs (his victories and Venetian galleys). For Andrea Calamec- ca's statue of Don Juan of Austria, (1572; Messina, Strada Austria), which includes a relief of his victory at Lepanto, see ffolliott, op. cit. (note 95), pp. i84-85.

133 Two important exceptions are Alexander Colijn's tombs of the Emperors Maximilian (1562-66; Innsbruck, Hofkirche) and Ferdi- nand I (1564-89; Prague, St Veit's Cathedral).




I _~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2I Hendrick Vroom (designer)} The Battle of Bergen op Zoom, tapestry? completed by 1592. Middelburg, Abdij, Zeeuws Museum

The victory at Gibraltar was a popular subject in seventeenth-century Dutch art. Scenes of the battle appeared in the backgrounds of Heemskerk's portraits (figs. 3, 23c), just as similar scenes had been included in those of earlier admirals. The naval battle continued to be the recommended background for depictions of Dutch commanders into the eighteenth century. ' 34 Gi- braltar itself was also treated as an independent subject. Heemskerk's house was decorated by his descendants after his death with canvases documenting his victory, while other pictures of the event were commissioned by the States-General (fig. 22), the East India Company and the Amsterdam admiralty, ' 35 which in i6i i dona- ted a window depicting Gibraltar to de Keyser's recently completed Zuiderkerk.'36 Printed scenes of the

battle, ranging from schematic woodcuts (fig. 4) to highly finished engravings, were also popular.'37 Claes Jansz. Visscher's bird's-eye view of the confrontation (fig. 23) includes a presentation of the bay, the town and the citadel not unlike that in de Keyser's relief. ' 38 Gi- braltar was also celebrated in commemorative med- als.'39

Today the scene in the relief is difficult to decipher. Even when viewed obliquely, the Dutch and Spanish ships (in the foreground), the sweep of the bay and the citadel (on the right) are only faintly visible. While de Keyser's presentation of the site in bird's-eye perspec- tive, from a considerable distance, as well as his render- ing of the topography, is consistent with other depictions of Gibraltar, the relief does not appear to be based

'34 De Lairesse, op. cit. (note I x6), P. 367. See S. Dickey, "Bartho- lomeus van der Helst and Admiral Cortenaer: realism and idealism in Dutch heroic portraiture," Leids Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 8 (i989), pp. 227-45; and J. Welu, "Seventeenth-century Dutch seascapes: an inside view," in Keyes, op. cit. (note 6i), pp. 58-5g.

135 For the Heemskerk family collection, see van Rooijen, op. cit. (note 2), vol. I, p. 56. For the pictures ordered by the States-General: van Gelder, op. cit. (note 68), p. 542, and Breen, op. cit. (note I7), p. 20, and for those commissioned by the East India Company, Breen, p. 20. For works ordered by the Amsterdam admiralty, see Keyes, op. cit. (note 37), p. i8, and idem, (note 6i), p. 33, note 23; the admiralty paid Cornelis Claesz. van Wieringen 2,400 guilders for a depiction of Gi- braltar (I622) intended as a gift for Prince Maurits.

136 The window no longer exists; see C. Commelin, Beschrivinge van Amsterdam... tot den jare i691, Amsterdam i693, vol. I, p. 47I. See also P.C. Hooft, "Op de schipstrijdt voor Gibraltar geschildert

door last van de EE. HH. Raeden ter Admiraliteit binnen Amsterdam in 't glas inde suiderkerkck," in Scheurleer, op. cit. (note 26), vol. I, p. 90. A lancet window, incorporating a scene of the battle, was mounted in the Oosterkerk in Hoorn by the admiralty of West Friesland in i630: see Keyes, op. cit. (note 6i), nr. 125, p. 329, note I; C. Janson, "Celebrating Haarlem's mythical naval history: the Taking ofDamiate window at Gouda," 5th International Conference of Netherlandic Studies, Los Angeles 1990.

