Cor Jaring - Photo: national monument on the dam

Gelatin silver print by Cor Jaring. Photo dimensions: H20 x w25cm. The work is provided with a studio stamp on the back (this is thinly applied and therefore difficult to photograph). The authenticity of the work offered is fully guaranteed. A certificate of authenticity can be emailed upon request.

After the war, it hardly needed any explanation that the national memorial for the fallen in the Second World War would be erected in Amsterdam on the Dam, in the heart of the capital. On 13 December 1947, a temporary monument was unveiled. On 20 December 1948, sculptor J. Rädecker and architect JJP Oud were given the (provisional) commission to design a permanent monument on the Dam. The costs would be covered by a national public campaign in which square centimetres of the Dam site could be purchased at 50 cents per cm². A certificate was awarded for each piece of land. However, the proceeds were disappointing and were far from sufficient to realise the monument, which had been budgeted at half a million guilders. After much wrangling and slow planning and decision-making, the cabinet finally agreed in 1951 and in September 1952, Rädecker and Oud were officially commissioned.

The monument consists of a pylon of approximately 25 metres high with a semi-circular urn wall behind it. The monument was made of travertine, a marble-like, porous limestone from Tuscany. The central relief depicts the suffering of the people, flanked by images that symbolise, among other things, the resistance of workers and intellectuals. A group of mother and child commemorates the liberation and looks towards a bright future without war. On the corners of the square, lions stand guard as two mighty weapon holders. The niches at the back of the semi-circular wall are filled with 12 bricked-in urns containing earth from execution sites and cemeteries of honour in the Dutch provinces and Indonesia. The lines of verse on the front of the wall were written by A. Roland Holst. During the commemoration of the dead on 4 May 1956, the National Monument was unveiled by Queen Juliana.


Upon purchase, the work can be picked up in 's-Gravenzande (near The Hague (Scheveningen), Rotterdam and Delft and 5 minutes from the beach). The period for collection, with advance payment, is very generous, in other words, the buyer can collect the work weeks or even months later and, if possible, combine it with a visit to one of the above-mentioned cities or the beach.
The work can also be sent with Postnl. Our shipping days are Tuesday and Thursday.