The Stedelijk Museum, the Town Hall, Haarlem and the Boijmans Museum
| Mauve, Sheep on the Dunes | [196] |
| Israëls, Fisherman's Children | [198] |
| Roelofs, Marshy Landscape | [200] |
| A. Neuhuys, By the Cradle | [202] |
| Mesdag, Sunrise on the Dutch Coast | [204] |
| Israëls, Old Jewish Peddler | [206] |
| J. Maris, Two Windmills | [208] |
| Frans Hals, Reunion of the Arquebusiers of St. Andrew. | [214] |
| Bisschop, Winter in Friesland | [226] |
| Mauve, Cows in a Shady Nook | [236] |
| Klinkenberg, View of the Vijver at The Hague | [246] |
| Jongkind, View of Overschie in Moonlight | [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.