Family Portrait

When King William I bought this family portrait in Brussels in 1827, Brussels and The Hague were twin capitals of a single state, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, created after Napoleon's defeat. The purchase brought a Flemish picture north into the royal collection at the Mauritshuis. Three years later the Belgian Revolution split the kingdom in two, and the painting stayed on the Dutch side.

Gillis van Tilborgh painted it in Brussels around 1665 and signed it at the lower right. The family is not named. The older couple sit at the table in sober black, the younger men and women gather round in brighter clothes, and two small children in white have the front of the floor to themselves, along with a little spaniel. Over the fireplace hangs a large painting of a harbour with a tall tower. The picture belongs to the Mauritshuis and is on view in the Gallery Prince Willem V.