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All our images can be downloaded in high resolution from our website for non-commercial use (research/study, educational purposes, personal blogs and social media).
Would you like to use our images in a publication? Please mention our credit line: "Mauritshuis, The Hague."
Commercial use
Would you like to use our images for commercial purposes? We would be happy to discuss this with you. Please contact our marketing department at images@mauritshuis.nl.
Download Image
Non-commercial use
All our images can be downloaded in high resolution from our website for non-commercial use (research/study, educational purposes, personal blogs and social media).
Would you like to use our images in a publication? Please mention our credit line: "Mauritshuis, The Hague."
Commercial use
Would you like to use our images for commercial purposes? We would be happy to discuss this with you. Please contact our marketing department at images@mauritshuis.nl.
Download Image
Non-commercial use
All our images can be downloaded in high resolution from our website for non-commercial use (research/study, educational purposes, personal blogs and social media).
Would you like to use our images in a publication? Please mention our credit line: "Mauritshuis, The Hague."
Commercial use
Would you like to use our images for commercial purposes? We would be happy to discuss this with you. Please contact our marketing department at images@mauritshuis.nl.
Adriaen Thomasz Key
Portrait of William I (1533-1584), Prince of Orange
William the Silent was aged around 46 when the Antwerp portrait painter Adriaen Thomasz Key painted this likeness of him. It is one of the finest portraits of the Father of the Fatherland.
The portrait spent a long time in the conservation studio after the panel was damaged by a substantial crack in the wood. Fortunately the face survived intact, but the prince’s shoulder had to be reconstructed. The reconstruction was based on other versions of Key’s portrait.
Facelifts & Make-overs - stories from our conservation studio
The conservation treatment of this portrait of William of Orange was a complex task and took a long time as a result. The left-hand plank of the panel had become damaged at some point, possibly by woodworm. That is why this section had been replaced with another piece of wood, to the left of the prince’s face. Luckily, his face was well preserved, despite the sizeable crack that ran through it from top to bottom. The greatest challenge during the treatment process was the new strip of wood. There was nothing left to see, as almost all the paint had disappeared. Conservator Carol Pottasch had to completely reconstruct the prince’s shoulder and clothing in this empty area. As a guide, she used two other, similar portraits that Key had made of the prince. In this example, ‘makeover’ is definitely the right word.
