Creator Bio

Romeyn de Hooghe

1645–1708

Active in the Netherlands, Romeyn de Hooghe was a prolific engraver, caricaturist, painter, and sculptor who produced over 3500 prints. His graphic political satires are considered the first of their kind.

Content by Romeyn de Hooghe

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The Esnoga (Portuguese Synagogue) in Amsterdam

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In 1675, Amsterdam’s Sephardic community dedicated the Esnoga, the world's largest synagogue, depicted by artist Romeyn de Hooghe.

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The de Pinto Family House

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The de Pinto family were wealthy merchant bankers who lived in Amsterdam from the seventeenth century on. In the Iberian Peninsula, members of the family converted to Christianity at the end of the…

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The Amsterdam Residence of Jeronimo Nunes da Costa (Mazes Curiël)

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The wealthy merchant and diplomat Jeronimo Nunes da Costa (Mozes Curiël; 1620–1697) was born in Florence. In 1627, his family settled in Hamburg, where his father, a businessman, became an important…

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The Amsterdam Residence of Manuel (Isaac Nunes) de Belmonte

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Statesman, merchant, and communal leader Baron Manuel (Isaac Nunes) de Belmonte (d. 1704) was the Spanish agent general in the Netherlands from 1664 and resident (consul) of the King of Spain from…

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Circumcision for a Sephardic family in Amsterdam

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The wealthy Sephardic family of Curiel d’Acosta is believed to have commissioned the artist Romeyn de Hooghe to make this large pen-and-ink drawing to commemorate the circumcision, in Amsterdam, of a…

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Jewish Funeral in Ouderkerk

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This etching depicts a body being brought for burial in the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish cemetery at Ouderkerk, the oldest Jewish cemetery (est. 1614) in the Netherlands, located on the Amstel River.

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Jews on the Move: Early Modern Jewish Migration

1500–1750

The geography of Jewish settlement shifted dramatically in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Print depicting crowded interior of room with tall ceiling, chandelier, and columns and second floor balcony along perimeter of room, a floorplan in the upper left corner and an exterior view in the upper right corner.

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Community, Congregation, and Self-Government

1500–1750

The early modern period witnessed flourishing Jewish self-governance across the diaspora, as economic utility to host nations enabled unprecedented communal autonomy.

Page with Hebrew text of decorative border and Star of David located in bottom section, with signatures in the Roman alphabet below.

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Early Modern Rabbis and Intellectuals on the Move

1500–1750

Carrying books and knowledge, itinerant rabbis and scholars traveled between communities, facilitating cultural exchange.

Two-panel drawing, the top of many people in interior room, some seated on right side under canopy, and the bottom of many people outside with a central figure with veil.

Related Guide

Early Modern Religious Practices

1500–1750

Early modern Jews both preserved tradition and innovated. Documents and legal texts reveal rich details about synagogue life, marriage, family relations, and death rituals.