Vriendinnen Els & Trudy in Marten & Oopjen

Rembrandt

In 1634 Rembrandt painted the marriage portraits of the newlyweds Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit in Amsterdam. In 2016 the two portraits were bought by the Netherlands and France together, a unique event. The portraits, more than two meters high, had remained in private hands for almost four centuries. At the moment the paintings are being restored at the Rijksmuseum.

vriendinnen Els & Trudy in Marten & Oopjen

Els & Trudy

Els van Rossen (1951) and Trudy Rodenrijs (1949) have been friends for years now and recently Els moved to the same apartment building in Rotterdam. They are both creative, giving sewing lessons to a club of friends and acquaintances. Besides visiting musea and concerts, they like to go to trade fairs. For example in Ahoy in Rotterdam or the Bread Factory in The Hague. They discovered these fabrics with Rembrandt’s Oopjen & Marten in Ahoy in Rotterdam.

 

Puzzling

It was a bit of a puzzle to create two dresses from this fabric. Els ended up with Marten’s legs on the back of her dress. Els: “Till now we have never worn both dresses at the same time. Just today we’ve decided to wear them together to a party of a mutual friend we are invited to.”

vriendinnen Els & Trudy in Marten & Oopjen

vriendinnen Els & Trudy in Marten & Oopjen

Public display

After restoration, the portraits will be shown at the Rijksmuseum for three months, followed by three months at the Louvre. After that, they will be on display at the Rijksmuseum for five years and then five years at the Louvre. Thereafter they will be exhibited at the Rijksmuseum and the Louvre alternately for eight years at a time. The two museums have agreed that the paintings will always be shown together.

 

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