137 Muller, op. cit. (note 27), vol. i, nrs. 1241-43. 138 Keyes, op. cit. (note 6i), nr. 125, pp. 328-29. The fact that the

print's depiction of the battle is approximately the same size as the Heemskerk relief raises questions about their relationship that remain unsolved.

139 Bizot, op. cit. (note 6o), pp. 120-22; Muller, op. cit. (note 27), vol. I, nr. 1244.




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24 Epitaph of Cornelisfansz (De Haan), ca. I 633. Amsterdam, Oude Kerk

on any single example. Like contemporary marine pictures and tapestries, it is more reportorial than pictorial, with descriptive detail downplayed in favor of greater clarity. I40

That the Heemskerk battle scene was originally polychromed accounts for its detailed depiction in engravings (fig. 2), and for suchlike descriptions through the end of the century. '41 In a i662 guide to Amsterdam the relief is praised as artfully carved ("kunstigh uyt-gesne- den"), with the sea and ships depicted in natural color ("de zee en schepen met de natuerlijke verven af- gebeeldt"). 142 A corrective "color enhancement" of the battle suggests that it was conceived as a novel three- dimensional marine tapestry or picture (cf. figs. 2i, 22),

not unlike the panel included in the derivative monument of Cornelis Jansz. (de Haan) (ca. i633; fig. 24). That the apron was intended to be painted from the outset is indicated by its low relief and shallow carving as well as by the discoloration of the alabaster (which is streaked with natural iron deposits). 143 Since de Keyser has been credited with painting relief insignias for the admiralty's ships (which he probably carved), and since several of his portrait busts from this period were also polychromed, he may have applied the color himself. I44

Although a later invoice, of 1768, refers to the restoration of the monument's (unspecified) polychromy and gilding,'45 the evidence cited above suggests that the battle scene was not repainted after the seventeenth century. While this inattention may signify neglect or indif- ference, it should also be considered that in its natural state the alabaster of the battle scene would have been more consistent with the classicizing white marble reliefs included in later mausoleums (figs. 7, 8).

HEEMSKERK 'S VIRTUE AND FAME The battle scene not only records the circumstances of Heemskerk's death, but, together with the epitaph's inscriptions, it eloquently commends his virtue to the viewer. The antique concept of virtus, an all-encompassing reference to a man's worth, was personified by Hercules in terms of his completion of the twelve labors. 46 Likewise, the heroic virtue of Heemskerk and the later naval heroes is described in contemporary tracts in terms of the courage and fortitude with which they faced the Republic's enemies. Furthermore, Hercules' choice of Virtue over Pleasure, one of the period's favorite exempla virtutis, may also be the source of cult legends exalting the supe-

140 Keyes, op. cit. (note 6i), pp. 8, 12. 141 Van Rooijen, op. cit. (note 2), vol. i, p. 6o. p42 Fokkens, op. cit. (note 2), pp. i88-go, cited in van Rooijen, op.

cit. (note 2), vol. I, p. I I. 143 That alabaster was evidently not employed in the i6oi Ho-

gerbeets monument raises the possibility that de Keyser began work- ing in this medium following his London trip in i6o6; see Neurden- burg, De zeventiende eeuwsche beeldhouwkunst, cit. (note 2), pp. 97-98 and 103-04. The date of the Heemskerk relief also suggests that it may rely on de Keyser's association with the English sculptor Nicholas Stone (1 587 -1 647), a skilled carver of alabaster who returned with him to Amsterdam and remained in his studio until i613; see M. Whinney, Sculpture in Britain, i53o-183o, Harmondsworth i964, p. 24.

i44 For the insignias, see Troost, op. cit. (note 75), p. 352; for the portrait busts, Beelden in de Gouden Eeuw, cit. (note 2), fig. 8, p. i8. One imagines the relief painted in those bright metallic colors favored by Hendrick Vroom (see fig. z2) and his contemporaries; see Keyes, op. cit. (note 6i), p. i2.

