Museum Geelvinck

On a way to Hermitage in A'dam on Keisergrach 366 there is a small Geelvinck Museum. It is a patrician house with the great garden with a beautiful fountain. The ladies in that lovely house gave me a guided tour and from them I learned that the owner of that lovely house was Sara Geelvinck Hinlopen a very rich and independant lady. More about Sara is on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Hinlopen.

There was a still-life painting in the house and Barbara - one of the guides explained its symbolism: peeled lemon is symbol of passage of time. Lemon was also symbol of moderation as it was used to be added to wines - in moderation to add some bitterness. Lemon - which was quite expensive in XV century was also a status symbol. Nautilus cup symbolises "God's natural order", cherries allude to sweetness of childhood, strawberries of continuous life.


In one room the wooden floor was made from former sail ship. Kind of special to walk on a floor which sailed across oceans.