The street was originally a
dike, the Sint Antoniesdijk, constructed during the Middle Ages. It protected the city and its surroundings from flooding. After 1585 this part of the city, called the
Lastage, was developed. In the early 17th century, the street was popular with immigrants and artists such as the painter
Rembrandt, who lived there from 1631 to 1635, at the home of art dealer
Hendrick van Uylenburgh. (From 1639 to 1656 he lived in his own home, now the
Rembrandt House Museum.) Other painters who lived in the street, near the
Guild of Saint Luke in the former
Sint Anthoniespoort, include
Pieter Isaacsz,
Esaias Boursse, who lived next door to Rembrandt,
Nicolaes Eliaszoon Pickenoy,
Cornelis van der Voort,
Roelant Savery,
Pieter Lastman (in whose workshop Rembrandt served as apprentice),
Adriaen van Nieulandt,
Pieter Codde,
Willem Kick,
Justus and
Johannes Vingboons, and their father
David Vinckboons. The
burgomasters
Geurt van Beuningen and
Joan Huydecoper grew up here. The
Huis De Pinto (or Pintohuis) is a 17th-century house with an
Italianate facade. The property was built in c.1605 and purchased by the banker Isaac de Pinto in 1651. When the house was remodeled in
Dutch Classical style in 1686, it became the "talk of the town" due to the dramatic style of its exterior and interior. Across from the De Pinto House is a gate that provides access to the Zuiderkerkhof, the square where the
Zuiderkerk church stands. Since the 17th century, the section of the street south of the sluice and bridge has been called
Jodenbreestraat ("Jewish Broad Street"). The straight and wide Jodenbreestraat runs through the former Jewish quarter of Amsterdam. During
World War II, many residents were taken away to the
Nazi concentration camps and the neighbourhood was left practically deserted. After the war, the abandoned houses were left in a decrepit state and many were torn down. Plans were made to build new houses, as well as a highway and
metro line through the street. These plans were met by heavy rioting in 1975. (The highway plans were abandoned in 1972; the metro however was constructed.) New houses were built along the existing Sint Antoniesbreestraat, and the Huis de Pinto, which had become a symbol of the movement to save the neighbourhood, was renovated and now serves as
public library. ==References==