I had no notion how considerably I would like The Hague! It’s a beautiful and tranquil city, crisscrossed with canals, exceptionally walkable, entire of lots of superb eating places, and with community transportation that would make it effortless to get in all places else in Holland. And on major of all that attraction and livability, it has an incredible entire world-course museum right in the middle of it, the Mauritshius, which has a assortment of is effective by artists like Vermeer, Rubens, Holbein, and Rembrandt! My husband Nowell and I were really pleased with our selection to make The Hague our home-foundation in Holland.
As we walked to the Mauristhuis museum we stopped for a photo at this stunning see of the Dutch Parliament. The 13th-century Binnenhof is the oldest parliament creating however in use. The human body of drinking water just before it is referred to as the Hofvijver which suggests “courtroom pond”. It is really amazing to see this kind of attractiveness in the center of a metropolis… and seem at that basic Dutch sky!
The Maurithuis museum was just a 15-moment flat and picturesque stroll from our lodge, so we arrived fresh new and prepared for an remarkable dose of Artwork! This is a spectacular selection with several quite famed gems, which include Vermeer’s Woman with the Pearl Earring and See of Delft, as very well as Fabritius’ Goldfinch.
I got some great element shots demonstrating the cracks and restoration of Lady with the Pearl, the surprising pointillism and little, exact styles of Perspective of Delft, and the luscious brushwork of the Goldfinch.
Female with the Pearl and Goldfinch ended up basically exhibited a several decades in the past in San Francisco in which I stay, so quite strangely this was my Next time observing both of those these legendary functions. I did favor looking at them in their home in the Mauristhuis, even though. In the San Francisco exhibit Goldfinch was hung in a slender hallway, and The Pearl was hung in a absolutely black place with an intensive highlight, which was meant to enhance the drama of the practical experience, but rather made the facial area blindingly gentle. So I was able to respect both of those performs improved in this appropriately-lit museum.
How often do you get to admire and evaluate two Rubens relationship portraits and two Van Dyck relationship portraits all in 1 area collectively?
Left Rubens’ Peter Van Hack, Claire Fourement and Van Dyck’s Peeter Stevens and Anna Wake (among them is an unbelievable “kunstkamer” or “art room” by Willem van Haecht.
I really fell in adore with this Van Dyck portrait. As considerably as I admire Rubens as a painter, when it comes to portraiture, Van Dyck has the potential to seize a potent sensation of getting in the presence of a genuine particular person.
The Mauristhuis also has a Rubens oil sketch of the similar subject matter I observed in the Our Girl cathedral in Antwerp just a couple times ahead of this, Mary’s assumption to heaven:
Remaining is the ~3-foot tall sketch in the Mauristhuis museum, on the correct is the ~15-foot tall portray put in in the Antwerp cathedral.
You can see the stone arch to the ideal of Mary was omitted in the ultimate, and you can also see the blue colour is distinctive: The remaining portray made use of additional high-priced pigments, like lapis lazuli for the blues, which at the time was even additional costly than gold. Below are my detail shots of the sketch:
More aspects from paintings by Rubens, Pieter van Anraadt, Pieter Claesz, Gabriël Metsu, Jan van Huysum, Franz Hals, Saloman van Ruisdale, Holbein:
And a wonderful collection of Rembrandts, including this little head of a Laughing Male and the well-known Anatomy Lesson:
The Hague is a attractive metropolis and also really livable Since it is not mobbed with vacationers, most the people you see are just heading about their common lifestyle, picking up their little ones from faculty or assembly friends for a consume just after do the job. It really is a significant metropolis, but there does not seem to be a whole lot of noise or site visitors, possibly due to the fact most men and women travel by bicycle, so just walking close to felt relaxed and stress-free.
You can find also a pretty little museum devoted to MC Escher, which we genuinely loved.
Delft was a very straightforward daytrip, due to the fact we could get there on the local tram line which experienced a prevent proper outside the doorway of our hotel and took us to the coronary heart of Delft in about 30 minutes. The Hague’s general public transportation was quite straightforward for a visitor, because you can just obtain the “HTM” application to your phone in which you can get one tickets or day-lengthy tickets, and the QRC ticket just appears.
Delft is a lovely location just to wander about, and we loved obtaining a slower-paced working day, so we failed to do any official excursions, but just admired the landscapes (and the food items!).
Again in the Hague:
We experienced exceptional meals all within just a few blocks of our hotel at Walter Benedict, Bistro Mer and Follia.
We liked the YAYs lodge we stayed in (handle: Koninginnegracht 20, 2514 AB Den Haag), which has apartment suites with kitchenettes, including a totally free laundry room for attendees, for less than a solitary resort area in Amsterdam. It truly is in a excellent minimal community with plenty of dining establishments and a hassle-free minor grocery retailer, and only a 15 minute wander to the Mauristhuis museum. It was uncomplicated to consider the tram from just a few actions outside the house the doorway of the hotel to the Holland Spoor practice station, which is how we frequented Amsterdam and the extraordinary Rijksmuseum, which I will publish about in my upcoming website publish.
This write-up is section of a sequence about our modern European tour through Paris, Antwerp, The Hague, Amsterdam, and Vienna. If you have not yet, indicator up for my newsletter so you never ever miss just one of my facts-packed blog site posts. Also, I am now operating on a new painting video clip to be produced by the stop of this year. “Glazing and Scumbling a Nonetheless Lifestyle with Roses” will be a adhere to-up to my initial “Glazing and Scumbling” on the web program, so I recommend acquiring that if you have not however, to get the most out of my next launch!
