The directory «Plots»

Vondel Joost van den
(1587—1679)

Dutch poet and dramatist. Of Mennonite parents, Vondel early showed a preference for using Christian mythology as the subject matter of his plays. He also wrote lampoons and satirical poems against the Dutch church and government. His dramatic tragedies, with their lyrical language and grandeur of conception, are his most important achievement. The Passover (1612) is his most notable early work. He first modeled his plays on ancient Latin drama but later turned to the Greek model; plays of the latter type include his masterpiece, the trilogy comprising Lucifer (1654), Adam in Exile (1664), and Noah (1667), which influenced John Milton's Paradise Lost.

Netherlands, 1937, Joost van der Vondel

Netherlands, 1979, Porch of Old Amsterdam Theatre