Constantijn Huygens Jr.
Constantijn Huygens Jr. | |
|---|---|
 Constantijn Huygens Jr., self portrait (1685) | |
| Born | 10 March 1628 |
| Died | October 1697 The Hague |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Alma mater | University of Leiden |
| Known for | Aerial telescope,diaries |
| Spouse | Susanna Rijckaert |
| Children | 2 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy Optics |
Constantijn Huygens Jr., Lord of Zuilichem(10 March 1628 – October 1697), was a Dutch statesman and poet, mostly known for his work on scientific instruments (sometimes together with his younger brotherChristiaan Huygens). But, he was also a chronicler of his times, revealing the importance ofgossip.[1][2][3]Additionally, he was an amateur draughtsman oflandscapes.
Biography
[edit]Constantijn Huygens was the eldest son of SirConstantijn Huygens,a poet and statesman, andSuzanna van Baerle. He was taught at home by his father and private tutors. In 1637 his mother died.[4]Around 1640 the family was depicted byAdriaen Hanneman.Along with his younger brotherChristiaan Huygens,he began his studies atLeiden universityin 1645, studying law.[5]He studied the works of classical authors on history, philosophy, and science, including mathematics fromFrans van Schooten.
In 1649–1650 Huygens accompaniedAdriaen Pauwto England[6]and toured through Belgium, France, Switzerland and Italy. In 1655 he moved to Paris. He joined the circle aroundHonoré Fabri.In the Hague he also was visiting the salon, organized by the wife ofFrançois Caron.In 1668 he married Susanna Rijckaert (1642–1712), a rich woman from Amsterdam.[7][8]In April 1676, during his stay inZemsthe was visited byDavid Teniers the Younger.In 1680 Huygens visitedCelleand moved out of his father's house. It is not sure if it had to do withAbraham de Wicquefortor Sophia Dorothea of Celle.To stop the gossip his father wrote a poem:Cluijs-werck.
WhenWilliam III of Englandbecamestadtholderin 1672, Huygens had been appointed as his secretary.[9]Huygens participated in the campaigns against the French, in theGlorious Revolution,but did not attend the crowning. He described theBattle of the Boyne.During theNine Years' War,Constantijn left for theSouthern Netherlandseach spring, returning to London each autumn.[10]Huygens became friends with or wrote about theGroom of the Stole William Bentinck,Arnold van Keppel, 1st Earl of Albemarle,William Nassau de Zuylestein,Everhard van Weede Dijkvelt,Coenraad van BeuningenandAdrian Beverland.WhenWilliam Blathwaytsurpassed him as secretary, Huygens was frustrated and in 1695 he received permission to return to theDutch Republic.He formally remained William's private secretary, however. As such he was succeeded byAbel Tassin d'Alonneafter Huygen's death.[11]
Huygens died in October 1697 and was buried on 2 November 1697. With Susanna, he had one son, who died in 1704. He had one daughter from an earlier affair.
Telescopes and optics
[edit]
Around 1650 when Christiaan Huygens became interested in microscopes and telescopes, Constantijn helped him with the construction of the lenses. In 1655 Christiaan discoveredTitan,a moon orbitingSaturn.[12]Between 1683 and 1687 Constantijn and his brother continued to make larger and longerfocal lengthtelescopeobjectivesculminating in the very large tubelessaerial telescopes.He presented a 7.5 inch (190mm) diameter 123 ft (37.5 m) focal length aerial telescope objective to theRoyal Societyin 1690[13]that still bears his signature.[14]
Diary
[edit]From 1673 to 1696, Huygens kept a private diary (now at theKoninklijke Bibliotheek). Between 1649 and 1697 Huygens filled 1,599 pages.[15][16]In this diary he recorded all aspects of early-moderncourt lifein Holland and England.[17]The book includes chapters on such subjects as the changing perception of time, book collecting, Huygens's role as connoisseur of art, belief in magic and witchcraft, and gossip and sexuality at the court of William and Mary. It provides an insight on the history ofhuman sexuality.[18]Huygens is comparable to his English contemporary,Samuel Pepys,but with an important difference: whereas Pepys mainly describes his own sexual habits, Huygens almost exclusively describes those of others.[15]
Drawings and paintings
[edit]
Like his ancestorJoris Hoefnagel,Constantijn practised his skill in drawing. With the death of his father in 1687, he inherited theHeerlijkheidand the castle ofZuilichem(nearbyZaltbommel), by which he became known as Lord of Zuilichem (in Dutch: Heer van Zuilichem).[19][20]Huygens Jr. made some drawings and paintings, depicting this castle in the period between 1650 till 1660.[21]They can be seen at the museumMaarten van Rossumat Zaltbommel.
