Portrait of William I (1533-1584), Prince of Orange

William of Orange was about 46 when Key painted him, and the Mauritshuis counts this among the finest portraits of the man the Dutch call the Father of the Fatherland. The panel has had a hard life. Its left-hand plank was damaged at some point, possibly by woodworm, and replaced with a new piece of wood, and a crack ran through the face from top to bottom. The face held. On the new strip almost no paint was left, so the museum's conservator Carol Pottasch rebuilt the prince's shoulder and clothing, using two other versions of the portrait that Key had painted as her guide. William lies buried in the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, under the tomb that Houckgeest painted in a picture that also hangs in this museum.