Drawing Westertoren Prinsengracht Amsterdam by Hendrik-Jan Kornelis

About "Drawing Westertoren Prinsengracht Amsterdam"

by Hendrik-Jan Kornelis

About the artwork

Drawing of the Westertoren on the Prinsengracht canal in Amsterdam. Pen drawing on paper.
The body of the tower is of brick, the superstructure consists of three floors, decreasing in size; the so-called lanterns. The first part is made of sandstone. The two upper parts are made of wood, clad with lead. The tower forms one unit with the Westerkerk, which was designed between 1620 and 1631 in Renaissance style by the Amsterdam master builder Hendrick Cornelisz de Keyser (1565-1621). He was the son of a cabinetmaker from Utrecht and came to Amsterdam with the city engineer Cornelis Bloemaert around 1591. Construction is believed to have been completed under the direction of his son Pieter de Keyser (1595-1676) and Cornelis Danckerts de Rij (1561-1634). The church, inaugurated on 8 June 1631, has a length of 73 metres and a width of 29 metres. The tower was completed in 1638. It is the tallest church tower in Amsterdam (about 87 metres). It is not known who is the designer of the current lanterns. Construction drawings show that Hendrick de Keyser designed an octagonal lantern. The current shape is associated with Jacob van Campen, who was involved in the tower's completion. The tower is slanted. Measured at the height of the crown, the tower is 88 cm out of plumb. The deviation was not considered a concern even during the last restoration.From the end of January 2023 to the middle of 2024, there will be repair work on the West Tower.