'45 Bijtelaar, in van Rooijen ('974), op. cit. (note 2), vol. I, p. 6o. 146 Cesare Ripa, Nova iconologia, Padua i6i8, pp. 567-68.




riority of altruism to wordly gain. In the case of Heems- kerk, the popular perception that he had rejected a lucrative career with the East India Company in order to lead the Republic's fleet against the Spanish underscored the magnitude of his sacrifice. '47

Just as Tacitus had established Agricola's virtue in terms of his many services to the nation, '48 the pamphlet literature also proclaimed that of Heemskerk in terms of his patriotism, that "conduct worthy of respect" which shows the "service to his country" cited in the States-General's resolution (Appendix Ii).I49 Further- more, Tacitus's assertion that patriotic action counted for more than birth or influence in the acquisition of virtue is also inherent in the ethos of the cult of the naval heroes.'50 Not only is it consistent with the emphasis placed on meritorious performance, rather than social class or wealth, as the requirement for attaining high rank in the Dutch navy, I 5 I but it also directly countered the contemporary Aristotelian-based notion of the aris- tocracy's claim of a natural predisposition to virtue.'52 This sentiment, which figures in early seventeenth-century Dutch literature (especially in historical tragedies, where virtue is accorded only to elites),'53 and in the iconography of the Orange monument,'54 finds direct opposition in literary tributes to the Republic's demotic naval heroes. As the inscription on the Hein monument

triumphantly proclaims, "heroes are not always born, but also made by daring enterprise" ("non nasci semper heroes ... sed audendo fieri").

On the other hand, it should also be stressed that virtue in the sense of moral excellence, or simple good- ness of character, was also a powerful component of the mystique of the naval hero. Just as Tacitus gave equal weight to the greatness of Agricola's achievements and to the "nobility of his life," Dutch admirals honored for their extraordinary service at sea were also extolled as exemplary models of Christian rectitude. In this sense, Heemskerk's virtue is expressed in terms of his piety, moderation and prudence, while later heroes were con- sistently lauded for their modesty and humility-values particularly esteemed throughout contemporary Dutch society. I 5 '

According to the ancients, heroic mortals such as Hercules could become gods if they were sufficiently virtuous, a concept later restated in Christian terms as the practice of virtue providing entry into heaven.' 56 Likewise, virtue was rewarded by fame. I '57 Early seventeenth-century Netherlandish treatises refer to two types of fame-temporal renown, which might last over a long period, but which would eventually fade, and everlasting fame, or immortality. 58 Although demotic heroes such as Heemskerk had traditionally been ac-

147 Breen, op. cit. (note 17), p. 2, discusses how Heemskerk's personal fortune (including the inheritance from his parents) was sub- stantially increased through his involvement in lucrative naval expeditions and campaigns. His last will (27 February i607) gives an indication of his wealth just prior to Gibraltar; see ibid., pp. 15-i6 and 2I-23.

148 This is a paraphrase of Aristotle's axiom that all virtue consists of action, especially that beneficial to one's country; see I. Gerards- Nelissen, "Otto van Veen's Emblemata Horatiana," Simiolus 5 (1971), P.47.

149 See Scheurleer, op. cit. (note 26), vol. ", pp. 73-78 (Heemskerk as a triumphant hero who fights for the fatherland).

I5o Tacitus, cit. (note 93), pp. 124-25. 151 Schama, op. cit. (note I9), p. 249. 152 Gerards-Nelissen, op. cit. (note 148), p. 37; Jimkes-Verkade,

op. cit. (note 2), pp. 38-41. 153 Schenkeveld, op. cit. (note 8o), p. 78 (these works included

"only princes and rulers whose tribulations serve as a means to de- monstrate their exemplary steadfastness and virtue. Not even in the Dutch Republic was it conceivable that the life of a commoner might be instructive in this way").

