Gable stone commemorating Frederick V of Bohemia in Amsterdam.
A gevelsteen gevel stone is an often colored engraved stone plaque that is placed on building walls, often about 4 meters above the ground. It is used to identify and decorate the building. She also says something about her owner.
The gable stones are particularly typical of the architecture of Amsterdam, and are particularly present in the cities of Brussels, Lille and Copenhagen. There are around 2,500 gable stones in the Netherlands, including 850 in Amsterdam and 250 in Maastricht. Some are kept by VVAG (Friends of Amsterdam Gables). Gable stone in Amsterdam.
Gable stones appeared in the sixteenth century, before the appearance of the numbering of buildings, replacing signs hanging for the dual purpose of identifying and decorating a house. It combines an image with an inscription, or just a date. The name or occupation of the owner can be illustrated, for example a boat for a sailor. Others are named after known people or distant commercial destinations. Some stones play the role of protection by quoting the scriptures. A common motif in Dutch gable stones is Nooit Volmaakt (Never Perfect), which testifies to the belief that only God is perfection. Some gable stones go beyond the utilitarian or religious framework with a touch of humor often with a visual pun. For example, the stone "Batenburg" in Amsterdam, uses the word game with the words baten (make profits) and burg (castle), to form the name of a village near Nijmegen. Notes and edit the code
(en) This article is partially or entirely from the Wikipedia article entitled "Gable stone" (see list of authors).
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