Portrait of William I, King of the Netherlands

The signature, low on the left, is written in French. It reads J. Paelinck, painter to Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands, in Brussels, 1819. At that moment Brussels was one of the two capitals of a new kingdom, created in 1815 after Waterloo to join the old Dutch Republic with the southern provinces that had once belonged to Austria. Parliament met in the two cities by turns, and a painter from Ghent could serve a Dutch court.

William I stands in a general's uniform under the ermine-lined royal mantle. Over his shoulder runs the ribbon of the Grand Cross of the Military William Order, which he founded himself in 1815. His crown rests on a cushion at his side, and the throne behind him carries a crowned W. In 1830 the southern provinces rose in revolt and broke away as Belgium.