554 Because Jimkes-Verkade, op. cit. (note 2), pp. 38-4I, interprets the monuments of the naval heroes (and their references to virtue and fame) in terms of the Orange monument (and its sources and iconography), her analysis is fundamentally flawed. First, that she retains Aristotle's distinction between earthly fame and eternal fame

(p. 38) leads her to conclude that the zeehelden were denied the latter because their virtue was of a simpler and more limited form. Secondly, her interpretation of the typologies of the memorials as denoting the respective status of their subjects as first- or second-level heroes (p. 40) implies the implementation of a fully developed hierarchical system as early as the Heemskerk monument. Her analysis fails to consider the impact of changing taste and attitudes towards church decoration, of the increasing role of the regional assemblies, admiralties, kerkfabrie- ken and families in the commissions for the monuments, and of the evolution and proliferation of the cult itself.

a55 Tacitus describes Agricola as a military genius endowed with more human qualities-piety, clemency and modesty; see Dorey, in Tacitus, cit. (note 93), p. 3. See also Schama, op. cit. (note I9), p. 249; Jordan and Rogers, op. cit. (note 7), pp. 202 (admirals as exemplifying values that society held dear) and 207 (Vernon's assertive frankness and moral independence as British traits).

156 Farnell, op. cit. (note 8), p. I54 (how Hercules' achievement of divinity through suffering and toil gave the average man hope of a blessed immortality); de Jongh, op. cit. (note 98), p. 2I5.

157 See Virgil, The Aeneid, trans. J. H. Mantinband, New York I964, Book X, lines 467-69, where Jupiter reminds Hercules that to gain fame through deeds is the work of virtue; for Petrarch's reference to fame as virtue's "companion and herald," see Ettlinger, op. cit. (note 58), p. I23; Jimkes-Verkade, op. cit. (note 2), p. 38; and Gerards- Nelissen, op. cit. (note 148), p. 50.

158 Jimkes-Verkade, op. cit. (note 2), p. 38.




corded only the former, the opening line of his monument's Latin inscription ("Honoriet Aeternitati"), as well as the pamphlet literature, make clear that his heroic actions had earned him the latter. Just as Hercules had won immortality through his noble efforts, and just as Christ and the Christian saints and martyrs had gained eternal life through their sacrificial acts, Heems- kerk's display of virtus at Gibraltar transcended the transient realm of temporal renown. Because his patriotism provided a model for future generations, his mo- ment of fame survived his death to endure beyond the grave into eternity.

That virtue manifested in terms of patriotic deeds was rewarded with immortal fame is a concept that appears repeatedly in the iconography and inscriptions of the mausoleums and in contemporary literary accounts of the cult.' 59 One of the earliest expressions appears in "Incarnacie," a poem of i607 which says that Heems- kerk's "death is his life" ("sijn doot sijn leven is"). This sentiment is echoed in the Hein inscription's reference to death giving life ("Mors vitam dedit"), in Jan Vos's poem of i633 on the death of Cornelis Jansz. (de Haan), which describes his fame as having "conquered death" ("zijn roem verwint de doodt"),'60 and in the i669 inscription of the van der Zaan monument, which proclaims "so men live beyond death."'6' A poem on the death of van der Hulst (i666) notes that his fame resides not in his tomb but in the heart of Holland, where it is passed on by word of mouth from father to son, thereby granting him eternal life. ' 62 That the concept of immortal fame appears to be particularly associated with members of the cult may be significant for interpreting the references to Tromp in a group of vanitas still lifes from

the i650S.I63 Veneration of the classical hero traditionally took pla-

ce at his tomb where the memory of his virtue was pre- served for posterity. This tradition, which accounts for the establishment of the graves of heroes, or of kings, saints and military leaders as pilgrimage sites, also provides insight into the elevation of the monuments of Heemskerk and the later naval heroes to the status of the country's foremost patriotic shrines-public memorials where "virtue" was "eternalized through art."'64 The increased frequency of official commissions for mausoleums during the second half of the century reflects both the noble intention to honor the naval heroes of the English and French Wars, as well as a more pragmatic motive-to encourage the nation to support the war ef- fort, and to motivate young Dutchmen to fill the ranks of their fallen countrymen.

