The Princes of Orange and their Families on Horseback, Riding Out from The Buitenhof, The Hague

This canvas, more than two metres wide, looks from the west across the Hofvijver, the court pond in the middle of The Hague. The trees of the Lange Vijverberg line the left bank, and on the right rise the buildings of the Binnenhof, where the stadholder held court and the States General met. The princes of Orange and their families ride out on horseback from the Buitenhof, the square just beside it. One building is missing. The Mauritshuis, a few steps from this spot, was only built later in the 1630s.

The picture dates from about 1621 to 1622, just after the Twelve Years' Truce with Spain ran out and the war resumed. Its painter has changed more than once. At a sale in The Hague in 1869 it was offered as a work by David Vinckboons, it was later catalogued under Hendrick Pacx, and today the museum calls it probably the work of Van Hillegaert. It came to the Mauritshuis in 1888 as a gift from Count van der Straten Ponthoz.