Mauritshuis in The Hague

The collection of the Mauritshuis in The Hague is of an incredible quality only 17th century Dutch Art can offer. You find masterpieces like Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, Fabritius’ Goldfinch and Potter’s Bull next to many Rembrandt’s.

Rembrandt is known for depicting decisive moments. Dr. Tulp shows his students how fingers move by pulling on one of the tendons and mimicking it with his left hand. Tulip had the status of a rock star. He was appointed Praelector Anatomiae at the Amsterdam Guild of Surgeons and more than once elected mayor to the city. The painting definitively established Rembrandt’s name in Amsterdam.

The Mauritshuis was designed and built by Jacob van Campen, city architect of Amsterdam, for Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen. He served the West India Company as Governor-General in Brasil. His leadership of the ‘Nieuw Holland’ colony is part of Dutch colonial history. Particularly his role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.