The public's response to the cult and its monuments is suggested in scenes of Dutch church interiors from this period, in which the memorials of the naval heroes are prominently depicted. Hendrick van Vliet's view of the Oude Kerk in Delft (fig. 25) includes the wall tombs of Hein (in the distance; see fig. 6) and Tromp (on the left; see fig. 7). ' 65 Van Vliet's juxtaposition of the mausoleums of two of the nation's most venerated naval heroes with the two graves on the right (that just recently filled as well as that being excavated just behind it) provokes a revealing moralizing contrast. Just as Tacitus had observed in contemplating his father-in-law's certain immortality, those with no name or fame would be buried in oblivion, while Agricola, whose deeds were recorded in the hearts of men, would live forever.I66 While van Vliet's graves are unattended, the monu-

159 See Schenkeveld, op. cit. (note 8o), p. 78, who notes that "only in tragedies dealing with the history of the revolt against Spain were representatives of the common people sometimes allowed to play a (subordinate) part." See E. Panofsky's discussion of death and immortality in "Mors vitae testimonium: the positive aspect of death in Renaissance and Baroque iconography," Studien zur toskanischen Kunst, Munich x964, pp. 230-34. See McManners, op. cit. (note i6), pp. I67-72, for expressions of immortality in the Enlightenment.

i6o J. Vos, "Grafschrift op den manhaftigen waterhopman de Haan," Scheurleer, op. cit. (note 26), vol. I, p. 271.

i6i Van den Bosch, op. cit. (note 2), p. I07. i62 Scheurleer, op. cit. (note 26), vol. 2, pp. 209-IO. See Tacitus,

op. cit. (note io8), p. 99: "all that we loved and admired in Agricola abides and shall abide in the hearts of men through the endless procession of the ages for his achievements are of great renown."

I63 De Jongh, op. cit. (note 98), nrs. 42, 42b and 44.

164 See Grijzenhout, op. cit. (note i6), p. 38; the aim of the projected monument to the heroes of 1799 "was to found a national shrine where later generations could learn the lesson of liberty and patriotism." This sentiment is echoed in nineteenth-century works, such as John Flaxman's Monument of Lord Nelson (i8o8-i8; London, St Paul's) or Hendrik Breukelaar's Van Speyk before the tomb of de Ruyter (i832; Amsterdam Historical Museum), in which young sailors are presented with the example of earlier heroic admirals and their victories.

i65 J. Giltaij and G. Jansen, exhib. cat. Perspectives: Pieter Saenre- dam and the architectural painters of the seventeenth century, Rotterdam (Boymans-van Beuningen Museum) I99I, p. 2I5, nr. I43.

i66 Tacitus, op. cit. (note io8), p. 99. As an overt expression of vanitas, the graves also attest to the transience of human life, especially in contrast to those eternal values suggested by the church interior.




L~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~............

..

2-5HnrcvaVleItroofteOdKekDefti65.TldTldMuemoAr

ments of Tromp and Hein have attracted an attentive audience which, in terms of gender, age and socio-economic class, suggest a cross-section of Dutch society. The group before the Tromp monument quietly stands . in respectful contemplation of this opulent memorial to patriotic virtue, but the moral instruction communicat- ed by the mausoleums to future generations is even more explicitly suggested in terms of the three boys in the foreground who gaze in the direction of the Hein and

Tromp monuments while hovering over what appear to be their exercise books.'67 Half a century after the States-General's call for the Heemskerk monument, in the context of new challenges to the Republic, the assembly's original objective continued to be fulfilled in the later monuments of the naval heroes.

