Mauritshuis, the Hague
Title
Mauritshuis, the Hague
Description
In the 1600s the young Dutch Republic was the envy of Europe. Despite their small size and decentralized government structure, the United Provinces of the Netherlands managed to make themselves the middlemen of the world in the 17th century by leveraging their capable shipbuilders and shrewd merchants to create a trade network that spanned the world. Being the site of the full flowering of merchant capitalism has its benefits, of course, and the Dutch Golden Age is defined as such because the massive wealth accrued by the Netherlands produced an average standard of living far higher than that of other European nations (Britannica). The greatest beneficiaries of this increased prosperity were, of course, those who already possessed a great deal of money: the landed aristocracy and the urban merchant class. The way that these groups reacted to their new status as, bar certain powerful nobles, the richest people in Europe while also acknowledging the uniquely democratic (well, oligarchic) nature of their government can be most clearly seen in the houses which they chose to live in, of which the Mauritshuis is emblematic.
Built in 1644 during its owner Johan Maurits’ term as governor of the Dutch colony in Brazil on behalf of the Dutch West India Company, the Mauritshuis is a townhouse designed to convey both Maurits’ wealth as well as his respectably refined taste (History Mauritshuis). The roughly square building is situated at the heart of the Hague, the Netherlands’ political center, and is deliberately noticeable: the four facades are set with Ionic pilasters and garlands whose bright white stone (which is also used for the windowsills) complements the pinkish brick which forms the rest of the wall, and which contrasts pleasantly with the bluish-grey tiles of the elegantly-sloped roof. Still, the Mauritshuis isn’t ostentatious. It has only two main stories and an attic level, and though the colors are pleasant (the house was nicknamed the “sugar palace” (History Mauritshuis)), they aren’t dazzling, nor are the classical decorations very elaborate. The most highly-ornamental part of the house are the pediments over the entrance and on the opposite facade, which bring to mind a Greek temple and are likely meant to reference the democratic ideals of what was at the time Europe’s most successful republic. There are smaller pediments on the second-story windows, and while these are most likely meant to provide verticality to what otherwise might be a fairly boxy structure they can also be seen as reinforcing this message, announcing that despite Johan Maurits’ status as a nobleman of middling rank (he was a count (History Mauritshuis)), he was most importantly a man whose power and wealth came from his own success as a merchant.
The Mauritshuis communicates its owner’s wealth and taste, as well as the appropriate political beliefs for a public figure of the Dutch Golden Age. These effects would have been important for the new bourgeois class of merchants coming to dominate the Netherlands, and which would soon become preeminent throughout Europe, whose members needed a way to negotiate their new status--hence the expensive decorations--while also seeming to be moral and respectful of their betters, and thus restricted in their aesthetic sensibility. Despite, therefore, the fact that the Mauritshuis’ owner was noble, it is no coincidence that buildings like it served as the houses for most of the Netherlands’ merchant class.
Built in 1644 during its owner Johan Maurits’ term as governor of the Dutch colony in Brazil on behalf of the Dutch West India Company, the Mauritshuis is a townhouse designed to convey both Maurits’ wealth as well as his respectably refined taste (History Mauritshuis). The roughly square building is situated at the heart of the Hague, the Netherlands’ political center, and is deliberately noticeable: the four facades are set with Ionic pilasters and garlands whose bright white stone (which is also used for the windowsills) complements the pinkish brick which forms the rest of the wall, and which contrasts pleasantly with the bluish-grey tiles of the elegantly-sloped roof. Still, the Mauritshuis isn’t ostentatious. It has only two main stories and an attic level, and though the colors are pleasant (the house was nicknamed the “sugar palace” (History Mauritshuis)), they aren’t dazzling, nor are the classical decorations very elaborate. The most highly-ornamental part of the house are the pediments over the entrance and on the opposite facade, which bring to mind a Greek temple and are likely meant to reference the democratic ideals of what was at the time Europe’s most successful republic. There are smaller pediments on the second-story windows, and while these are most likely meant to provide verticality to what otherwise might be a fairly boxy structure they can also be seen as reinforcing this message, announcing that despite Johan Maurits’ status as a nobleman of middling rank (he was a count (History Mauritshuis)), he was most importantly a man whose power and wealth came from his own success as a merchant.
The Mauritshuis communicates its owner’s wealth and taste, as well as the appropriate political beliefs for a public figure of the Dutch Golden Age. These effects would have been important for the new bourgeois class of merchants coming to dominate the Netherlands, and which would soon become preeminent throughout Europe, whose members needed a way to negotiate their new status--hence the expensive decorations--while also seeming to be moral and respectful of their betters, and thus restricted in their aesthetic sensibility. Despite, therefore, the fact that the Mauritshuis’ owner was noble, it is no coincidence that buildings like it served as the houses for most of the Netherlands’ merchant class.
Creator
Painting: Bartholomeus Johannes van Hove
Architect: Jacob van Campen
Architect: Jacob van Campen
Source
"Netherlands." Encyclopedia Britannica. 2018. https://www.britannica.com/place/Netherlands/Cultural-life#ref35839
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bartholomeus_Johannes_van_Hove,_Het_Mauritshuis_te_Den_Haag.jpg
"History Mauritshuis." Mauritshuis. 2018. https://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/discover/mauritshuis/history-of-the-building/
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bartholomeus_Johannes_van_Hove,_Het_Mauritshuis_te_Den_Haag.jpg
"History Mauritshuis." Mauritshuis. 2018. https://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/discover/mauritshuis/history-of-the-building/
Date
Built 1644
Contributor
Brendan Glenn
Rights
Public Domain; free re-use
Original Format
Painting
Physical Dimensions
62 x 72 cm
Citation
Painting: Bartholomeus Johannes van Hove
Architect: Jacob van Campen, “Mauritshuis, the Hague,” HIST 139 - Early Modern Europe, accessed April 25, 2026, https://earlymoderneurope.hist.sites.carleton.edu/items/show/178.