‘Ik zal u/ons helpen met Justitie’: Het verhulde ontwerpproces van het Justitiegebouw

The Department of Justice on Het Plein in The Hague eventually came into being between 1876 and circa 1885 after a turbulent design history characterized by quarrels, backbiting and posturing. The design has traditionally been attributed to Cornelis Peters, even though its style is not typical for him. It was suspected at the time that the architect Pierre Cuypers and the civil servant Victor de Stuers were involved to some degree. Now new archival research has made it possible to confirm their role and to clear up the uncertainty surrounding the design’s authorship.   After an initial design for the new Justice building by J.F. Metzelaar had been rejected, L.H.J.J. Mazel, head engineer in the Waterstaat (civil engineering) department of the Ministry of the Interior, and his deputy, J. Singels, produced a basic concept and ground plans. Hugo Pieter Vogel, an architect of note, was engaged to design the visually defining facades.   In April 1876 these plans were considered by a Board of Government Advisers dominated by Cuypers and De Stuers. After lengthy discussions, the advisers rejected Mazel and Singels’ plans. Behind the scenes Cuypers proceeded to sketch new plans, in two versions, which were then elaborated by Mazel and Singels.   Vogel, who was supposed to adapt his elevation designs to suit the new ground plans, felt under pressure from De Stuers to work in the traditional Dutch architectural style. As an. architect in the classical tradition, Vogel took exception to this and withdrew acrimoniously. This cleared the way for Cuypers and De Stuers to impose their own elevation designs via Cuypers’ ex-pupil Cornelis Peters, whom they had managed to get appointed as architect in the Department of Finance in early 1876. Peters, who was recruited in October 1876, initially signed his drawings and memos with the pseudonym ‘Nemo’ ('nobody'). As far as the outside world knew, De Stuers and Cuypers were not involved in the design. Once Peters had been officially appointed to oversee the construction of the Justice building in February 1877, he no longer needed to be so reticent, but the other two continued to influence the design from the wings.   Thus the Justice building was designed under a cloak of secrecy, an artifice intended to conceal De Stuers’ contribution and, more especially, the far-reaching involvement of Cuypers. The main reason for putting Peters forward as designer lay in the seriously impaired relations following Cuypers’ controversial appointment as architect of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in 1876. Cuypers could ill afford another scandal. Although a few contemporaries expressed their suspicions and displeasure, the three gentlemen’s machinations had the desired effect: a Ministry of Justice in their own preferred ‘national’ style.Het departement van Justitie aan het Plein in ’s-Gravenhage kwam tussen 1876 en circa 1885 tot stand na een turbulente ontwerp- en bouwgeschiedenis, waarbij ruzies, achterklap en mannetjesgedrag aan de orde van de dag waren. Traditioneel wordt het ontwerp toegeschreven aan Cornelis Peters, al roept de voor hem  ongebruikelijke stijl vragen op. Bekend was dat architect Pierre Cuypers en ambtenaar Victor de Stuers betrokken waren. Op basis van nieuw archiefonderzoek kon hun rol worden vastgesteld en de onduidelijkheid over het auteurschap van het ontwerp worden verklaard. Nadat een ontwerp van J.F. Metzelaar voor de nieuwbouw van Justitie was afgekeurd, tekende L.H.J.J. Mazel, hoofdingenieur van de afdeling Waterstaat van Binnenlandse Zaken, in 1875 samen met zijn rechterhand J. Singels een opzet en plattegronden. Voor het ontwerp van de beeldbepalende gevels was de bekende architect Hugo Pieter Vogel aangetrokken. De plannen werden in april 1876 besproken in het door Cuypers en De Stuers gedomineerde College van Rijksadviseurs. Na veel discussie keurden de rijksadviseurs de plattegronden van Mazel en Singels af. Vervolgens schetste Cuypers achter de schermen twee varianten van nieuwe plattegronden, die door Mazel en Singels werden uitgewerkt. Vogel moest zijn gevelontwerpen aan de gewijzigde plattegronden aanpassen. Hij voelde zich daarbij door De Stuers gedwongen te werken in de oud-Hollandse bouwstijl. Vogel, man van de classicistische traditie, nam dit niet en vertrok met ruzie. Dat maakte voor Cuypers en De Stuers de weg vrij om vanaf oktober 1876 via Cuypers’ pupil Peters – die begin 1876 door hun toedoen bouwkundige bij het departement van Financiën was geworden – hun eigen gevelontwerpen door te drukken. Peters signeerde zijn tekeningen en nota’s aanvankelijk met het pseudoniem ‘Nemo’ (‘niemand’). Voor de buitenwereld waren De Stuers en Cuypers niet bij het ontwerp betrokken. Nadat Peters in februari 1877 de leiding over de uitvoering van het Justitiegebouw had gekregen hoefde hij niet langer geheimzinnig te doen, maar de twee anderen bleven op de achtergrond bepalend voor het ontwerp. Het Justitiegebouw is zodoende onder een dekmantel ontworpen, een kunstgreep die de bijdrage van De Stuers en vooral de verregaande betrokkenheid van Cuypers moest verhullen. Dat zij Peters als ontwerper naar voren schoven lag met name aan de ernstig verstoorde verhoudingen na de omstreden aanstelling van Cuypers als architect van het Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, in 1876. Cuypers kon zich niet nog een schandaal permitteren. Al uitten enkele tijdgenoten hun verdenkingen en ongenoegen, de machinaties van de drie heren hadden het gewenste effect: een ministerie van Justitie in de door hen gepropageerde ‘nationale’ stijl

