Mary Stuart, Princess of Orange, as Widow of William II

Mary Stuart was about 20 when she sat for this, and already twice bereaved. Her father, King Charles I of England, had been beheaded in 1649. Her husband, William II of Orange, died of smallpox in November 1650, and eight days later she gave birth to their only child. Van der Helst paints her in 1652 in white, the traditional mourning colour for a noblewoman, with an orange in her hand, the emblem of her husband's house. That small fruit carried a claim. Mary wanted her infant son to inherit his father's offices, while the regents of Holland preferred to leave the post of stadholder empty. The archway at the left is a gateway of the Binnenhof in The Hague, the seat of government. The claim was eventually won, and more. In 1689 that son became King William III of England.