The front of The Mauritshuis is amongst the most recognisable Museums in the world. Known as “The Jewellery Box”. It is beautiful. Despite its modest size, it ranks among the top four in the world for Dutch paintings of the Golden Age. The elevator to the left is so unassuming. It brings you downstairs to the entrance Foyer. Enter the Gallery on the left and you climb two stairs to the first room. You can also take the elevator if you choose. Entrance fee was €19 and for a student €12.50, which is not bad as many museums in Europe are €20 plus, however they should in my humble opinion give the students a much lower rate. Keep your entrance ticket safe because it gives you free access to the Prince Willem V Gallery, a five-minute walk away from the Mauritshuis and housing 150 of their works.
Just an interesting point, Room no 1 is the landing area and I assume the stewards get asked the question a lot “Where is room one”. There are so many masterpieces in this museum that it is very difficult to know where to start so I have decided to include works that have appealed to me over the years of visiting the museum.
My first work is by Peter Paul Rubens, an old woman and boy with candles, an old woman gazes ahead, shielding her eyes from the candlelight, while the boy behind her holds his candle, ready to be lit. The panel is painted in the style of Caravaggio, whose work Rubens had seen in Italy. This style is characterised by its exciting effects of light and unpolished naturalism. Rubens did not make the painting to be sold, instead he retained possession of it. He probably used it as study material for the pupils in his studio.
Now one of my favourite artists is Anthony van Dyck and there are many Masterpieces by him in the Mauritshuis and it is very difficult to choose just one but the painting I have chosen has almost all of the techniques which make him one of the greatest painters that has ever lived. Anna Wake was the eldest daughter of the English man Lionel wake, a catholic merchant and resident of Antwerp who was good friends of Rubens. She is beautifully dressed and holding a fan of black and white Ostrich feathers. She has the most exquisite look in her eyes, gentle, intrepid a young woman prepared for life before her, unsure.
The beautiful collaboration between Breughel and Rubens, The Garden of Eden with the fall of man is a great painting showing how both artists worked with one another. These are true showpieces, in which the hand of each master is clearly recognisable. It is the only painting signed by both artists. Breughel makes precise depictions of numerous animal species both indigenous and exotic. Rubens depicts the first human couple as idealised nude figures.
The Lamentation of Christ is the only work in a Dutch museum by the Brussels painter Rogier van der Weyden who is regarded alongside Jan van Eyck as one of the most important Flemish painters of his time. Joseph of Arimathea supports the lifeless body of Christ, while Nicodemus holds a corner of his shroud. Also depicted are the three Mary’s. It probably dates from Van der Weyden’s last years and may very well be a work that was completed by his studio after his death.
One of the most famous paintings in the world??? I specifically chose this photo I took to give the impression of the beauty of The Mauritshuis on occasion. Now this doesn’t happen often, but I had the room and Carel Fabritius’ masterpiece The Goldfinch all by myself. I have read many books describing The Goldfinch but in my humble opinion the best I have read is by Benjamin Moser the author of the book The upside-down world.
“Charisma was something I first started observing at the Mauritshuis, when I noticed how people reacted to The Goldfinch. Tourists on a tight schedule, who would glance distractedly at a Potter or a Steen and gaze up at a Rembrandt with a quick flick of the eyes, would grind to a halt before Fabritius’s bird – as if this little animal were reaching out of his frame and grabbing them”. “And then sit on the bench in the gallery. Spend a few minutes watching the visitor’s filing past. See if a single one fails to halt in front of The Goldfinch. They are all feeling something, sensing something, that they wouldn’t be able to define. What else could it be but the artist’s charisma? They are feeling the greatness of the soul who painted this fragile bird – this bird that almost surely outlived him”.
The Mauritshuis has three works on display by Johannes Vermeer. Some say his greatest work was his View of Delft 1660. Clouds drift high above the city. At the front, a dark cloud casts shadows on the quay, the water and the buildings in front. Further away the sun is shining and the roofs and the towers of the Nieuwe Kerk are brilliantly lit.
As an art enthusiast and frequent visitor to some of the greatest Art Museums in Europe I specifically came to Mauritshuis for The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp. The painting is one of the most impressive portraits ever painted by Rembrandt. The painting was commissioned by the Amsterdam surgeon’s guild and Dr Nicolaes Tulp, the praelector anatomiae. Rembrandt’s composition is exceptionally dynamic and innovative, he arranges the sitters in a pyramid shape. Incidentally just in case I forget to mention, an excellent book by Nina Siegal The Anatomy Lesson (a novel) is well worth a read.
One of the other most famous paintings in the Mauritshuis is Vermeer’s Girl with a pearl earring, c1665. It can be very difficult to get a clear shot of the painting as there is usually a crowd. In 1922 E.V. Lucas wrote “It is the most beautiful thing in Holland”, the most satisfying and exquisite example of brush and colour that I have ever seen anywhere, the painting of the lower lip is as much a miracle to me as a Darwin Tulip”.
There is a Rembrandt room in the Mauritshuis and there are so many of his masterpieces to chose from. No seventeenth century artist made as many self portraits as Rembrandt. This painting is from the last year of his life and possibly the very last self-portrait he ever made. He stares at us with the same piercing gaze and purposeful expression. An X-radiograph shows that Rembrandt first portrayed himself with a white cap while he then replaced with the striped, turban-like head covering seen here which gives the image a more timeless character.
Please Note it is important to acknowledge Johan Maurits and his involvement in the transatlantic Slave trade.
* * *
Alan is an avid Art Gallery visitor here in Europe. I would think I have visited approximately 33 Art related galleries(churches with works of Art also) in Europe. He has a bucket list of approximately 14 left to visit (obviously there's always more).