Andries de Graeff

Andries de Graeff
Andries de Graeff (1661) by Artus Quellinus
Statutory auditor of the Court of Audit of Holland and West-Friesland
In office
1652–1657
Preceded byAdriaan Pauw
Succeeded byJacob de Witt
Regent and burgomaster of Amsterdam
In office
1657 (1st) – 1672 (last)
Preceded byCornelis de Graeff
Succeeded byGillis Valckenier and Coenraad van Beuningen
Personal details
Born19 February 1611
Amsterdam
Died30 November 1678
Amsterdam
NationalityDutch
Political partyStates Faction
SpouseElisabeth Bicker van Swieten
RelationsCornelis de Graeff (brother)
Andries Bicker (cousin)
Jan de Witt (nephew)
Cornelis de Witt (nephew)
Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft (uncle)
ChildrenCornelis, Alia and Arnoldina (Aertje)
Residence(s)Herengracht 446, Amsterdam, country houses Vredenhof near Voorschoten and Graeffenveld near Oud-Naarden
OccupationRegent / Mayor and Landlord
Signature of Andries de Graeff

Andries de Graeff (19 February 1611 – 30 November 1678) was a regent and burgomaster (mayor) of Amsterdam and leading Dutch statesman during the Golden Age.[1]

He came from the De Graeff family, which, together with the Bicker family by marriage, held political power in Amsterdam, Holland, and ultimately in the Republic of the Seven United Provinces.[2] He was a member of a family of regents who belonged to the republican political movement also referred to as the ‘state oriented’, the Dutch States Party, as opposed to the Orangisten and opponent of the political ambitions of the House of Orange.[3]

At the height of the Dutch Golden Age, during the First Stadtholderless Period from 1650 to the Rampjaar 1672, political power within Holland rested primarily with two republican and state-minded families. In Amsterdam this lay with the brothers Andries and Cornelis de Graeff, and in The Hague with the brothers Cornelis and Johan de Witt, the leaders of Holland's pro-state faction, which was reinforced by their close collaboration and mutual kinship.[4] Andries de Graeff was one of the leading figures seeking to end the Eighty Years' War between the United Netherlands and the Kingdom of Spain.[5] This took place in 1648 with the Peace of Münster.[6][7] After his brother's death in 1664, he took over the leadership of the De Graeff faction and continued his politics.[3] Andries was called the last mayor from the dynasty of the "Graven", who was powerful and able enough to ruled the city of Amsterdam.[8][3] His political stance was characteristic of his family: on the one hand libertine and state-minded, on the other hand, if only to a limited extent, loyal to the House of Orange. The proponents of the De Graeff family has shown they had an eye for national politics and tried to find some balance between the House of Orange and the Republicans. They were against too much influence of the church on political issues.[9]

Together with his brother Cornelis de Graeff he became an illustrious Patron and Art collector of various artists and poets of the Dutch Golden Age.[1][10] His patronage consisted of commissions to artists such as Rembrandt, Artus Quellinus, Gerard ter Borch and Govert Flinck for the portraits of himself and his family. He was also sung about by poets such as Joost van den Vondel and Jan Vos.[9]

  1. ^ a b The Leiden Collection. Portrait of Andries de Graeff (1611–1678), Burgomaster of Amsterdam, by Marjorie E. Wieseman (2017)
  2. ^ Biography Andries Bicker at DBNL
  3. ^ a b c Jephta Dullaart: Triumph of Peace
  4. ^ Die vielen Leben des Jan Six: Geschichte einer Amsterdamer Dynastie, by Geert Mak (2016)
  5. ^ Amsterdam: a brief life of the city. By Geert Mak, Harvill Press (1999), p 123
  6. ^ Oliver Krause: Die Variabilität frühneuzeitlicher Staatlichkeit. Die niederländische „Staats“-Formierung der Statthaltosen Epoche (1650–1672) als interkontinentales Regiment (Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2018)
  7. ^ Buitenplaatsen in de Gouden Eeuw: De rijkdom van het buitenleven in de Republik, by Y. Kuiper, Ben Olde Meierink, Elyze Storms-Smeets, p 71 (2015)
  8. ^ Biography of Andries de Graeff at Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek. Deel 2 (1912) - P.J. Blok, P.C. Molhuysen
  9. ^ a b Pieter C. Vis: Andries de Graeff (1611–1678) ’t Gezagh is heerelyk: doch vol bekommeringen
  10. ^ Andries de Graeff, voorbeeld van culturele elite? Tweede opdrach, by Pieter Vis