The Pintohuis is a small mansion on St Antoniesbreestraat in Amsterdam. Today, it serves as a public library, but a few hundred years ago the house belonged to Isaac de Pinto, a Jew who had fled to the Netherlands from Portugal to escape the Inquisition. He became a founder of the East India Company, and purchased the house in 1651. He had it re-modelled both inside and out, and much of the grand decoration still remains. The birds and cherubs on the ceiling are especially beautiful.
