Teylerstichting

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Introduction

Teylers MUSEUM was founded in 1778, but the current museum building is, with the exception of the Oval Room in neo-classical style (design Leendert Viervant, 1779) from 1784, largely created in the 19th century. On the east side of the Oval Room, in 1824-26 the current Watercolour Gallery with adjoining library space above it was added and in 1838 the First Painting Gallery. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Oval Room, the directors of the Teylers Foundation announced a design competition in 1877 for a major expansion of the museum; the New Museum. In 1879, according to a design by the Viennese architect C. Ulrich, the front facade facing the Spaarne was built in a combination of neo-classical and neo-baroque style elements. The adjoining Fossil Rooms were built in the period 1880-1885 under the direction of the local architect A. van der Steur jr. In 1893 the Second Painting Gallery was finally added. Internally, the museum building has been largely preserved in its original state from the construction period in both floor plan layout and interior design and detailing. The front facade forms a distinctive component of the closed facade wall along the Spaarne. In the garden of the museum stands a 19th century whitewashed garden house.

N.B. The recent extension along the east and south facades fall outside the protection.

Description

The composite museum building has an irregular L-shaped floor plan and consists partly of one and partly of two storeys. The richly decorated facade of natural stone on the Spaarne is symmetrical in layout and contains three window bays. The facade is constructed of blocks of natural stone and is divided horizontally by a plinth, a richly decorated cordonline and main cornice with attic. The central risalit with pediment and the stacked pilasters form important vertical divisions. The projecting central section is crowned with a pediment and above it a sculptural group (Bart van Hove, 1886), representing the personifications of Art and Science and Fame. On the ground floor in the central risalit the main entrance with double panel door in a portico, flanked by columns. On the storey a semicircular loggia on columns with sculpted female figures in the spandrels. In the sculpture on the balustrade of the loggia the coat of arms of Pieter Teyler van der Hulst is incorporated. A double panel door under a semicircular fanlight opens onto the loggia. In the outer window bays on the ground floor casement windows with semicircular fanlights and on the storey windows within a surround with pediment. On the north side of the building along the Nieuwe Appelaarsteeg the Oval Room with skylight and observatory and the two painting galleries with their roof lights are clearly recognizable. The facades are constructed in brown brick and partly provided with pilaster strips and some simple T-windows. The interior of the museum has been largely preserved in its original state from the construction period and comprises, besides the Oval Room from 1784, all 19th-century extensions. The entrance to the museum is characterized by rich ornamentation with allegorical elements that refer to the content and function of the museum. Of importance are, among others, the richly decorated central round hall with skylight and the stairwell, which are abundantly provided with stucco decorations and sculpture. The Fossil Rooms contain, among others, terazzo floors with cast-iron grilles from the central heating, walls divided by pilasters and ceilings divided into sections decorated with stencils and the original display cases. Above these museum rooms are two lecture halls which have also largely retained their original fittings. From the round hall a central pathway leads through the Fossil Rooms to the 18th-century Oval Room in neo-classical style with rich oak panelling and gallery. The two painting galleries are executed with a broad frieze and above it the raised roof lights. Above the Watercolour Gallery is the library storage room with bookshelves and gallery which is connected to the old library on the walkway of the Oval Room.

Valuation

The Teylers Museum, comprising the Oval Room from 1784 and the 19th-century extensions, is of general importance due to its cultural and architectural history value as the first public museum in the Netherlands of which both the exterior and interior have been exceptionally well preserved and which in programme, architecture and decoration is characteristic of both the ideals of the late 18th century and the 19th-century views on the function and design of the museum. With the richly decorated facade facing the Spaarne and the distinctive silhouette of the special roof forms above the rooms along the Nieuwe Appelsteeg, the Teylers Museum has great situational value in the state-protected townscape of Haarlem.