This may seem childish, but some of my favorite paintings to look at are those where things are on fire. The dramatic lighting, the color scheme, the way the subject is usually the only source of light in the scene, just all work so well together for me. I found this painting that does all of these things exceptionally well:

(view the full sized image here)

I gave identifying info about this work to Perplexity with the instructions to research it and tell me all the interesting things it could about the work. Here’s what we got:

A Canvas of Chaos and Courage

The scene unfolds like a nightmare made real: flames tear through the Gothic towers of Amsterdam's medieval heart while hundreds of tiny figures rush frantically across the cobblestones of Dam Square. In the foreground, determined citizens form human chains, passing leather buckets filled with water from the Damrak canal toward the inferno. Above them, wet canvas tarps are desperately stretched across nearby buildings like protective shields against the flying embers. This is no imagined catastrophe—this is the exact moment when Amsterdam's Old Town Hall became a towering torch on the night of July 7, 1652.

Jan Abrahamsz. Beerstraaten witnessed this disaster firsthand and transformed it into one of the most compelling historical paintings of the Dutch Golden Age. Created between 1652 and 1655, this oil on panel masterpiece (89 x 121.8 cm) captures not just a building burning, but an entire city fighting for its survival.

The Perfect Storm of Destruction

The fire struck at the worst possible moment in Amsterdam's history. The city was deep in the throes of the First Anglo-Dutch War, a brutal naval conflict that had erupted just months earlier over trade disputes and England's aggressive Navigation Acts. English privateers were already strangling Dutch commerce, and Admiral Maarten Tromp's fleet was locked in deadly battles across the North Sea. Now, as if the gods of war weren't satisfied with sea-bound destruction, fire had come for Amsterdam's very seat of power.

The old Gothic Town Hall wasn't just any building—it was the beating heart of the Dutch Republic's wealthiest city. Originally a 13th-century monastery that had been converted into government offices around 1425-1450, it housed not only the city council but also served as Amsterdam's main courthouse and even contained the city bank in its ground floor. When the flames began licking at its ancient wooden beams in the early morning hours, they threatened to consume centuries of legal documents, financial records, and the symbolic center of Amsterdam's power.

A City United in Crisis

Beerstraaten's genius lies in how he transforms civic disaster into a portrait of collective heroism. His painting reveals the incredible choreography of 17th-century firefighting: observe how the bucket brigades form two perfectly organized lines—one passing full buckets toward the flames, another returning empty ones to be refilled at the canal's edge. These weren't professional firefighters but ordinary Amsterdam citizens: guild members, merchants, sailors, and laborers who dropped everything to fight the blaze.

The wet canvas tarps stretched across neighboring buildings show the ingenuity born of desperation. Without modern fire retardants, these soaked sails were the best protection available to prevent the fire from leaping to adjacent structures. Armed guards from the civic militia patrol the chaos—the Old Town Hall doubled as the city bank, and in the midst of disaster, someone still had to prevent looting.

The Artist as Historical Witness

What makes this painting extraordinary isn't just its historical accuracy but its emotional immediacy. Jan Abrahamsz. Beerstraaten (1622-1666) was a 30-year-old Amsterdam native when he witnessed this catastrophe. Born into a family of cloth-weavers from Emden, he had married into Amsterdam society in 1642 and was raising a growing family in a house on Rozengracht, directly across from a garden labyrinth. By 1652, he had already established himself as one of Amsterdam's finest marine painters, specializing in the topographical accuracy that would make this fire painting so valuable as historical documentation.

His technique reflects the sophisticated oil painting methods of the Dutch Golden Age. Working on oak panels with careful underpainting and meticulous attention to atmospheric effects, Beerstraaten built up his composition in layers. The dramatic contrast between the fierce orange flames and the dark night sky, the careful rendering of architectural details even in destruction, and the precise positioning of hundreds of individual figures all demonstrate the technical mastery that made him one of Amsterdam's most sought-after artists.

Inspiration Born from Disaster

This fire would prove prophetic in ways Beerstraaten couldn't have imagined. Among the crowd of spectators that terrible night was a 15-year-old boy named Jan van der Heyden, who would grow up to revolutionize firefighting technology. Inspired by the helplessness he witnessed, van der Heyden would later invent the modern fire hose, complete with reinforced leather and metal rings that prevented collapse under suction. His innovations would transform Amsterdam into the most fire-safe city in Europe and save countless lives across the continent.

For Beerstraaten, the fire became a defining moment in his artistic career. This painting established his reputation as Amsterdam's premier chronicler of contemporary events. He would go on to paint the great naval battles of the Anglo-Dutch Wars, winter scenes of Amsterdam's canals, and detailed portraits of the city's architecture. But none would carry the emotional weight of this first great historical painting—a work that captured not just what Amsterdam looked like in its moment of crisis, but what its people were made of.

The Living History of Amsterdam

De brand van het oude stadhuis op de Dam stands today in Amsterdam's own museum as more than just a painting—it's a window into a world where disaster and community response were matters of life and death. The Old Town Hall that burned that night was already scheduled for demolition to make way for Jacob van Campen's magnificent new Classical town hall (now the Royal Palace). But Beerstraaten's painting ensures that Amsterdam's medieval heart—and the courage of its people in their darkest hour—will never be forgotten.

Jan Abrahamsz. Beerstraaten lived the life of a true Amsterdam Golden Age artist, balancing commercial success with artistic integrity until his death in 1666. A father of twelve children, neighbor to Rembrandt on Rozengracht, and witness to history's most dramatic moments, he left behind a visual record that captures not just how his city looked, but how it lived, fought, and endured. His paintings of the Old Town Hall fire remain among the most precious historical documents of 17th-century Amsterdam—masterpieces that transform civic catastrophe into immortal art.

And that's it!

If you have any details you think Perplexity left out, reply to this email and I'll adjust my prompt to nudge it to include it next time.

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Thanks for reading!

-JP

Current prompt: I want you to create a newsletter post describing the fun and exciting stories around a painting. It should be a newsletter read for leisure and should be an enjoyable read (not just a list of facts) here's what you’re gonna do: Find the name of the following painting in its original language and any alternative names it goes by. Then Research the painting and give me blurb telling me all you can about the artist, the historical context/events it was created in, the style, the materials used, the composition and visual elements, the story/underlying message, what inspired the work/what it meant to the author, and whatever other info you find that helps give a complete understanding of the work. A description of what is depicted (mention subjects) should be the first thing, while the “biography” of the artist should be last. if the work has a lot of meaning behind it, then that is what the meat of the newsletter should be. Besides that you are free to present the information in a concise and captivating way, with the most interesting and novel stuff closest to the top. Order the presentation of information for which pieces have the most compelling and interesting story to tell. At least some of the description should be formatted like a story. [for example: a couple sits on a bench watching the sunset while a man next to them…]. ONLY include information that is for THIS SPECIFIC PAINTING. you will find info on paintings similar to this one but NOT this one. OMMIT INFO ABOUT SUCH PIECES. remember, the goal is to make the most compelling, intriguing, and fun to read newsletter as possible, so keep that above all else.