Christianity ProtestantA miniature apple as an example of Amsterdam's largest pulpit?
Location
Nieuwe Kerk
Dam 12
Type
Church
Religious community
Protestant Church in Amsterdam, formerly known as Dutch Reformed Church in Amsterdam
Object
Pulpit with the seven works of mercy
Maker and date
Albert Jansz. Vinckenbrinck
1649-1664
Visit
In church
Current interior
Current exterior
January 11th, 1645, around noon. The weather is "clear, cold and freezing," and the wind is "blowing quite strongly from the northeast" when disaster strikes at the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) in Amsterdam. According to tradition, it was due to "neglect and carelessness by some plumbers"—who were working under the roof and had left a firepot burning—that the church was almost entirely reduced to ashes in the hours that followed.
It was then up to the churchwardens to "immediately rebuild the interior." The old pulpit had also been lost in the fire. For this reason, the Amsterdam sculptor Albert Jansz. Vinckenbrinck (1604–1665) was commissioned to create a new pulpit. The new one would be no less than thirteen meters high. Vinckenbrinck left no piece of wood unused; with the richly detailed iconographic carvings on the soundboard, the Biblical scenes on the back panel, and the works of mercy on the panels of the pulpit itself, he gained fame far beyond Amsterdam.
Churchwarden
In the Protestant Church, the churchwarden is responsible for managing the buildings, the paid and volunteer workers in the church and the financial management of the community. The duties of a church warden also include managing and maintaining the baptism book (mandatory), confession book (mandatory) and wedding book (not mandatory).
Pulpit
The pulpit is an elevated place in a church from which the spiritual leader addresses the congregation.
The interior of the New Church after the 1645 fire.
Up until the nineteenth century, a remarkably small artwork could be seen at fairs and markets. It was available for viewing for a fee, and advertisements for it appeared in newspapers. We're talking about the “kunstappel” (“art apple”)—a miniature apple, barely two Amsterdam inches in size, created by Vinckenbrinck. Inside, the works of mercy were ingeniously carved in wood, complete with figures, corridors, staircases, and tiny rooms in which the seven acts are vividly brought to life. According to descriptions, it even contained a chapel, with a funeral scene between the pillars, coats of arms, saints, and at the center a figure of Jesus.
The interior of the church in 1780, seen towards the choir. On the left is the imposing, 13-metre-high, pulpit. The seven works of mercy are depicted on the cockpit.
In the inventory of Vinckenbrinck’s estate, we already find mention of this “apple, and within it carved the seven works of mercy.” It was likely kept in his workshop as a sample piece for potential clients. Could it be this famous little “art apple” that inspired the churchwardens to choose the works of mercy as the theme for the new pulpit? The similarities between the apple and the pulpit are striking. Only the figure of Jesus is absent—likely a step too far for the Calvinist church authorities.
'I have been sick, and ye have visited me' (Matthew 25:35-36 Staten Vertaling 1977). Visiting the sick is one of the seven works of mercy described in the New Testament.
Celine Oldenhage
Archivist Waalse Gemeente Amsterdam
Last edited
October 26, 2025
Pulpit with soundboard, Albert Jansz. Vinckenbrinck, 1649-1664, wood, 9 x 7 m. Nieuwe Kerk, Protestant Church Amsterdam. Photo Robert Westera.
Interior and exterior: photo Robert Westera.
De Nieuwe Kerk tot Amsterdam van binnen na den brant 1645, Abraham Rademaker, 1645, engraving. Stadsarchief Amsterdam.
Interieur van de Nieuwe Kerk gezien naar het koor en links de preekstoel van Albert Vinckenbrinck, Herman Schouten, 1780, engraving. Stadsarchief Amsterdam.
Visiting the sick, Albert Jansz. Vinckenbrinck, 1649-1664, panel on the cockpit of the pulpit, wood. Nieuwe Kerk, Protestant Church Amsterdam. Photo Pieter-Jan van Giersbergen.
Archief van de Notarissen ter Standplaats Amsterdam: boedel van wijlen Albert Vinckenbrinck en Geertruijd Collaeer, 5075, Stadsarchief Amsterdam.
Bruil, R., Beeltsnyder Albert Jansz. Vinckenbrinck (Amsterdam, 2020).
Eijkelboom, G. en G. van Tussenbroek eds., De Nieuwe Kerk van Amsterdam, Amstelodamum (Jaarboek 115) 2023.
Kramm, C., De levens en werken der Hollandsche en Vlaamsche kunstschilders, beeldhouwers, graveurs en bouwmeesters, van den vroegsten tot op onzen tijd (1857).
Lamberts, G., De brand der Nieuwe Kerk te Amsterdam, den 11den januarij, 1645, historisch herdacht (Amsterdam 1845).
Spaarndam, V.C. te, Beschrijving van eenen kunstappel te Spaarndam (Amsterdam 1835).
