Theagenes Receiving the Palm of Honour from Chariclea

In April 1625 Frederik Hendrik of Orange married Amalia van Solms, and within weeks the death of his half-brother Maurice made him stadholder. The couple set about filling their houses with pictures, and from Abraham Bloemaert in Utrecht they ordered a series of classical subjects for their hunting lodge at Honselaarsdijk, south-west of The Hague. This large, bright canvas of 1626 is one of them. The story comes from an ancient Greek novel by Heliodorus. At Delphi the young Theagenes has won a race, and Chariclea hands him the victor's palm branch. He kisses her hand, and in that moment the two fall in love. Both of them are blushing. The Mauritshuis reads the scene as a nod to the love between Frederik Hendrik and Amalia. The canvas stayed with the Orange family until 1800, and an old number, N 43, is still painted at the lower left.