L’Impero olandese

Mappa delle Diciassette Province (1555) sotto il dominio degli Asburgo di Spagna

Mappa dell'Impero Spagnolo europeo dopo la Battagli a di Mühlberg (1547) - le terre asburgiche sono indicate in verde

Carte de l'Union d'Utrecht et l'Uniond'Arras en 1579

La prima pagina del "plakkaat van Verlatinghe" (o “Giuramento di abiura"), con il quale le Province U nite dichiaravano formalmente il loro distacco dalla Monarchia di Spagna (26 luglio 1581)

Guglielmo I di Nassau, principe di Orange (24 Aprile 1533 – 10 Luglio 1584) detto il Taciturno, Stadhouder delle Province Unite.Ritratto giovanile di Anthonis Mor (1555)

Adriaen Thomas Key (ca. 1570–84), Guglielmo d’Orange in un ritratto della maturità

Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, terzo Duca d’Alba. Ritratto di Anthonis Mor (1549)

Tiziano, Ritratto di Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, terzo Duca d’Alba

Alessandro Farnese in un ritratto di Otto Vaenius (ca 1585).

Terzo duca di Parma e Piacenza, quarto duca di Castro (Roma, 27 agosto 1545 –Arras, 3 dicembre 1592), fu uno dei piùgrandi condottieri del XVI secolo, al servizio della Spagna. Le sue vittorie hanno contribuito a dare forma all'aspetto geopolitico dell'Europa moderna.

Assemblea degli Stati Generali nella grande sala de l Binnenhof all’Aja (1651)

Willem van de Velde, Porto di Amsterdam (1686)

Gerrit Adriaenszoon Berckheyde, Amsterdam, Piazza del la Diga (fine del XVII sec.)

Anonimo, Il Polder (tratto di mare asciugato artifi cialmente attraverso dighe e sistemi di drenaggio d ell'acqua) "HetGrootslag" presso Enkhuizen.

Isaac van Swanenburg, Cardatori di lana a Leiden (159 5)

La Borsa di Amsterdam

Mappa anacronistica delle colonie olandesi. In verde scuro i territori occupati dalla Compagnia olandese delle Indie Occidentali tra XVII e XVIII sec olo.In verde chiaro quelli occupati dalla Compagnia olan dese delle Indie Orientali tra XVII e XVIII secolo.In giallo le acquisizioni del XIX secolo. A parte i territori degli odierni stati di Indonesia e Suriname , tutte le altre acquisizioni olandesi, sulla costa atlantica del No rd America (Nuova Olanda), sulla costa del Brasile di Nord-Est (Brasile olandese), in Sud Africa, le basi in India, Ceylon, Formosa, sono state perdute dagli Olandesi p rima del 1815. IL Belgio è rimasto in unione personale con il sovrano dei Paesi Bassi dal 1815 al 1830

Mappa dei due viaggi effettuati da Henry Hudson per conto della VOC alla ricerca del passaggio a Nord-Ovest verso l’Asia. In rosso il pr imo viaggio, in viola il secondo.

In 1609 Henry Hudson, an English sea captain and explorer, was hired by the Flemish Protestant emigres running the Dutch East India Company (VOC) located in Amsterdam, to find a Northeast Passage to Asia sailing around Scandinavia and Russia. Turned back by the ice of the Arctic in his second attempt, he sailed west to seek a northwest passage rather than return home and ended up exploring the waters off the east coast of North America aboard the yacht Halve Maen. His first landfall was at Newfoundland and the second at Cape Cod. Believing the passage to the Pacific ocean was between the St. Lawrence River and Chesapeake Bay, Hudson sailed south to the Bay then turned northward, traveling close along the shore. He first discovered Delaware Bay and began to sail upwards looking for the passage. This effort was foiled by sandy shoals and the Halve Maen continued north. After passing Sandy Hook, Hudson and his crew entered the narrows into the Upper New York Bay. (Unbeknownst to Hudson, the narrows had already been discovered in 1524 by explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano; today the bridge spanning them is named for him.) Believing he may have found the continental water route, Hudson sailed up the major river which would later bear his name (the Hudson). Days later, at the site of present-day Albany, he found the water too shallow to proceed

Amsterdam, West India House, quartier generale della C ompagnia Olandese delle Indie Occidentalidal 1623 al 1647.

