Tulip Fever

Before you were born,

Amsterdam was captivated by a flower.

The tulip.

They came from far away, in the East,

and were so rare and beautiful,

for people lost their senses in wanting to own them.

Rich and poor were spending and borrowing money

to join the trade in bulbs,

which were going up in price all the time.

None more so than the rare striped tulips

that were called breakers.

A new breaker came from nowhere,

like an act of God, and it changed people's lives.

A white flower with a God-given crimson stripe

turned our lives upside down,

mine and my mistress Sophia's.

Sophia!

It's time to go!

The abbess is calling!

But that was all to come when Sophia exchanged her life

at St. Ursula's for marriage to Cornelis Sandvoort.

is a safe harbor.

And you will have a fine house, a servant,

and you will have children.

Give him an heir, and everything will be fine.

So, love, honor and obey.

It's for the best.

In return for Sophia's sacrifice,

her siblings received safe passage to New Amsterdam

in the Americas

to stay with their only living relative, an aunt.

Whoa.

And so Sophia arrived at the orphanage barefoot

but left in a carriage.

Go on. Hyah!

Don't let... don't let the chickens out!

Don't let the chickens out! No!

No, come on!

A man likes to leave something of himself behind.

A son to inherit my name and fortune.

My little soldier's dozy tonight.

Time to report for duty, sir.

Give me your hand.

There.

Stand to attention, sir.

Cornelis. Meet my son and heir.

Congratulations.

So you and your wife didn't waste much time.

I hear your wife's been wasting yours.

Well, not for lack of trying.

That orphan girl,

send her back then.

You've tried enough.

I'll give her six months.

It's best if I give her up after that.

Which reminds me, that woman in Utrecht,

she keeps asking about you.

Sh-She does? What does she say?

Ha. She wants to know when you'll be back.

Just a touch of bright plumage in the detail.

A woman who's been married three years needs

to keep herself... interesting.

Or life will become dulled.

- Do you know who she is? - Of course.

She's Danaë being made love to by Zeus.

That's Antonia Hocken, the tinsmith's wife.

She could tell you a thing or two about him with the brush.

- Really? - Is that true?

And as for your dress,

it'll be ready in a week.

Thank you, Mrs. Overvalt.

Nutmegs. Straight off the boat.

They want 200 a keg. Have a sniff.

Quality is good. But, look,

they've added shells to make the barrels heavier.

Banda Islanders up to their tricks.

Offer 85.

I want every one of those barrels,

when they're on the quayside,

I want them opened and inspected!

These were happy times for me,

and I would not have changed places with Sophia.

She treated me like a sister,

while my master rarely took notice of me.

Fish again, Maria?

We'll be sprouting fins.

But you always like herring done in this way, sir,

in sweet vinegar.

But fish three times this week?

And several times last week, now I recall.

Why? Are you in love with the fishmonger?

Will I come tomorrow?

Yes.

Only if you love me.

I love you, Maria.

Thank you.

- Bye. - Bye. Willem,

go.

Go.

I think my little soldier's ready tonight.

Please, the candle.

Shh!

Shh.

Shh!

I have to get something from the apothecary.

Do you have the purse?

Ask him for something to lift your spirits.

I should ask you.

What do you take to make you so cheery?

He doesn't keep it, madam.

Is this the house of Dr. Sorgh?

Sorgh himself at your service.

Will you come in?

Mm.

Do you know Mrs. Overvalt?

She's my dressmaker.

Uh, I know her, yes.

She said you were a doctor of...

of female mysteries.

You may speak in complete confidence.

It's difficult for me.

Well, let me help you. How late is it?

How late is what?

No.

What did Mrs. Overvalt tell you?

She said you would help me to conceive.

To give my husband a child.

Oh, yes. Mrs. Overvalt.

Yes.

Now I remember her. Mm.

My husband made two babies with his first wife.

God took them, all three.

Years ago. Many years ago.

Cornelis is old, but he's very... willing.

- Mm. Mm. - Still, he saved me

from a life of poverty, and I must repay him.

He wants a son.

And I have not been blessed.

Mrs. Overvalt said you can help me.

Of course.

This way.

- Thank you. - There's the bed.

Um, on your back or your front... up to you.

A thousand apologies!

How dare you!

...see that ye love one another

with a pure heart fervently:

being born again, not of corruptible seed,

but of incorruptible,

by the word of God,

which liveth and abideth for ever.

For all flesh is grass,

and all the glory of man as the flower of grass...

Nice pig heads!

Um, I'll take four chops and a hen, for a guilder.

Four chops.

Cheer up, Simon.

Thank you very much.

The blessings of thy bounty,

in good times and bad, now and for ever,

may thy servants be truly thankful. Amen.

Amen.

- Amen. - Amen.

- Amen. - Amen.

- Amen. - Amen.

I've decided to engage the services of a painter.

A portrait painter.

And so I've hired Mattheus.

He's been hard at work scouring the art world

for a suitable candidate.

I'll see you tonight at tavern.

I need a couple of whores tomorrow... bring a friend.

I'm doing a tavern scene.

Doing the innkeeper's daughter for Paul Nassau.

Nassau can't paint tavern scenes to save his life!

He's found an artist.

I'm assured he's sober,

- industrious and respectable. - Jan!

- Jan! - His name is Jan Van Loos.

He's one of the most promising

young artists in Amsterdam.

So his price is still reasonable.

My skating scene.

Hmm.

The Raising of Lazarus.

I'm the blind beggar.

The Drunkard's Downward Path.

Thank you for showing me your work.

They're good, but they lack obsession.

You will make a handsome...

You think there's vanity in it?

Well, there is some.

And when everything else about me has been forgotten,

they'll say, "Look there at that lucky old dog.

Didn't he have a lovely young wife?"

Yeah.

A double portrait,

Cornelis Sandvoort and his wife, Sophia.

Obsession.

- God, was I sozzled. - Jan, listen,