TEMPLE UNIVERSITY

PHILADELPHIA

i67 See T. T. Blade, "Two interior views of the Oude Kerk in Delft," The Art Institute of Chicago 6 (1n97), P. 43; see also Giltaij and Jansen, op. cit. (note i65), p. 170, nr. 30.



294

Appendix I-A

The Latin inscription

HONOR IET AETERNITATI

JACOBO AB HEEMSKERK,

AMSTELREDAMENSI,

VIRO FORTISSIMO, ET OPTIME

DE PATRIA MERITO.

QUI

POST VARIAS IN NOTAS IGNOTASQUE ORAS

NAVIGATIONES, IN NOVAM SEMBLAM SUB POLO

ARCTICO DUAS, IN INDIAM ORIENTALEM VERSUS

ANTACTICUM TOTIDEN, INDEQUE OPIMIS SPOLIIS

ANNO M D C IIII. REVERSUS VICTOR.

TANDEM

EXPEDITIONI MARITIMAE ADVERSUS HISPANOS

PRAEFECTUS, EORUMDEM VALIDAM CLASSEM

HERCULEO AUSU AGGRESSUS IN FRETO HERCULEO,

SUB IPSA ARCE ET URBE GIBRALTAR VII. KAL. MAII

ANNO M D C VII. FUDIT AC PROFLIGAVIT.

IPSE IBIDEM

PRO PATRIA STRENUE DIMICANS, GLORIOSE

OCCUBUIT. ANIMA CAELO GAUDET, CORPUS HOC

LOCO JACET. HAVE LECTOR, FAMAMQUE VIRI AMA

ET VIRTUTEM.

CUJUS ERGO

AB

ILLUSTRISS. ET POTENTISS. FAEDERAT.

PROVINC. BELGIC. ORGINIBUS P.P.

H. M. P.

VIXIT ANN XL. MENS I. DIES XII.

(To the honor and eternal glory ofJacob van Heemskerk of Amsterdam. The pious naval hero and defender of the fatherland, who after numerous naval expeditions in familiar and foreign lands, including two to Nova Zembla, below the North Pole, and an equal number to the East Indies and the South Pole, returned victorious in I604, laden with rich prizes. Finally, as the commander of an expedition against the Spanish, with Herculean courage

he destroyed their powerful fleet in the Straits of Hercu- les, defeating and scattering it within view of the castle and the city of Gibraltar on 7 May i607. In which he died gloriously, fighting for the fatherland. His soul rejoices in heaven, his body lies here. Recognize, 0 reader, the honor and virtue of him for whom the States-Gene- ral of the United Netherlands, the fathers of the fatherland, have erected this memorial. He lived forty years, one month and twelve days.)

Appendix I-B

The Dutch inscription

Heemskerk, die dwars door 't ijs en 't ijzer daurde stree- ven,

Liet d' eer aan 't land, hier 't lijf, voor Gibraltar het leeven.

P.C. Hooft, i609

(Heemskerk, who dared venture through ice and iron, Left his honor to his homeland, his body here, and his life off Gibraltar.)

Appendix i i

Resolution of the States-General, 2 June i607

Ontfangen eenen brieff uuyt deser landen vlote, lig- gende opte custen van Spaignen, daerbij geadviseert wordden de particulariteyten van de victorie, die Godt Almachtich gelieft heeft dese landen genadichlijck te verleenen bij de veroveringe ende het ruineren van de Spaensche vlote in de Strate van Gibraltar, ende na lec- ture van denselven is goetgevonden, dat men aen de provincien daervan sal senden copie, teneynde deselve daervoeren Zijne Goddelijcke Mat. dancken ende uuyt- wendige teeckenen van blijschap thoonen; ende alsoe de voors. tijdinge vermelden, dat den admirael Heems- kerck in de rencontre mette Spaensche vlote geschoten ende gestorven ende dat zijn doode lichaem tot Amstel-



