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Lot Essay
In the final two decades of his career, Gerrit Berckheyde produced some forty views of The Hague, focusing his attention on the Hofvijver, the Buitenhof and, as here, the Binnenhof with the Ridderzaal. In 1247, Count Willem II of Holland (1227-1256) built a palace, which came to be known as the Binnenhof (Inner Court), within his ancestral hunting grounds, around which grew the city of The Hague. At the center of Berckheyde’s painting is the thirteenth-century Ridderzaal, which originally served as the meeting hall of the Knights of the Golden Fleece. By the seventeenth century, it had become the seat of the States-General, a legislative body composed of representatives from each of the seven United Provinces, and a place to receive foreign ambassadors and dignitaries. The building also contained the Rolzaal, a court of justice that held trials, while public executions took place in the busy square before it. In the painting’s left background is the Binnenpoort, built in 1634 to enclose the courtyard. Above the gate was a corridor which connected to the Stadholder’s quarters, built in 1640 and visible at left.
The fact that Berckheyde’s views of The Hague only emerged in the last quarter of the seventeenth century, well after he had established himself as a painter of the principal sites of Amsterdam and Haarlem, may have much to do with the contemporary popularity of the House of Orange. In 1654, as part of the Treaty of Westminster the States of Holland secretly passed the Act of Exclusion, which temporarily excluded William III, Prince of Orange (1650-1702), from the office of Stadholder. However, following the disastrous invasion of the Netherlands by France and its allies, in July 1672 the States of Holland appointed William as Stadholder. His appointment restored the association between The Hague and the House of Orange, which, in turn, increased demand for depictions of the family’s ancestral seat. Such images would only have become more popular toward the end of the decade, when William played a leading role in bringing peace with the French.
Lawrence (loc. cit.) lists six comparable views of the Binnenhof, including one of nearly identical size but with differences in the staffage which is today in the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, Madrid (inv. no. 43 (1955.5)).
The fact that Berckheyde’s views of The Hague only emerged in the last quarter of the seventeenth century, well after he had established himself as a painter of the principal sites of Amsterdam and Haarlem, may have much to do with the contemporary popularity of the House of Orange. In 1654, as part of the Treaty of Westminster the States of Holland secretly passed the Act of Exclusion, which temporarily excluded William III, Prince of Orange (1650-1702), from the office of Stadholder. However, following the disastrous invasion of the Netherlands by France and its allies, in July 1672 the States of Holland appointed William as Stadholder. His appointment restored the association between The Hague and the House of Orange, which, in turn, increased demand for depictions of the family’s ancestral seat. Such images would only have become more popular toward the end of the decade, when William played a leading role in bringing peace with the French.
Lawrence (loc. cit.) lists six comparable views of the Binnenhof, including one of nearly identical size but with differences in the staffage which is today in the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, Madrid (inv. no. 43 (1955.5)).