Reliefs in the Tribunal

historical

Artus Quellinus was contracted to supply the sculpted decoration for the façades and the many rooms in the Town Hall of Amsterdam, and from 1650 to 1663 he headed a workshop in Amsterdam. Working closely with Jacob van Campen, the architect of the building, and the burgomasters who made up the building committee, his large workshop shaped the sculptural programme for the Town Hall. The carved ornamentation in the Tribunal (Vierschaar), the chamber in which justice was administered, is associated with justice, punishment and death.

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About the Artist

Artus I Quellinus

1609 – 1668

Artus (Arnoldus) I Quellinus (or Quellin) was the most distinguished member of a family of Flemish sculptors. He was a pupil of Duquesnoy in Rome. He was back in Antwerp in 1640, then moved to Amsterdam, where from c. 1650 to 1664 he directed the sumptuous sculptural decoration of the Town Hall. His dignified style was singularly appropriate for van Campen's great building, and the decoration forms the most impressive sculptural ensemble of the time in northern Europe. The high quality of his portrait busts can be seen in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. His collaborators at Amsterdam Town Hall included his cousin, Artus II Quellinus (1625-1700), whose independent work was more Baroque in style.

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