Amsterdam, West India House, Magazzini

Avamposti olandesi nell’America del Nord fra cui Fort Oranjie, Fort Nassau, NieuwAmsterdam, Lange Eylandt (Long Island) 1664

Rappresentazione moderna degli insediamenti diNieuw Nederland e Nya Sverige nell’area oggicompresa fra il Delaware, il New Jersey e New York

Johannes Vingboons, Nieuw Amsterdam (1664). Nello stesso anno l’insediamento passava sotto il dominioinglese ad opera di Richard Nicolls

Peter Stuyvesant, Direttore-Generaledell’insediamento di Nuova Olanda, creato verso il 1660

Conquiste olandesi nell’Atlantico .

Mappa del Brasile Olandese 1630-1654

John Maurice of Nassau (17 June 1604 – 20 December 1679) was count and (from 1674) prince of Nassau-Siegen.

He was appointed as the governor of the Dutch possessions in Brazil in 1636 by the Dutch West India Company on recommendation of Frederick Henry. He landed at Recife, the port of Pernambuco and the chief stronghold of the Dutch, in January 1637.

By a series of successful expeditions, he gradually extended the Dutch possessions from Sergipe on the south to São Luís de Maranhão in the north. He likewise conquered the Portuguese possessions of Elmina Castle, Saint Thomas, and Luanda, Angola, on the west coast of Africa. With the assistance of the famous architect, Pieter Post of Haarlem, he transformed Recife by building a new town adorned with splendid public edifices and gardens, which was called after his name, Mauritsstad.

By his statesmanlike policy he brought the colony into a most flourishing condition and succeeded even in reconciling the Portuguese settlers to submit quietly to Dutch rule.

Mauritiopolis (Mauritzstadt ovvero Città di Maurizio) nel 1645, epicentro dell’insediamento brasiliano della WIC (oggi Recife)

Insediamenti europei nell’America del Sud nel 1650

Originaria sede della VOC nella antica Old Street

Sede della Voc ad Amsterdam (da Reinier Vinkeles 17 68)

Sede della ( Vereenigde GeoctoyeerdeOostindische Compagnie) VOC ad Amsterdam (1602-1800) e simbolo della Compagnia

Ala orientale del Oost-Indisch Huis, costruita nel 1 891, al posto del Bushuis, arsenale del XVI sec.

Ricostruzione moderna della Sala dei Heeren XVII, ovvero dei diciassette Direttori della Compagnia

Antica stampa che illustra la riunione dei Direttori della VOC

Obbligazione della VOC, emessa il 7 Novembre 1623, per l’ammontare di 2.400 fiorini.

Gli Arsenali della VOC ad Amsterdam, verso il 1750.

Veduta del Forte di El Mina sulla Costa d’Oro (Guine a), strappato dagli olandesi ai portoghesi.

1668, Forte di El Mina

L’espansione del controllo territoriale olandese a Città del Capo (Cape Town)

Alla metà del XVII sec. gli Olandesi avevano cacciato i mercanti portoghesi dalla gran parte dell’Africa Orientale e ormai dominavano il commercio delle spezie. Navi cariche delle preziose merci facevano la spola tra l’Oceano Indiano, le Province Unite e le isole caraibiche in mano olandese, passando dal Capo di Buona Speranza e solcando le acque spesso pericolose dell’Africa meridionale. Consapevoli che le flotte avrebbero beneficiato dall’esistenza di una base d’appoggio e rifornimento al Capo, il governo olandese vi inviò nel 1651 una spedizione, cui si deve la costruzione di un primo Forte a pianta quadra di cui vediamo i resti.

