Bust of Stadholder William V (1748-1806)

There may be no portraits of them in the Gallery, but here we meet them at last: Stadholder William V and Wilhelmina of Prussia. Their marble busts were made by Marie-Anne Falconet, the daughter-in-law of the famous French sculptor Falconet. After travelling together to St. Petersburg to make a large equestrian statue of Peter the Great, they called in at several royal courts on their return journey to Paris, including the court in The Hague. William V commissioned Marie-Anne to make these two busts there. She first made them in plaster and later in Paris carved them in marble.