A short description of

the stained glass windows in the monumental Dutch Reformed Church

in Graft-De Rijp

In the front part of the church, in the south wall

1. Rebecca at the well giving Abraham's servant a drink. Women of De Rijp gave this window, made by D. Kos, in 1656.

2. Jesus calling Matthew the Publican to apostleship. This one is a gift from farmers of De Rijp.

3. A cooper's workshop in a frame of herring-barrels and cooper's tools. Under it 36 different family crests of makers' marks with a name under each one. The window was presented in 1655 by coopers working here, who belonged to a kind of guild or trade union called: "De Vrijwillige Cuyperij" (Free or Voluntary Coopery). Some of these coopers came from Enkhuizen. This explains the picture of the town-patroness of Enkhuizen in the window.

4. This window, showing a finely painted scene of the sea: the herring-fleet accompanied by a man-of-war, fishing off the English coast, was a gift from ship-owners of De Rijp in 1655. Also in this window the town-patroness of Enkhuizen and 38 family crests. The whole is surrounded with herring-nets and symbolic figures. At the very bottom you see a rhyme of six lines.

In the South aisle 

5. The coat of arms of Amsterdam. At the top the old coat of arms: a koff or cock-boat, framed by pictures of objects which refer to the importance of Amsterdam as world-trading centre. A gift from the city of Amsterdam in 1655.

6. “The god Mars put into chains by women", symbolising the peace-treaty of Munster (1648). The window was presented by the delegated State Councils of Waterland and 't Noorderkwartier in 1655, hence the coats of arms of the seven cities north of 'Het IJ' and of West-Friesland.

In the back part of the church ( south side)

7. "Charitas". This window owes its importance to its fine colours. It was a gift from five inhabitants of De Rijp in 1655. One of them was Jacob Sijmensz, a relative of Sijmen Jacobs, carpenter of the "Raadhuis" (municipal hall).

8. The Beemster coat of arms, and some pictures referring to agriculture and cattle-breeding. This one is a gift from the dike-reeve and "polder-board" of the Beemster in 1655. (The Beemster was drained in 1612).

In the choir

9,10,11, ;2,13, 14and 15.

Windows given by the towns of Purmerend, Monnickendam, Enkhuizen, Alkmaar, Hoorn, Edam and Medemblik. In the lower parts of these windows (with the exception of the Purmerend window) beautiful, detailed views of these towns. On the Alkmaar window the name of the glass painter C. Sparreboom, 1657. The Alkmaar town council paid 150 guilders for it.

In the back part of the church (north side):

16. "De Uitwaterende Sluizen van de Suvderzee" (the Floodgates of the Suyderzee). A gift from the dike-reeve and "polder-board", replacing the previous window which was destroyed in the big fire. The price of this window also came to 150 guilders.

17. Depicting an Amsterdam and an Oriental merchant doing business. In the background: trading-vessels with beautifully coloured sterns sailing on the Zuiderzee. In the middle is a rhyme of four lines. This window, a gift from Wijnant Tijmensz Tol, member of the Grand Brokers' Guild in Amsterdam, in 1655, excels because of its beautiful colours.

In the North aisle (behind the organ):

18. "The Haarlem coat of arms", with the device: Haerlem Vicit Vim Virtus. Sailing-ships running down the chain across the mouth of the river Nile near Damiette in the time of the crusades, in 1219, are depicted in beautiful colours. The makers of this window, the glass "writer" Pieter Holstein and the glazier Boudewijn Frans, received 183 guilders between them from the Harlem town council.

19. "The Dutch Lion" in the "garden", framed by war-attributes. Underneath it the words: "Hollandia 1657".

In the front part of the church ( north wall):

20. "The building of the second temple", symbolising the rebuilding of this church after the first one, built by the reformists, was burnt down. A gift from the churchwardens and old-churchwardens. From the hammering stonemason (bottom right) it may be concluded that the building of the second temple (in Jerusalem) is meant, as "neither hammer, nor axe, nor any other metal tool was heard" during the building of the first temple under Solomon.

21. "Moses at the well". Moses surrounded by women in colourful dress, the daughters of the Midianite priest Jethro, who are watering their sheep. Inhabitants of De Rijp gave this window.

22. A gift from Jochern Cornelisz of De Rijp in 1656. On the left and right sides panes of plain glass ingeniously set in lead. In the centre part two poems, the upper one in script-letters and the lower one in elegant Gothic writing.

23. The giver of this window, which also dates from 1656, is unknown. It shows among others a coat of arms divided into two parts, on the left a cornet of gold on azure (blue), on the right three harrows in sable (black). Next to this, judging from its diamond-shape, a maidenly coat of arms. It is not known whose this was.

Churchwardens of the Dutch Reformed Parish

Graft -De Rijp.