Forte Olandese a Cape Town, Sudafrica

Forte del Capo di Buona Speranza, 1680

Arrivo di Jan van Riebeeck a Cape Town nel 1652 in un d ipinto di Charles Davidson Bell

Jan van Riebeeck , primo Comandante dell’insediamento del Capo

32.83916.83916.0001795

12.0001780

5.0001756

4.8162.2182.5981733

2.0005.0002.5002.5001717

2.5197514141.7685361.2321699

3401695

1.4004001.0001691

2001685

1424801912891679

644212002211672

1871660

16280821658

900901652

Total

Whites

+Slaves

+Soldiers

SoldiersFree

Burghers

Total Whit

es +SlavesSlaves

Whites Free

Burghers +

Servants

Year

The growth of population in Dutch South Africa

Coloni olandesi nell’entroterrasudafricano. I futuri trekboers.

Il monogramma della VOC un tempo posto all’ingresso della Fortezza del Capo di Buona Speranza (1680)

I più importanti insediamenti Portoghesi e Olandesi in Asia verso il 1665. Con l’eccezione di Jakarta e di Deshima, tutti gli insediamenti della Dutch East India Company erano stati strappati al Portogallo.

Sviluppo territoriale delle Indie Orientali Olandes i

Arcipelago della Sonda. Le Grandi Sonda: Sumatra, Giava, Borneo,Sulawesi (Celebes)

Le Piccole Sonda

Arcipelago delle Molucche (in verde chiaro)

Il commercio della Compagnia olandese delle Indie o rientali in Asia.

Le due facce di un DUIT, moneta coniata dalla VOC nel 1735.

The duit is also referred to as the "New York Penny" due to it's use as a Colonial monetary unit in Dutch New Amsterdam (later New York) and for years later, long after Dutch rule had passed. It was part of the coinage used to purchase the island of Manhattan from the locals.Duit is also the Malay and the informal Indonesian equivalent of the English term "money". This happens because of centuries of Dutch rule in Indonesia.

Elenco completo delle flotte inviate dalla VOC in A sia (1595-1795) è in http://www.historici.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/DAS/voy ages

The former Stadhuis of Batavia, the seat of the city government during the VOC and the Dutch East Indies era. The building now serves as Jakarta Historical Museum or also known as Museum Fatahillah. The museum houses several important artifacts dated from ancient Hindu Tarumanagara inscriptions to colonial furniture. The building stood at Jakarta Old Town area

Lo Stadthuys (Municipio) e la Chiesa di Cristo a Mal acca (oggi Melaka, Malaysia).Si ritiene siano le più antiche costruzioni olandesi in Asia

Batavia c.1870

Palazzo del Governatore-Generale a Batavia (1880-190 0).

Portrait of Jan Huygen van Linschoten, fromthe princeps edition of his Itinerario.

Jan Huyghen van Linschoten (1563, Haarlem – 8 February 1611, Enkhuizen) was a Dutch Protestant merchant, traveller and historian. An alternate spel ling of second name is Huijgen.

He is credited with copying top-secret Portuguese nautical maps thus enabling the passage to the elusive East Indies to be opened to the English and the Dutch. This enabled the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company to break the 16th century monopoly enjoyed by the Portuguese on trade with the East Indies.

Jan Huygen van Linschoten was an adventurer who accompanied a Portuguese vessel to India. In 1572, when Linschoten was about ten years old, the Spanish subdued Haarlem, and the Linschoten family moved to the active seaport of Enkhuizen, where Spanish control was weaker. Despite the wars between Hollan d and Spain, the two countries still maintained a commercial relationship, and when Linschoten was sixteen he traveled to Spain and Portugal. In 1583 he got passage from Lisbon around Africa and on to southern Asia, living for five years in Goa. Althou gh he never traveled to Southeast Asia, he had a keen interest in the region, and recorded a great deal o f information about it while in Goa. His Reysgheschif t, published in 1595, recorded explicit sailing direct ions he had garnered from Portuguese rutters for entering the Indian Ocean by way of the Cape of Good Hope. But his more famous work is the Itinerario, which quickly became a standard text for Indies-bound pilots, and is among our most important sources for Southeast Asia during the sixteenth century. Linschotens Itinerario made details of the formerly mysterious world of the Portuguese Indies easily available to anyone with the dream and the initiati ve to venture to the East. Further, Linschoten provided th e geographic key to unlocking the Portuguese grip on passage through the Malacca Strait: Linschotenadvocated approaching the Indies from the south of Sumatra through the Sunda Strait, thereby minimizing the danger of Portuguese notice or reprisal.

