Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen

A Haarlem ship cuts the chain of the port of Damietta. This legend was popular for centuries in Haarlem.

Same subject designed by van Wieringen again as a tapestry in 1629. It is the largest tapestry made in the 17th century and has charmed Haarlem children for centuries.

Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen (Haarlem, ca. 1576 - Haarlem, 29 December 1633 [1]) was a Dutch Golden Age painter.

Biography

He was the son of a Haarlem captain, and drew, painted and etched with his friends Hendrick Goltzius and Cornelis van Haarlem. He also held important positions in the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke, the painters guild, where he became a member in 1597.^[1]

He specialized in paintings depicting ships and sea battles, and received orders from the municipal councils of Haarlem and Amsterdam. He painted the most popular picture of the Damiate legend of Haarlem, showing how a Haarlem ship broke the protective chain at Damietta during the Fifth Crusade, resulting in an important victory over Islam. This painting was such a success that it was reordered in tapestry form, and both pieces are in the collection of the Frans Hals Museum.

The city of Haarlem archives still hold the original records of the 1629 order to Van Wieringen to make the tapestry, the largest made in the 17th century (10.75 meters long and 2.40 meters high). This tapestry still hangs on the wall of the Haarlem City Hall council meeting room known as the vroedschapskamer, where it was installed. It is on public display once a year on Monument Day.

References

1. ^ Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen entry in the RKD

• Deugd boven geweld, Een geschiedenis van Haarlem, 1245-1995, edited by Gineke van der Ree-Scholtens, 1995, ISBN 9065505040

See also

• Haarlem School of painting

Persondata
Name	Wieringen, Cornelis Claesz Van
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1576
Place of birth
Date of death	1633
Place of death