Portrait of Ramses Shaffy

Person depicted Ramses Shaffy (1933-2009)
Artist Jeroen Spijker (1967)
Medium Bronze bust

“Sing, fight, weep, pray, laugh, work and admire!” Ramses Shaffy was a cabaret artist, writer and singer, but he trained at the Amsterdamse Toneelschool and began his career as an actor with the Nederlandse Comedie. During the 1950s he played classical roles and developed his talent. While rehearsing Gijsbrecht van Amstel he met his life partner Joop Admiraal, who was then an intern. The double portrait on the Gijsbrechtbordes is a remarkable one, because Ramses Shaffy painted it himself and it shows the two actors in one of the greatest works in the Dutch repertoire. In the drama series Michiel van Erp made about the life of Ramses Shaffy, it stood in the couple's living room. The sculpture Jeroen Spijker made of Ramses Shaffy in later life can be found on the Marnixbordes.