Steadfast. De Palmboom, Rusland 21, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Rusland, a short street in the centre of Amsterdam, gets its name not from the homonymous country - in Dutch - but rather from one Willem Ruusschen (a variety of spellings) who in the fifteenth century owned a garden, a 'tuin' or 'land', here. After 1986 the entire area was thoroughly renovated and largely became a 5-star hotel. But the facades have by and large remained intact, though heavily restored.
One of these is now a hotel restaurant, and above its door it preserves this ornamental fanlight of a steadfast palmtree. In the late 18th century there was a greengrocer here who apparently made good enough to have this Louis XVI-Empire style shop with its decoration. Whether that grocer's last name was Palmboom - a name occuring now and then in the registers of the Dutch East Indies Trading Company VOC - or rather that this palmtree signifies steadfastness and perseverance. I don't know. Perhaps both.
In 1745 Cornelis de Coster - who he?, I dare ask - handsomely published a longish poem of about 8 pages on the occasion of his brother-in-law's fiftieth birthday. This Cornelis Braam had been in service with the VOC and weathered many a storm, no doubt more awful than today's dreadful Amsterdam weather. The poem adduces an enduring palmtree as an example to Godfearing folk, whom God's hand preserves through trials and tribulations and especially when life's end is in sight... at 50, the author suggests:
De Palmboom zien wij opgeheven,
Ten doel van onweer koude en wind,
Maar wyl hy zig vol moed bevind,
Verheft hy zyne kruin en schynt voor niets te beven;
Zoo dringt een Waereldling, vol kragt en moed,
Door ’t aardsch gewoel, ten trots van ramp en ongelukken,
Terwyl Gods hand hem steeds allom behoed,
En voor geen tegenspoed nog lyfsgevaar doet bukken.
De Zon, die daalende in de kimmen ondergaat,
Vertoont ons d’ondergang van ’s levens dageraad.
Steadfast. De Palmboom, Rusland 21, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Rusland, a short street in the centre of Amsterdam, gets its name not from the homonymous country - in Dutch - but rather from one Willem Ruusschen (a variety of spellings) who in the fifteenth century owned a garden, a 'tuin' or 'land', here. After 1986 the entire area was thoroughly renovated and largely became a 5-star hotel. But the facades have by and large remained intact, though heavily restored.
One of these is now a hotel restaurant, and above its door it preserves this ornamental fanlight of a steadfast palmtree. In the late 18th century there was a greengrocer here who apparently made good enough to have this Louis XVI-Empire style shop with its decoration. Whether that grocer's last name was Palmboom - a name occuring now and then in the registers of the Dutch East Indies Trading Company VOC - or rather that this palmtree signifies steadfastness and perseverance. I don't know. Perhaps both.
In 1745 Cornelis de Coster - who he?, I dare ask - handsomely published a longish poem of about 8 pages on the occasion of his brother-in-law's fiftieth birthday. This Cornelis Braam had been in service with the VOC and weathered many a storm, no doubt more awful than today's dreadful Amsterdam weather. The poem adduces an enduring palmtree as an example to Godfearing folk, whom God's hand preserves through trials and tribulations and especially when life's end is in sight... at 50, the author suggests:
De Palmboom zien wij opgeheven,
Ten doel van onweer koude en wind,
Maar wyl hy zig vol moed bevind,
Verheft hy zyne kruin en schynt voor niets te beven;
Zoo dringt een Waereldling, vol kragt en moed,
Door ’t aardsch gewoel, ten trots van ramp en ongelukken,
Terwyl Gods hand hem steeds allom behoed,
En voor geen tegenspoed nog lyfsgevaar doet bukken.
De Zon, die daalende in de kimmen ondergaat,
Vertoont ons d’ondergang van ’s levens dageraad.