We went with a group of interested year 11 students to the lovely museum Het Mauritshuis, next to “Het Torentje” of the prime-minister. It is a neat, cosy museum, not like the ones we usually visit, it is more a large house. We were welcomed by one of the excellent guides the Mauritshuis has. The lady first explained the history of the museum to us. It is a 17th-century palace, in the style of Dutch classicist architecture. It was named after Count Johan Maurits of Nassau-Siegen, who was a governor of the Dutch colony in Brazil from 1636-1644. During that period the house was built for him. A funny detail: during the French occupation in Holland, the fashion of the ladies changed. They wore broad “hoop-skirts”. To pass straight through the door-opening, was impossible, you could only pass side-ways and that was considered to be indecent. So, all the door-openings were widened. We admired the pictures of the great painters of the 17th-century, of the Golden Age. The Mauritshuis possesses 10 paintings of Rembrandt van Rijn. One of them is: “The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp” (1632). We learned about the light (clair-obscur); about the students of Prof. Tulp (not in a row, but criss-cross on the canvas); about the central figure in the painting (Tulp) and why he is the central person (because of the set-up of the painting –triangle- and of the light); about the length of the arms and legs, the hands (they don’t fit the dead body) etc. The second famous painter was of course Johannes Vermeer with his well known painting: “Girl with a Pearl Earring” (1665). The painting is much smaller than you have in mind, yet, the girl attracts you, makes eye contact with you, with her mysterious look, she is very pretty. The guide explained to us, that the painting wasn’t that famous at all for a long time, only after the publication of the book by Tracy Chevalier and after a movie was made. Many non-official stories about the girl with the pearl have been created. The third painter was Frans Hals, well known because of his portraits. We admired his “Laughing Boy” (1625). This is an exceptional portrait, because one can see the real life instead of a posed figure. You can see the broad laugh, the yellow teeth, the red cheeks of the young boy as if he just came in from outside. Most of the time Frans Hals painted stately persons, who posed many times in front of the painter. They never laugh in their portraits. They flaunt their wealth. The richer the client, the more you saw of the body on the painting, from tip to toe, with jewelry, expensive clothes, lace from Brussels, shoes with silver clasps. If only the head was painted, the client had less money. Number four was Jan Steen with his painting: “The merry family “, “Zo de ouden zongen, piepen de jongen”. Almost every painting of Jan Steen is an allegory, it tells you proverbs and daily lessons. In this painting for example, the parrot is a symbol for copying the speech, the language. You can see little children copying their parents. The musical instruments refer to the singing, etc. etc. Jan Steen loved to use bright colours, look at this painting especially the colour red. Everybody in the Netherlands knows the proverb: “Een huishouden van Jan Steen”, your housekeeping is a mess. The guide told us also about the temporary exhibition, but that is beyond this text. Go look for yourself! The Mauritshuis is worth a visit!

Jeanette Halie
Teacher of Dutch