295

redam gebracht is, is geordonneert daerop te scrijven aen het collegie ter Admiraliteyt tot Amstelredam, dat d'heeren Staten daerinne bedroeft zijn ende wel gewenst hadden, dat hij levendich met hem thuys hadde moegen brengen ende genieten die eere van de voirs. victorie, die hij doer Godes genade, doer zijn couragieulx ende man- nelijck gemoet ende resolutie, mitsgaders de goede deb- voiren van de capiteynen, schipsvolck ende soldaten, opte scepen van onse vlote gedient hebbende, vercregen heeft. Maer alsoe 't den Heere anders belieft heeft, dat men dat mede van Zijne machtige hant met danck moet ontfangen, doch alsoe die eerbaerheyt voer den dienst van 't lant vereyscht, dat men tot een teecken van erken- tenisse van desen dienst bij eene eerlijcke begravenisse van 't voors. doode licaaem openbaerlijck bethoone hoe aengenaem dat denselven den lande is, dat d'heeren Sta- ten daerom begeeren, dat zij dese begravenisse eerlijck tot laste van de Generaliteyt sullen doen ende die met haerluyder presentatie vereeren, doende het graffbeleg- gen met eenen swaren sarcksteen oft matige tombe, daerinne dat zij sullen doen houwelen de representatie van de voors. victorie tot eene eeuwige memorie, teneynde anderen voer het toecommende te meer gemo- veert moegen wordden met gelijcke courage ende deb- voir dese landen dienst te doen.

Received a letter from our fleet lying off the coast of Spain, giving particulars of the victory which it hath pleased Almighty God to graciously grant this country through the defeat and ruin of the Spanish fleet in the Straits of Gibraltar, and after the reading of this letter it was approved that copies be sent to the provincial assemblies so that they too can give thanks to God and express their pleasure in some public demonstration of joy. And since the aforementioned message informed us that Admiral Heemskerk was shot in this encounter with the Spanish fleet, and died, and that his dead body has been brought to Amsterdam, we have ordered that the Amsterdam Admiralty be informed that the States- General are grieved and indeed wish that he had returned home alive and enjoyed the honor of the aforementioned victory, obtained through the grace of God and his own courage and manly spirit and resolution, together with the devotion to duty of the captains, seamen and soldiers who have served on the ships of our fleet. But because it pleased God otherwise, and indeed because men must receive that too from his mighty hand

with gratitude, and because we are to show respect for service to the country, which demands that we publicly display our recognition of how agreeable his service has been to the country by an honorable funeral for the aforementioned dead body, the States-General wishes this funeral to be at the expense of the commonwealth, and to supply the grave with a massive grave slab or a modest monument in which is to be sculpted a representation of the aforementioned victory for posterity, that it may inspire future generations to serve their country with the same courage and duty.

Appendix i i i Resolution of the Amsterdam admiralty, I3 June i 609

Raakt het epitaphium voor den Lt. Adm. I. Heemskerk, 13 Juny (1 609)

De heeren Matenes / Sticke en A[dvo] caet fiscael [deleted] rapport gedaen hebbende [deleted] D[....] hunne S. hebben gevisiteert het ep[ita] phium / bij Mr. Hen(drick) de Keyser geste[ld] in de oude Kerk bij t' graf van de Admir[ael] Jacob van Heemskerk vroomen memor[ien] ende t' selve opgenomen en geapprobeert Sijn geauthorizeert metten selven [te] handelen / belangende t' gun t' hem daer o[ver] zal mogen competeeren.

Concerning the epitaph for Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Heemskerk, 13 June I609 The gentlemen Matenes, Sticke and the financial advi- sor have reported that they have visited the epitaph installed by Master Hendrick de Keyser in the Oude Kerk at the grave of Admiral Jacob van Heemskerk of pious memory, and have inspected and approved it. They are authorized to negotiate with the same concerning his remuneration.



hendrick de keyser's heemskerk monument: the origins of the cult and iconography of dutch naval...

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