Assediodi Batavia (Dutch Indies) daparte del sultano diMataram(1628)

Fort Nassau a Banda Neira, Isole Banda, 1646

Il navigatore Portoghese António de Abreufu il primo Europeo a sbarcare sulle isole, nel 1512. Il controllo della produzione di noce moscata e macis fu una delle principali motivazioni della conquista delle isole da parte degli olandesi nel 1621, guidata da Jan Pieterszoon Coen. A quel tempo la noce moscata era una delle "spezie fini" mantenute costose in Europa da una disciplinata manipolazione del mercato, ma anche una merce desiderabile per i commercianti olandesi nei porti dell'India; lo storico dell'economia Fernand Braudelsostiene che l'India ne consumasse due volte più dell'Europa. Il lucroso monopolio sulle forniture venne rinforzato spietatamente: gli olandesi decimarono e trasferirono gli indigeni e le isole vennero successivamente abitate da schiavi importati, detenuti e lavoratori a contratto (per lavorare nelle piantagioni di noce moscata), oltre che da immigranti da altre parti dell'Indonesia.

La popolazione delle Isole Banda precedente alla conquista olandese viene generalmente stimata attorno alle 13/15.000 persone, alcune delle quali erano mercanti malesi e giavanesi, oltre a cinesi e arabi. Il numero di Bandanesi che furono uccisi, cacciati a forza o che dovettero abbandonare le isole nel 1621 è ancora incerto, ma la lettura di fonti storiche suggerisce che probabilmente circa un migliaio di Bandanesi sopravvissero nelle isole, e furono sparsi nelle coltivazioni di noce moscata ai lavori forzati. Carichi di bandanesi sopravvissuti furono anche mandati a Batavia (Giacarta) per lavorare come schiavi allo sviluppo della città ed alla sua fortificazione. Circa 530 di queste persone furono successivamente riportate alle isole a causa del bisogno di gente esperta nella coltivazione della noce moscata (un'abilità che mancava decisamente tra i coloni olandesi appena arrivati).

Forte Belgica, una delle tante stazioni commerciali fortificate costruite dalla Compagnia Olandese delle Indie Orientali, èuna delle più grandi stazioni commerciali fortificate europee rimaste in Indonesia.

The Dutch and English enclaves at Amboyna (top) and Ba nda-Neira with the vulcano Gunung Api (bottom) (1655)

Il massacro di Amboina

Torture of the English by the Dutchaccording to the English account

Pieter Both (1568, Amersfoort - 6 March 1615, Mauritius) was the first Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies.

Not much is known of his early years. In 1599, Both was already an admiral in the New, or Brabant Company. In that year, he traveled to the East Indies with four ships. When the newly founded Dutch East India Company set up a government for the Dutch East Indies, Pieter Both was invited to become the Governor-General. He held that position from 19 December 1610 to 6 November 1614. During that period he concluded contracts with the Moluccans, conquered Timor, and drove the Spaniards out of Tidore.

After he relinquished his position as Governor-General to Gerard Reynst, he left for the Netherlands with four ships. Two of the ships were shipwrecked near Mauritius, and Pieter Both drowned.

The second highest mountain of Mauritius is named Pieter Both after him.

Gerard Reynst (Amsterdam, ? -Jakarta, 7 December 1615) was a Dutch merchant, father of a museum curator, and later the second Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. All that is known of his early years is that he was born in Amsterdam.

