Pieter de Keyser was a Dutch Golden Age

Dutch Golden Age

The Golden Age was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. The first half is characterised by the Eighty Years' War till 1648...

 architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 (bouwmeester) and sculptor. He followed in the footsteps of his father Hendrick de Keyser

Hendrick de Keyser

Hendrick de Keyser was a Dutch sculptor and architect born in Utrecht, Netherlands, who was instrumental in establishing a late Renaissance form of Mannerism in Amsterdam...

 and completed a number of Hendrick de Keyser's buildings after his death in 1621.

Life and work

Pieter de Keyser was commissioned by his father to oversee the construction of the Huis Bartolotti house on the Herengracht canal in Amsterdam in c. 1617. After his father's death in 1621, he succeeded him as Amsterdam's master mason (stadssteenhouwer) and oversaw the completion of the Westerkerk

Westerkerk

The Westerkerk is a church of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands denomination in Amsterdam, built in 1620-1631 after a design by Hendrick de Keyser. It is next to Amsterdam's Jordaan district, on the bank of the Prinsengracht canal....

 and Noorderkerk

Noorderkerk

The Noorderkerk is a 17th century Protestant church in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. A number of other towns in the Netherlands also have a Noorderkerk church, including The Hague, Hoorn and Kampen.-History:...

 churches as well as the Huis met de Hoofden house on Keizersgracht canal. In addition, he finished two other uncompleted projects of his father's: a mausoleum

Mausoleum

A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...

 for William the Silent

William the Silent

William I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of...

 in the Nieuwe Kerk

Nieuwe Kerk (Delft)

Nieuwe Kerk is a landmark Protestant church in Delft, Netherlands. The building is located on Delft Market Square , opposite to the City Hall . In 1584, William the Silent was entombed here in a mausoleum designed by Hendrick and Pieter de Keyser. Since then members of the House of Orange-Nassau...

 in Delft

Delft

Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....

 as well as a statue of Erasmus

Desiderius Erasmus

Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus , known as Erasmus of Rotterdam, was a Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, and a theologian....

 in Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

.

De Keyser also designed and oversaw the construction of the Saaihal (1641) in Amsterdam, a well as the gallery and boys' school of the city's Civil Orphanage (Burgerweeshuis), now the Amsterdams Historisch Museum

Amsterdams Historisch Museum

The Amsterdam Museum, until 2011 called the Amsterdams Historisch Museum, is a museum about the history of Amsterdam. Since 1975, it is located in the old city orphanage between Kalverstraat and Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal.-History:...

. The Accijnshuis (1637) building in Amsterdam is usually atrributed to Jacob van Campen

Jacob van Campen

Jacob van Campen , was a Dutch artist and architect of the Golden Age.-Life:He was born into a wealthy family at Haarlem, and spent his youth in his home town. Being of noble birth and with time on his hands, he took up painting mainly as a pastime...

 but could also have been designed by Pieter de Keyser.

His work in sculpture includes a mausoleum for the naval commander Piet Hein

Piet Pieterszoon Hein

Pieter Pietersen Heyn was a Dutch naval officer and folk hero during the Eighty Years' War between the United Provinces and Spain.-Early life:...

 in the Oude Kerk

Oude Kerk (Delft)

The Oude Kerk , nicknamed Oude Jan , is a Gothic Protestant church in the old city center of Delft, the Netherlands. Its most recognizable feature is a 75-meter-high brick tower that leans about two meters from the vertical....

 in Delft, a mausoleum for stadholder William Louis of Nassau-Dillenburg

William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg

William Louis of Nassau-Dillenburg was Count of Nassau-Dillenburg from 1606 to 1620, and stadtholder of Friesland, Groningen, and Drenthe. He was the eldest son of John VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg.William Louis served as a cavalry officer under William the Silent...

 in Leeuwarden, a mausoleum for Adriaan Pauw

Adriaan Pauw

Adriaan Pauw, knight, heer van Heemstede, Bennebroek, Nieuwerkerk etc. was Grand Pensionary of Holland from 1631 to 1636 and from 1651 to 1653.-Life:...

 in the Reformed Church at Heemstede

Heemstede

Heemstede is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.-History :Heemstede formed around the Castle Heemstede that was built on the Spaarne River around 1286. Before 1296, Floris V, Count of Holland, granted Heemstede as a fiefdom to Reinier of Holy...

, and a mausoleum for Swedish military commander Erik Soop in the cathedral of Skara

Skara

Skara is a locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18595 inhabitants in 2005. Despite its small size, it has a long educational and ecclesiastical history. One of Sweden's oldest high schools, Katedralskolan , is situated in Skara...

, Sweden.

Pieter de Keyser was married three times: to Magdalena Geens (1623), Magdalena Jacobs (1625), and Catharina Beghin or Bagijn (1639).

His brother Thomas de Keyser

Thomas de Keyser

Thomas de Keyser was a Dutch painter and architect.De Keyser was born and died in Amsterdam. He excelled as a portrait painter, and was the most in-demand portrait painter in the Netherlands until the 1630s, when Rembrandt eclipsed him in popularity...

 also became an architect, but later chose to become a painter, although he remained active as an architect.

The English sculptor and architect Nicholas Stone

Nicholas Stone

Nicholas Stone was an English sculptor and architect. In 1619 he was appointed master-mason to James I, and in 1626 to Charles I....

was an apprentice of Hendrick and Pieter de Keyser in the years 1603-1613.

Sources

• Amsterdam Monumenten: Hendrik de Keyser (Dutch)
• Amsterdam Monumenten: Het Huis Bartolotti (Dutch)
• Verreverwanten.nl (Dutch)