Watercolour Painting Kloveniersburgwal Amsterdam Bluehour

by Hendrik-Jan Kornelis

Watercolour painting of the Kloveniersburgwal and Zuiderkerk in Amsterdam during an "Bluehour" in the evening.

The blue hour usually lasts about 20-96 minutes, immediately after sunset and immediately before sunrise. The time of year, location and air quality all affect the exact time of the blue hour.

The Kloveniersburgwal was dug at the end of the 15th century. The Geldersekade , the Singel and the Kloveniersburgwal together formed the city wall around the city.

After the Nieuwe Gracht (now Oude Schans) was dug and the new city walls were built, the Kloveniersburgwal lost its function as a defensive canal. The old city wall was demolished and houses were built on top of it. The east side was inhabited in the 17th century and has a few large mansions, such as the Trippenhuis, now home to the KNAW.

The name 'Kloveniersburgwal' comes from a branch of the militia, the 'kloveniers', named after the weapon the guards were armed with. The kloveniers met at the Kloveniersdoelen next to Swijgh Utrecht on the corner of Kloveniersburgwal and Nieuwe Doelenstraat. Later, their group portrait, the famous painting The Night Watch (by Rembrandt ), hung in the Kloveniersdoelen.

The Zuiderkerk is the church where Rembrandt lived and also used with his family.