Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis

The Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis is situated in the magnificent historical heart of The Hague. This is an extraordinary museum, in which Vermeer’s 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' delights scores of visitors every day. The museum is located next to the Dutch Houses of Parliament on Hofvijver. Its unique royal collection of paintings is one of the oldest in Holland. In the various galleries, top works by Dutch masters, such as Vermeer, Rembrandt, Frans Hals and Jan Steen, are on display. The collections boasts some 800 paintings, 50 miniatures, twenty sculptures and some drawings and prints.

 

History of the Mauritshuis

The Mauritshuis is a 17th-century city palace. It was named after Count Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen, the man who had it built. From 1636 - 1644 he was the governor of the Dutch colony in Brazil. Johan Maurits commissioned renowned architect Jacob van Campen to build his residence in The Hague. Van Campen designed and built one of the most outstanding examples of Dutch architectural classicism. The son of Stadtholder Prince William V of Oranje-Nassau gave his father’s art collection to the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1816 and the Royal Picture Gallery was born.

Read on about the Mauritshuis in The Hague or learn more about the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague