Gerard Houckgeest

Ambulatory of the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, with the Tomb of William the Silent

Gerard Houckgeest
Ambulatory of the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, with the Tomb of William the Silent

On view in Room 16

This painting of the Nieuwe Kerk, or New Church, in the city of Delft is a real perspectival feat. We are standing in the choir aisle, behind the tomb of William of Orange. We have a wide field of vision: on the left is the nave of the church and on the right the curve of the ambulatory. In order to depict this, Houckgeest used a complex perspectival construction, called ‘diagonal perspective’. He obviously found it difficult, as the black and white tiles on the right are slightly distorted.

Technical details

Gerard Houckgeest
Ambulatory of the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, with the Tomb of William the Silent

On view in Room 16

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Details

General information
Artist Gerard Houckgeest (The Hague 1600 - 1661 Bergen op Zoom)
Title Ambulatory of the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, with the Tomb of William the Silent
Object name painting
Inventory number 57
On view in Room 16
Material and technical details
Technique oil
Material panel
Dimensions 65.5 x 77.5 cm
Inscriptions
Signed and dated below, on the front column: GH. 1651
GH in ligature

Provenance

Johan Anthony van Kinschot, Delft, until 1767; Prince William V, The Hague, 1767-1795; confiscated by the French, transferred to the Muséum Central des Arts/Musée Napoléon (Musée du Louvre), Paris, 1795-1815; Royal Picture Gallery, housed in the Prince William V Gallery, The Hague, 1816; transferred to the Mauritshuis, 1822