A Hunting Party near the Hofvijver in The Hague, Seen from the Buitenhof

Although this painting by Berckheyde was not in William V’s collection, you will understand why we were keen to hang it here: the cityscape shows the same view as that from the Gallery. In front of you lies the Hofvijver, with to the right the Binnenhof buildings, which then, as now, were the centre of government. The wing that today has the fish stall in front of it housed the stadholder’s quarters, and a carriage pulled by six horses rides where trams now pass by. With this many horses, we can assume the carriage is transporting a high-ranking figure, perhaps even a stadholder of the House of Orange-Nassau.