Constantijn was an art connoisseur and advised setting up the gallery inKensington Palace.He is connected to theCodex Windsormanuscript byLeonardo da Vinciand the Codex Huygens, copied after Leonardo's journals.[22][23]The latter Constantijn received in 1690; hemended and mountedit, believing it to be a Leonardo original, though it is more likely by eitherBernardino CampiorCarlo Urbino.[24][25]According to Huygens,Romeyn de HoogheillustratedLa puttana errante,an erotic book byPietro Aretino.[26]
References
[edit]- ^Dekker, Rudolf M. (7 June 2013).Family, Culture and Society in the Diary of Constantijn Huygens Jr.ISBN978-9004250956.
- ^ Le "Journaal" de C. Huygens, le jeune: extraits réunis et commentés / par Jean Gessler. La Haye: Nijhoff. 1933
- ^Register op de Journalen van Constantijn Huygens Jr.Historisch genootschap, Utrecht. Werken.3. Serie, no. 22. Müller. 1906.
- ^"Essential Vermeer".Essential Vermeer.Retrieved2014-03-08.
- ^".physics.ubc.ca - LIFE of CHRISTIAAN HUYGHENS: Brief Notes, page 1"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2012-02-19.Retrieved2014-03-08.
- ^"Adriaan Pauw jr. (1622–1697) | Librariana".Ilibrariana.wordpress.com. 2012-02-29.Retrieved2014-03-08.
- ^"Susanna Ryckaert".Burckhardt.ic.uva.nl. Archived fromthe originalon 2013-09-10.Retrieved2014-03-08.
- ^"DBNL".DBNL.Retrieved2014-03-08.
- ^Family, Culture and Society in the Diary of Constantijn Huygens Jr, Secretary to Stadholder-King William of Orange by Rudolf Dekker[1]
- ^"British Society for the History of Mathematics".Dcs.warwick.ac.uk.Retrieved2014-03-08.
- ^Leeuw, K. de (1999)."The Black Chamber in the Dutch Republic during the War of the Spanish Succession and it Aftermath, 1707-1715"(PDF).The Historical Journal.42(1): 66, note 84.Retrieved3 August2023.
- ^Museumboerhaave.nlArchivedJuly 9, 2007, at theWayback Machine
- ^"Paul Schlyter,Largest optical telescopes of the world".Stjarnhimlen.se.Retrieved2014-03-08.
- ^In 1725 theRoyal Societyalso acquired two very long focal length aerial telescope objectives, both made by Constantijn.
- ^abDekker, R.M. (Rudolf) (1999-11-01)."RePub, Erasmus University Repository: Sexuality, Elites, and Court Life in the Late Seventeenth Century: The Diaries of Constantijn Huygens Jr".Eighteenth-Century Life.23(3). Repub.eur.nl: 94–109.Retrieved2014-03-08.
- ^His journals, covering period 1673, 1675-1678, 1688-1696, were published in six volumes by the Historisch Genootschap te Utrecht, 1876-1915.
- ^"Project: Court culture, time consciousness and the development of autobiographical writing in the seventeenth century. An analysis of the diary of Constantijn Huygens Jr. (1628-1697) in a social and cultural context".Onderzoekinformatie.nl. Archived fromthe originalon 2011-06-09.Retrieved2014-03-08.
- ^Smith, Pamela H.; Schmidt, Benjamin (2008).Making Knowledge in Early Modern Europe: Practices, Objects, and Texts, 1400 - 1800.p. 133.ISBN978-0-226-76329-3.
- ^http://www.nationalgallery.ie/en/Conservation/Featured_Projects/Battle_Of_Boyne/Project_Blog/Blog13_30Sept.aspxArchived2017-02-06 at theWayback MachineThe Lord of Zuilichem] - website of the National Gallery of Ireland
- ^Constantijn Huygens: Lord of Zuilichem- website of Essential Vermeer
- ^HUYGENS Jr. - REDAKTIE, MET HUYGENS OP REIS Tekeningen en dagboeknotities van Constantijn Huygens jr. (1628–1697), secretaris van stadhouder-koning Willem III. Dutch text. Ant., 1983.
- ^Henry Schuman (Ed.) Leonardo on the human body, p. 34. Courier Dover Publications, Mineola N.Y. 1983,ISBN978-0-486-24483-9
- ^Erwin Panofsky, The Codex Huygens and Leonardo da Vinci's art theory00, the Pierpont Morgan Library codex M.A. 1139, London: The Warburg Institute, 1940.
- ^Bean, Jacob; Stampfle, Felice (1965).Drawings from New York Collections I: The Italian Renaissance.Greenwich, CT: Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 81–82.
- ^"Leonardo da Vinci and the Codex Huygens".The Morgan Library & Museum.October 22, 2013.RetrievedOctober 2,2019.
- ^"Rudolf Dekker and Judy Marcure - Sexuality, Elites, and Court Life in the Late Seventeenth Century: The Diaries of Constantijn Huygens Jr. - Eighteenth-Century Life 23:3"(PDF).Retrieved2014-03-08.
External links
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