This legendary tower was demolished in 1829 but will be rebuilt within a few years!

An important and rare painting by Jacobus Storck in collaboration with a seventeenth-century clockmaker

From the collection of Jerome Bonaparte, King of Westphalia

An unusual painting

In seventeenth century painting, this painting occupies a very special place! It is a harbor view with a tower in the middle with a built-in clock instead of a painted dial. Such paintings are known to us from the nineteenth century. Usually the depiction consists of a romantic landscape with a church tower in which a clock is installed. These curious paintings were very popular at the time. From the seventeenth century, on the other hand, only a few examples are known of a painting in combination with a clock. The production of such a painting was a time-consuming and technically difficult task and thus very expensive. In any case too expensive for most collectors.

An undoubtedly wealthy Amsterdam patron, perhaps a herring merchant, must have visited the well-known city painter Jacobus Storck with the request to make a painting of the Haringpakkerstoren in combination with a clock, a highly unusual commission that was accepted by the artist, probably because of the attractive fee he was being offered.

We may assume that the painter carried out the commission to his complete satisfaction, given the fact that the work of art survived the centuries virtually intact.

Sensational discovery!

The restoration of the painting consisted of removing the old varnish layers and also gave us the opportunity to subject the painting to closer examination. First of all, it was established beyond doubt that the clock was built in in the seventeenth century and that it was therefore not a later ‘conversion’. In fact, Jacobus Storck painted the tower slightly wider than it should have been because of the dimensions of the clock to be installed! The clock restorer, for his part, established that the clockwork dated from the seventeenth century with later additions and, after a thorough cleaning, the clockwork was returned to its original state.

The biggest surprise brought the frame. The panel was in a carved, gilded wooden eighteenth century frame. After removing this frame, the original late seventeenth century ebony frame emerged, which was also flawless.

The ‘Haringpakkerstoren’

The tower was originally part of the medieval city walls and was called Holy Cross Tower at the time. When the walls no longer had any function and were demolished, the tower remained standing and underwent a facelift by the famous city architect Hendrick de Keyser. The tower received four bells and a weather vane in the shape of a gilded herring. The tower, which unfortunately was demolished in 1829, housed the herring packers and inspectors, while it also served as a meeting room for the pilots.

To the left of the Herringpakkerstoren, the Nieuwe Stadsherberg is visible and the painter is looking from the corner Singel-Droogbak at the height of the so-called Spanish House. In the Nieuwe Stadsherberg, demolished for the construction of the Central Station, travelers could spend the night who could not enter the city in the evening after the trees had closed.

Rebuilding the characteristic tower has been considered several times, but in 2006 Stadsherstel Amsterdam NV decided to resurrect the monument in its former glory. Fortunately, the city architect Abraham van der Hart made exact construction plans in 1807 and 1813, so the ‘new’ Haringpakkerstoren will be an exact copy of its predecessor. This gives Amsterdam back an important piece of architecture and considerably embellishes the cityscape.

From the royal estate

It is not yet known who owned the painting in its first hundred years, but in the turbulent years during the reign of Emperor Napoleon the painting came into the possession of his brother, Jèrôme Bonaparte, King of Westphalia (1784-1810). He resided in Kassel in the Wilhelmshöhe castle, where he also housed his art collection. After the death of the king, who incidentally died in Paris, the painting again received a distinguished owner, Duke August von Saksen-Gotha-Altenburg and after him Duke Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. In the first half of the twentieth century, Jacobus Storck’s masterpiece became part of the collection of the Herzogliches Museum Gotha and, after several centuries of absence, is back in its country of origin!