In 1599 he became a merchant and ship-owner, as well as a founder-member and administrator of the Nieuwe or Brabantsche Compagniewhich, in 1600, became the Vereenighde Company of Amsterdam. This company then in 1602 merged into the Dutch East India Company (VOC).

On the request of his elders in the college of the Heren XVII (17 men), he became Governor-general of the Dutch East Indies in 1613 and left with 9 ships. The trip lasted 18 months, after which he took over command from Pieter Both. On the way, he had already sent one of his ships to the Red Sea to start trade relations with the Arabs there. He died more than a year after arrival, having caught dysentery so that he could do little there, besides a few minor activities that were only intermittently successful.

Laurens Reael (1583-1637), in un dipinto di Corneli s van der Voort (ca. 1620). Terzo Gouverneur-generaa l della Voc (1616-19) a Batavia, fece poi parte dal 1625 del Direttorato della Compagnia ad A msterdam

Jan Pieterszoon Coen(8 gennaio 1587- 21 settembre 1629)

gouverneur-generaal dal 30 aprile 1618 al 1°febbraio 1623 e dal 30 settembre 1627 al

21 settembre 1629

Ritratti di Jan Pieterszoon Coen by Jacob Waben, early 17th century, Westfries Museum

Statue of Jan Pieterszoon Coen in Hoorn

Coen was born at Hoorn on 8 January 1587 and in 1601 travelled to Rome to study trade in the offices of Justus Pescatore, where he learned the art of bookkeeping. Joining the Dutch East India Company (VOC), he made trading voyages to Indonesia in 1607 and 1612. Onthe second trip, he commanded two ships and in October 1613 was appointed accountant-general of all VOC offices in Indonesia and president of the head office in Bantam (Indonesian: Banten) and of Jakarta. In 1614, he was made director-general, second in command. On 25 October 1617 the XVII Lords of the VOC appointed him theirfourth governor-general in the East Indies (of which he was informed on 30 April 1618).

On account of disputes at the head office in Bantam with natives, the Chinese, and the English, the VOC desired a better central headquarters. Coen thus directed more of the company's trade through Jakarta, where it had established a factory in 1610. However, not trusting the native ruler, he decided in 1618 to convert the Dutch warehouses into a fort. While away on an expedition the English had taken control over the town. Coen managed to reconquer Jakarta with fire destroying most of the town during the process. He rebuilt the city and fort. In 1621 the city was renamed Batavia. Coen preferred NieuwHoorn, after his hometown, but didn't get his way.

Coen also set about establishing a monopoly over the trade in nutmegand mace, which could be obtained only from the Banda Islands. The inhabitants of Banda had been selling the spices to the English, despite contracts with the VOC which obliged them to sell only to the VOC, at low prices. In 1621, he led an armed expedition to Banda, taking the island of Lonthor by force after encountering some fierce resistance, mostly by cannons that the natives had acquired from the English. A large number of the inhabitants were killed or exiled to other islands.

On 1 February 1623, he handed his post to Pieter de Carpentier and returned to the Netherlands, where he was given a hero's welcome off the coast of Texel. He then became head of the VOC chamber in Hoorn and worked on establishing new policies. During his absence from the East Indies, difficulties with the English were exacerbated by the Amboyna Massacre. On 3 October 1624 he was reappointed governor-general in the East Indies, but his departure was hindered by the English. In 1625, he married and in 1627 departed incognito for the East Indies with his wife, their newborn child and her brother and sister, starting work on 30 September 1627. After his arrival, the English abandoned Batavia and established their headquarters in Bantam.

Twice during Coen's term in office, Sultan Agung of Mataram besieged Batavia, in 1628 and 1629. However, Agung's military was poorly armed and had inadequate provisions of food, and was never able to capture the city.

During Agung's second siege Coen suddenly died on 21 September 1629.

