Daily Life in Rembrandt's Holland

Daily Life

by Paul Zumthor

Rembrandt's life coincided with what the Dutch refer to as their "golden age." This engagingly written study presents a rich picture of a dynamic society that had torn itself away from the mediocrity of its past - a stagnant nation of peasants and fishermen - to pursue an overseas empire that led to great financial wealth and a highly sophisticated cultivation of the arts. This classic work first appeared in English translation in 1963. Among the myriad topics covered are homes, gardens, clothing, food, religion, childrearing, education, medicine, sports and games, holidays and celebrations, painters, musicians, writers, the theater, publishing, aristocrats, workers, peasants, the merchant fleet, the armed forces, trading and colonizing companies, fisheries, and the famous Holland dikes.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Travel, Art, 17th Century

376 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1994

About the author

Paul Zumthor, CQ (August 5, 1915 – January 11, 1995) was a medievalist, literary historian and linguist. He was Swiss-born, from Geneva.

He studied in Paris with Gustave Cohen, and worked on French etymology with Walther von Wartburg. In studying medieval French poetry, he formulated the concept of mouvance (variability). He also emphasised "vocality" in medieval poetry, the place of the human voice.

He held two major professorial positions, at the University of Amsterdam from 1952 and at the Université de Montréal from 1971 to 1980, when he became emeritus. In 1992, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec.

Reviews

[Lytle]

This is an incredibly detailed and fascinating book; at the same time, he seems generally uninterested in explaining how he knows what he claims to know: the exact amount of time between when a Dutch family wakes up and when it eats; that they eat having fully dressed; or the precise fabrics and colors of decorations used as backdrops for the celebration of engagements. In this sense he’s unlike the Annales historians: no discussion of gaps in the historical record, limits to our understanding. It’s rather the Shelby Foote phenomenon of imagined total access

[Lacivard Mammadova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hər hansı ölkənin tarixindən yaşamından yazmaq olduqca çətin prosesdir. Hollandiyanın "qızıl dövrü"nü təsvir etmək üçün Pol Zyumtor Rembrandtın yaşam illərini seçir. Kitabda ictimai həyatın formalaşması, geyim, yeni torpaqlar, məşhur zambaq qızdırmasına da yer verilib. Yəni bu tip kitabdan gözlədiyiniz hər şey var. Sadəcə özümə qeyd üçün qeyri-adi heç nə tapmadım. Belə şeylərə isə çox önəm verirəm.

[Kaja Kulinicz-Szymankiewicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

W swojej dziedzinie - świetne. Trzeba lubić ten typ książki, żeby się nim cieszyć, nie wyobrażam sobie odwrotnej kolejności. Treść powolna, szczegółowa, z pozoru nieistotne elementy obejrzane pod lupą i opisane na 5 stron. Okienko na dawny świat. Nie uczta, a zwykły, codzienny obiad, do którego czytelnik zasiada przy stole holenderskiego kupca. Dzień tak codzienny, że współcześni nawet nie zauważają, gdy przybysze z XXI w. chodzą po ich ulicach i zaglądają w ich okna.

[Gene · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great companion to the recent and excellent Dutch masters exhibit at Boston's MFA. While not a scholarly work, Daily Life gives the reader a broad, if somewhat biased, overview of Dutch Golden Age society and the forces that shaped it.

[Cory Potts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this book in a second hand shop. Wanted to read to understand Europe under the Holy Roman Empire and during the various waves of the plague. I knew Zumthor's name from writing about the printing press. This book compiles primary source material and sketches out the scene in Holland that existed around the time when the Flemish painting masters like Rembrandt and Vermeer were putting out their masterpieces. Zumthor makes characterizations of the dutch people while trying to explain how so many artists who became famously well known happened to coexist during a very short span of history, the span of one generation. It's entertaining to read about the peculiarities of dutch people living during this period. They obsessively slosh water all over their houses to the point that mold growth and air quality become serious social issues. They sing in groups at the drop of a hat, there are special holders under their dining tables for lyrics to sheet music. They also are firmly against the catholic church and live very private lives. In this vein, they spurn ornament which means their houses look identical and somewhat ugly from the outside looking in. They aren't interested in paintings of biblical scenes as much as they are having the splendid interiors of their homes and their regular family life depicted.

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really excellent social history of the Netherlands in the 17th century - painting the broader strokes of history with the fine brush of intimate detail in almost every area of life, from the peasant's home to government houses. Essentially a book of trivia, Paul Zumthor organizes minutiae into a pretty compelling trajectory that builds from the humblest daily exercise of the Dutch to their outsized global influence in international trade and travel. Then, after that frankly masterful crescendo, he spends one chapter on, literally, digging ditches. That was a weird move... but otherwise a really well put together, super readable, and highly enjoyable history.

These topics didnt always coalesce into their own chapters, but of particular interest to me were the ways in which the Dutch character contributed to it's unique (and impressive) additions to the world of fine arts, the cultural trade between the Netherlands, France, and Britain, and the formation and growth of a nation newly converted to Reformed Protestantism.

[Sergei Kasoverskij · Rating 3 out of 5]

Интересный материал и очень сухая подача.