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Around the mid-sixteenth century the organization of the timber trade seems to have developed to such an extent that it was mainly pretreated types of timber that could be offered to the buyers. These consisted of local timber as well as of timber that had been supplied from a longer distance. The timber supplied chiefly came from the German Mid-Rhine region and from the basin of the Maas and its tributaries in present-day South Belgium and Luxemburg. The greater part of the local timber came from the ‘Meierij van 's-Hertogenbosch’ (bailiwick of 's-Hertogenbosch). The origin of part of the pretreated timber bought around the middle and the latter half of the sixteenth century can no longer be traced. In general, little time was allowed to pass between chopping the wood and treating it. This too, points to a well-developed structure of the timber trade in this period. Local timber production at various rural estates of the 's-Hertogenbosch institutions was part of this structure

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This case study explores the original significance and contexts of a series of political allegories painted by Theodoor van Thulden (1606-1669) for the ’s-Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc) Town Hall. In considering their commission history, current attributions, their relevant historical and political contexts and their initial placement in the town hall, we aim to reconstruct the paintings' function as a decoration program between their installation in the late 1640s and their relocation following a substantial renovation of the building in the early 1670s. The article concludes with a reflection on the changing nature of the town hall's interior and its impact on the interpretation and appreciation of van Thulden's paintings in the present

Striving for Unity: The Significance and Original Context of Political Allegories by Theodoor van Thulden for ’s-Hertogenbosch Town Hall

This case study explores the original significance and contexts of a series of political allegories painted by Theodoor van Thulden (1606-1669) for the ’s-Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc) Town Hall. In considering their commission history, current attributions, their relevant historical and political contexts and their initial placement in the town hall, we aim to reconstruct the paintings' function as a decoration program between their installation in the late 1640s and their relocation following a substantial renovation of the building in the early 1670s. The article concludes with a reflection on the changing nature of the town hall's interior and its impact on the interpretation and appreciation of van Thulden's paintings in the present

Bosch bouwhout onderweg. Een historisch onderzoek naar de herkomst van Bosch bouwhout in de vijftiende en zestiende eeuw

Around the mid-sixteenth century the organization of the timber trade seems to have developed to such an extent that it was mainly pretreated types of timber that could be offered to the buyers. These consisted of local timber as well as of timber that had been supplied from a longer distance. The timber supplied chiefly came from the German Mid-Rhine region and from the basin of the Maas and its tributaries in present-day South Belgium and Luxemburg. The greater part of the local timber came from the ‘Meierij van 's-Hertogenbosch’ (bailiwick of 's-Hertogenbosch). The origin of part of the pretreated timber bought around the middle and the latter half of the sixteenth century can no longer be traced. In general, little time was allowed to pass between chopping the wood and treating it. This too, points to a well-developed structure of the timber trade in this period. Local timber production at various rural estates of the 's-Hertogenbosch institutions was part of this structure

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Striving for unity: The significance and original context of political allegories by Theodoor van Thulden for 's-Hertogenbosch Town Hall

This case study explores the original significance and contexts of a series of political allegories painted by Theodoor van Thulden (1606-1669) for the 's-Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc) Town Hall. In considering their commission history, current attributions, their relevant historical and political contexts and their initial placement in the town hall, we aim to reconstruct the paintings' function as a decoration program between their installation in the late 1640s and their relocation following a substantial renovation of the building in the early 1670s. The article concludes with a reflection on the changing nature of the town hall's interior and its impact on the interpretation and appreciation of Van Thulden's paintings in the present.(OLD) MSE-