The Spui, Amsterdam, with the Old Lutheran Church

The view of the Old Lutheran Church seen from the Singel, depicts the so-called boerenverdriet. The name dates from the sixteenth century, when a lock was in use between the Spui and the Singel. The farmers, bringing their merchandise by boat, were often forced to wait several hours before they could go through, hence the name boerenverdriet (farmer's sorrow). The scene recurs in the oeuvres of many of the famous eighteenth-century topographical painters, for example the painting by Jan Ekels I in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (on loan to the Amsterdams Historisch Museum; P.J.J. van Thiel, et al., All the Paintings of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1976, p. 216, no. A3475, illustrated) and the drawing by Jan de Beyer (H. Romers, J. de Beyer - oeuvrecatalogus, The Hague, 1969, p. 79, no. 932).

The Old Lutheran Church (Lutherse Oudekerk) was built in 1632-3 and was consecrated on Christmas day 1633. It has four entrances: one on the Singel, two on the Spui and one in the Handboogsteeg (see A.J. van der Aa, Aardrijkskundig woordenboek der Nederlanden, Gorinchem, 1839, I, pp. 195-6).