tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">256

The Standard Galleries
of Holland

THE HAGUE GALLERY

THE OLD MAURITSHUIS

Not far from the Binnenhof, on the Vijver, where the principal historic buildings of The Hague are grouped, stands the Mauritshuis, now the home of one of the most famous collections of paintings in Europe. Originally it was the palace of Prince John Maurice of Nassau, Governor of Brazil, who, on his return to his fatherland in the year 1644, found it completed and took up his residence there.

This splendor-loving prince had had this building erected to please his own tastes by the court architect of The Hague, Pieter Post, after the plans of Jacob van Campen, the designer of the Dam Palace in Amsterdam and other buildings; and for the decoration of the interior he had sent rare and costly woods from Brazil. Everything was heavily gilded and painted; and, in particular, a very artistic staircase attracted universal admiration. Brazilian landscapes painted by Frans Post, richly carved chimney-pieces, and exotic objects of every kind adorned the halls; but, alas! in 1704 all this magnificence was destroyed by a fire, and only the walls of the palace remain.

The Restored Building made into an Art Gallery.—The exterior of the building was restored just as it was originally; but the interior was finished in a much simpler style that does not in the least suggest the splendor of the past.

It was not until the year 1820 that the Mauritshuis was devoted by royal decree to its present use,—the sheltering of the royal picture collection, which was at that time combined with the Cabinet of Rarities, now in the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam.

History of the Collection.—The collection has an interesting history as a whole; and the majority of the pictures have their own special history. The nucleus of the gallery formed the collection of the last Stadtholder of the Netherlands, William V. of Orange.

The Princes of Orange were art-collectors as early as the beginning of the sixteenth century. Although we do not know much regarding the art tastes of Prince Maurice of Orange, who died in 1625, yet we learn from a document that he employed Esais van de Velde as a court painter. On the other hand, we do know that his brother, Prince Frederick Hendrik, was a collector of fine taste and a Mæcenas. He employed a great number of important artists, among whom were Rembrandt, Honthorst, Dirck Bleker, Cornelis Vroom, Christiaen Couwenberch, Cornelisz Jacobsz Delff, Thomas Willeborts, Moses van Uyttenbrouck, Jacob Backer, Gonzales Coques, Frans Pietersz de Grebber, Dirck Dalens, Gerrit van Santen, Adriaen Hanneman, Nicholaes de Helt Stocade, and Dirck van der Lisse. Besides works by these artists, he acquired in Antwerp pictures by Rubens, Paulus de Vos, Adriaen van Utrecht, and others. To the Jesuit Father Soghers he even gave a golden palette made in The Hague by the goldsmith Hans Coenraet Brechtel. No wonder that his widow, Princess Amalia of Solms, following the ideas of her dead husband, employed Jordaens, Van Thulden, De Grebber, Casar van Everdingen, Honthorst, Lievens, Solomon de Bray, Pieter Soutman, and Cornelis Brisé to decorate the House in the Wood.

At her death in 1675, she left a collection of two hundred and fifty pieces, which were divided among her four daughters. Some of these pictures are now in Dessau and Moscow, and others in Prussian castles.

William III., who gained the English throne, had a fine picture-gallery, of which the portrait-painter, Robert Duval was the director. The greater part of this collection was sold in Amsterdam in 1713; but a few of these pictures are still in The Hague Gallery. The latter, however, owes its importance and distinction to the collection of William V.

The Collection of William V. of Orange.—This prince purchased his treasures at the best auctions of the day, such as the Lomier, De la Court, Braamcamp, and Slingerlandt collections. A German painter, Tethardt Philip Christian Haag, was made the director of this gallery, which was established in the Buitenhof. When the French entered The Hague in 1795 these pictures were carried to Paris by the troops and placed in the Louvre. When Napoleon's lucky star set, the French had the grace to return the pictures that they had carried away as spoils from various countries; and on November 20, 1815, the one hundred and ten pictures belonging to the prince's collection were returned to The Hague amid the ringing of bells, firing of cannon, and rejoicing of the people. Although a certain number remained in France, the chief gems were restored undamaged.

Growth of The Hague Gallery.—In 1817 the gallery contained only one hundred and twenty-three pictures. Gradually others were purchased; for example, in 1829, King William I. bought Rembrandt's Anatomy for 3200 gulden. Very few purchases were made from 1831 to 1874; but during the reign of the art-loving William III. the gallery was greatly augmented by both purchase and gift. The growth of the collection is principally the result of the great generosity of the Baron Victor de Stuers, who in 1874 issued an admirable catalogue (revised ed., 1895).

The Cabinet Pieces.—The nucleus of this collection, originally a "princely cabinet," consists of the cabinet pieces. Therefore we find here pictures (that were highly valued in their day) by Poelenburgh, Dou, Van Mieris, De Vois, Schalcken, Netscher, Van der Werff, P. van Dyck, Ostade, Jan Steen, Ter Borch, and Metsu. There were also four Rembrandts, two De Keijsers, three Potters, the beautiful Moro, and examples by Adriaen and Willem van de Velde. The modern additions, generally speaking, do not equal in interest the original collection. The most important are two portraits by Hals; a triptych, by Jacob Cornelisz van Ootsanen, a bequest; an Aert de Gelder, a gift, unfortunately much restored and spoilt by Houbraken; a signed still life, by Jan van Huysum; a portrait by Bol; a broad and spirited Begeyn; a Dusart; a strong, dark, and somewhat sunken view of The Hague by Jacob van Ruisdael; a beautiful Van Goyen; a head by Vermeer of Delft; a landscape by G. du Bois; a wonderful flower-piece by Abraham van Beyeren; several still-life pictures; and some portraits, among