The Four Elements: Water

Water completes the set of four elements on these walls, a draped figure standing in a painted niche. Italian paintings are rare in the Mauritshuis, a collection built on Dutch and Flemish art, and this set is unusual for another reason too. Most of Pellegrini's large decorations have since left the buildings they were made for or have been lost. These canvases were made for this room in 1718 and have stayed here ever since, set into the same panelling.