Amsterdam, in the 16th and 17th century, was known for the size and scale of its creative industries, especially for paintings. At its peak, there were more than 300 painters working in the city, who accounted for the unprecedented painting production in various genres and styles. Read more about Weixuan Li's research, part of which can be projected onto this map.

This experimental demonstrator can be used to explore Amsterdam artist and art dealer locations between 1585 and 1700, augmented by Linked Data sources.

Creation and user research of maps demonstrator by Hugo Huurdeman. The initial interface was co-designed (2019-2020) with Etienne Posthumus, Hugo Huurdeman and Weixuan Li. Code contributions by Ivan Kisjes and Saan Rashid (2022). Demonstrator extended by Hugo Huurdeman (2024). Source code and documentation available on: GitLab and Zenodo.

Data sources used in the current application:

• Data on artist and art dealer locations (research Weixuan Li)
• Further biographical information and links (Ecartico)
• Paintings and related metadata (Wikidata)
• Background maps (hosted by Amsterdam Time Machine, ArcGIS)
• Streetplan layers (Adamlink)

Related literature:

• Li, W. (2023). Painters’ playbooks: Deep mapping socio-spatial strategies in the art market of seventeenth-century Amsterdam [PhD Thesis, University of Amsterdam].
• Li, W. (2024). Deep Mapping Uncertain Historical Sources: Visualizing Business Knowledge of Painters in Seventeenth-Century Amsterdam. Journal of Knowledge.
• Huurdeman, H. C. (2024, June). Data Visualization via Enhanced Maps in a Digital Humanities Context – a Design Perspective. Digital Humanities Benelux 2024.