Portrait of Pieter de Carpentier (1588-1659), Governor-General of the DutchEast Indies from 1623 to 1627

Portrait of Jacques Specx, Governor-Generalof the Dutch East Indies from 1629 to 1632.

Ritratti di Anthony van Diemen (Culemborg, 1593–Batavia, 19 April 1645)

Governatore generale dal 1635 al 1704

Anthony van Diemen (also Antonie, Antonio, Anton, Antonius) (Culemborg, 1593– Batavia, 19 April 1645), Dutch colonial governor, was born in Culemborg in the Netherlands, the son of Meeus Anthonisz van Diemen and Christina Hoevenaar. In 1616 he moved to Amsterdam, in hope of improving his fortune as a merchant; in this he failed and was declared bankrupt. After a year he became a servant of the Dutch East India Company and sailed to Batavia (Jakarta), capital of the Dutch East Indies. On the voyage out, to the East Indiaman Mauritius he inadvertently went more south to an unknown coast of Australia.

Governor Jan Pieterszoon Coen found van Diemen to be a talented official and by 1626 he was Director-General of Commerce and member of the Council for the Indies. In 1630 he married Maria van Aelst. A year later he returned to the Netherlands as Admiral on the ship Deventer. In 1632 he returned to Batavia and in 1635 he was appointed Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, his appointment taking effect on 1 January 1636.

Van Diemen's nine years as Governor-General were successful and important for both the colony and the commercial success of the East India Company. He devoted much of his energy to expanding the power of the company throughout Asia. Under his rule Dutch power was established in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).

Van Diemen is best remembered for his efforts to foster exploration of the "Great South Land", Australia, resulting in "the final and most ambitious Dutch voyages of the century“. The first voyage under his energetic administration was undertaken within three months of his arrival in Batavia; starting from Cape York its ships were to chart the unknown coasts, but the venture ended in failure, when its commander was killed by natives in New Guinea, and the ships returned. In 1639 he commissioned two voyages to the north, in search of the "Gold and Silver Islands" that Spanish reports placed in the North Pacific to the east of Japan, and sent Maarten Gerritsz Vries to explore the coasts of Korea and "Tartaria"; these, two returned fruitlessly. Undeterred, Van Diemen appointed Frans Visscher to draw up a plan for new discoveries. Visscher mapped out three different routes and van Diemen decided in August 1642 to send Abel Janszoon Tasman, accompanied by Visscher, in search of the Great South Land, which Tasman would soon dub "Nieuw Holland".

In November 1642, headed east from Mauritius on latitude 44 and missing the south coast of Australia, Tasman sighted land (the west coast of the island of Tasmania), and followed the southern coastline around to the east coast. Tasman sent a party ashore at Blackman Bay, on the Tasman Peninsula, who planted a flag and encountered a few of the native inhabitants. Believing he had found a large territory, Tasman named it Van Diemen's Land in honour of his patron. Van Diemen is also commemorated in Van Diemen Gulf on the coast of northern Australia. Van Diemen commissioned a further voyage from Tasman in 1644.

Anthony van Diemen died in April 1645 in Batavia, Dutch East Indies. The company granted his wife a large pension and she retired to the Netherlands. Her name is perpetuated in the name of the westernmost point of the North Island of New Zealand, Cape Maria van Diemen, named by Tasman in 1643, and by Maria Island off the east coast of Tasmania.

Portrait of Cornelis van der Lijn, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1645 to 1650

Portrait of Karel Reyniersz, Governor-General ofthe Dutch East Indies from 1650 to 1653

Joan Maetsuycker, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies 1653–1678. Painting by Jacob Jansz. Coeman in the Rijksmuseum

Portrait of Rijklof van Goens

Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies 1678–1681

La famiglia del Governatore Van Goens (acquarello di van J.P. Koelman)

Portrait of Cornelis Speelman, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1681 to 1684.

Portrait of Johannes Camphuys, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1684 to 1691.

Portrait of Willem van Outhoorn (1635-1720), Governor- general (1691-1704).

