The Arrival of Stadholder-King Willem III (1650-1702) in the Oranjepolder on 31 January 1691

In January 1691 William III, stadholder of the Dutch Republic and by then also king of England, crossed the North Sea for the first time since taking the English throne, to meet his allies against France in The Hague. It was a hard winter. Contrary winds kept him waiting for days, and ice floes made it almost impossible to land near Goeree. Early on 31 January he got ashore, warmed himself at a fire on the beach and was taken by sloop across the Maas to the Oranjepolder, where a farmer named Jillis, who knew the king from hare hunting, was waiting with a horse.

Bakhuizen painted the landing more than once. Two small pictures now at Het Loo palace show the ice being pushed away from the boat. This canvas, dated 1692, turns the same day into a triumphal entry, with the king on horseback and every trace of snow, ice and his heavy cold left out. The Mauritshuis owns it and shows it in the Gallery Prince Willem V in The Hague. A preparatory drawing for it is in the Royal Collection at Windsor.