Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague

Den Haag, or, The Hague, is the 3rd largest city in the Netherlands and is the seat of the Dutch parliament, supreme court, and council of state. It is also the city in which most of the foreign embassies are located, as well as the location for the international court of justice, international criminal court, and along with other major cities (New York, Geneva, Vienna, etc.) hosts the United Nations.  Plus it's got some cool museums! 

Den Haag Crow

We took a train into The Hague on Sunday morning and spent the day exploring the city and its museums. We walked through the area that houses the international court house and department of justice. 

International Department of Justice

Watched workers prepare for Monday's holiday, called King's Day. It seemed like a celebration similar to the 4th of July, in which everyone wore garish orange costumes and accessories (in stead of our red, white, and blue) and partied hardy with beer, street food, and live music. Sadly, we flew out Monday morning, so we only got to experience the set-up and anticipation. 

Den Haag: old and new

We made our way to the Mauritshuis museum that houses many famed Dutch paintings. The one most known to all visitor's is Johannes Vermeer's Girl with the Pearl Earring, painted circa 1665.  My guidebook explains that Vermeer was a relatively unknown and forgotten painter, but in 1881 this painting came up for auction in The Hague. Two art advisors noticed it and decided it could be special. They agreed to work together and bid low, and bought the painting at auction for only 2 guilders and 30 cents. They took it back to a workshop, cleaned it up, and realized it was a great work of art. The rest is history.

Vermeer's The Girl with the Pearl Earring

I like the Girl with the Pearl Earring (love the book!), but one of the other Vermeer's in the museum really stole my heart: The View of Delft, painted in 1660. This painting is so accurate, that you can identify all of the buildings in the Kolk harbor in Delft. I just love the way to sunlight filters through the clouds, casts shadows on the harbor, and the two women going about their daily business on the shore. Stunning painting, in my humble opinion.  

Vermeer's View of Delft

The next painting was also a favorite, and I blame the anatomy and physiology teacher I used to be. It is Rembrandt's painting of an anatomy lesson, painted in 1632. In reading my guidebook, I learned that the arm muscles were painted from looking at an anatomy book, but that the body used as the demo was that of a convicted criminal, Aris Kindt, who had been hanged for robbery. The criminal had lost his right arm from an earlier theft conviction, and x-rays of this painting show that Rembrandt had originally left the right arm a stump, but later painted a hand over it. 

Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp 

And the last painting that really struck a chord with me was Rubens' Old Woman and a Boy with Candles, painted in 1616-1617. I just loved the way the candlelight illuminates the boy and old lady's faces. It was very lifelike, yet etherial at the same time. 

Peter Paul Rubens' Old Woman and a Boy with Candles

After visiting Maurithuis museum, we made our way to lunch and another museum, which I'll post more about on Monday. As we were walking on the quiet roads of The Hague, we passed by their parliament buildings. Very pretty! 

But seriously, it was very quiet. Like, eerie quiet. It took us a LONG time to find anything open, even restaurants, even though it was past noon on a Sunday of a 3-day weekend. Strange! 

Netherland's parliament buildings