Adriaan Valckenier (1695-1751). Governor-general (1737-41).

Johannes Thedens (1680-1748). Gouverneur-generaal (1741-43).

Gustaaf Willem Baron van Imhoff(1705-50). Gouverneur-generaal (1743-50).

Jacob Mossel (1704-61). Governor-General(1750-61).

Petrus Albertus van der Parra (1714-75). Gouverneur-generaal (1761-75)

Reinier de Klerk (1710-80). Gouverneur-generaal (1777-80).

Willem Arnold Alting (1724-1800). Gouverneur-generaal (1780-97)

Portrait of Pieter Gerardus vanOverstraten, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1797 to 1801.

Johannes Siberg (1740-1817). Gouverneur-generaal (1801-05).

Albertus Henricus Wiese (1761-1810). Gouverneur-generaal (1805-08).

Posthumous portrait of Herman Willem Daendels, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1808 to 1810, based on a miniature dated 1816 byFrench artist S.J. Rochard

Topographical map of the bay of Hirado in 1621. To t he right on the shore-line, the Dutch East India Co mpany trading post is marked with the red-white-blue flag of the Netherlands. To the far left, somewhat back from th e shore-line, notice the white flag with the red cross, the St Ge orge's Cross of England at the East India Company t rading post --drawing, 1621.

The "trade pass" (Dutch: handelspas) issued in the name of Tokugawa Ieyasu. The text commands: "Dutch ships are allowed to travel to Japan, and they can disemb ark on any coast, without any reserve. From now on this regulation must be observed, and the Dutch left fre e to sail where they want throughout Japan. No offe nses to them will be allowed, such as on previous occasions" – da ted August 24, 1609 (Keich ō 14, 25th day of the 6th month); n.b., the goshuin ( 御朱印御朱印御朱印御朱印) identifies this as an official document bearing t he shogun's scarlet seal.

Rappresentazione giapponese dell’isola artificiale di Deshima (a forma di ventaglio) e delle sue costru zioni, sede dell’agenzia olandese

Baia di Nagasaki e isola di Deshima nel 1850

Membri dell’agenzia olandese di Deshima si recano in processione alla corte dello Shogun Tokugawa a Edo per il ritual e omaggio di doni

Detail of makimono of the interior of Deshima Island by unknown artist. From the collection of the Rijksmuseum at http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/images /aria/ng/z/ng-1977-4.z. Note street lamps, rain gutters and animals present.

A more personal account of the Dutch-Japanese encounter is the story of TitiaBlomhoff (1786-1821), who along with the wet-nurse for her son, came to Deshima to join her husband, then Director of the factory. Because European women had been previously banned on the island, on her arrival in 1817 she and her wet-nurse became the first Western women to visit Japan. She was expelled after nearly four months, but not before making an impact at least in the form of 500 paintings, etchings, prints, and dolls the author has found were introduced into the nineteenth-century Japanese market. One example of these images appears above right (note the possibly Javanese servant from the Dutch base at Batavia, today Jakarta in Indonesia). It is adapted from a photograph taken by Kathleen Cohen from a wall hanging entitled "Edo Anonymous NetherlandishWomen," dated 1817. It now hangs in Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum Stadhouderskade in the Netherlands.

Fortunately, Nagasaki's painters, including Kawahara Keiga, immortalized her before she left three and a half months after her arrival and these depictions were to prove most influential in representations of Western women in Japanese art. Separated from her husband, she died in 1821 of physical and mental exhaustion resulting from her experiences.8

Ishizaki Yushi, Rotolo Makemono. Edo, Giappone, c. 17 00Dettaglio: un mercante olandese con la moglie, il f iglio e la servitù giavanese

Mercanti olandesi ritratti da artisti giapponesi, E do, c.1700.

Hendrik Doeff e uno schiavo Balinese a Deshima, dipinto giapponese (inizio XIX sec.)

Kawahara Keiga, Mercante olandese osserva l’arrivo a Deshima di una nave della VOC (inizio del XIX sec.).