A treasure chamber full of masterpieces of Dutch and Flemish painting. On this private tour of the Mauritshuis in The Hague, you will get up close to special highlights from one of the finest art collections in the Netherlands. Accessible explanations will reveal many fascinating facts about the background of the works, the collection and the building. A real treat to experience during a guided tour in the museum!
The collection of paintings of the Mauritshuis contains top-class works of Netherlandish (Dutch and Flemish) art of the 16th and 17th centuries and some excellent renaissance paintings. Among the highlights, there are masterpieces by Johannes Vermeer, Peter Paul Rubens, Jan Steen, Gerard Dou, Gabriel Metsu and Frans van Mieris. Vermeer’s “View of Delft” and his “Girl with the pearl earring“, that made it to international fame, can be admired in the renovated venerable museum galleries, as well as Rembrandt’s stunning “Anatomy lesson of Dr. Tulp” and the popular Bull by Paulus Potter. Also the Golden Room with Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini’s 18th century paintings is a real eye-catcher.
Among the Flemish masters, works by Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel I. stand out, like “The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man“, painted by both of them together, as do genre paintings by Andriaen Brouwer and David Teniers, an “Adoration of the Shepherds” by Jacob Jordaens and the fabulous ‘kunstkamer’ painting by Willem van Haecht, showing Apelles while painting Campaspe.
Secrets of first class paintings at the Mauritshuis disclosed during a museum tour
World famous art works, that sometimes contain surprising secrets – you can best explore them during a private museum tour. Why did Carel Fabritius, who was killed in a tragic accident, paint a seemingly unremarkable goldfinch that later became famous in world literature? How was Doctor Nicolas Tulp’s anatomy lesson conducted and what is wrong in the way Rembrandt painted it? What made the brilliant portrait painter Frans Hals choose the natural laugh of an ingenuous boy as the sole subject of a painting? Why does the wooden panel of Rubens’ “Old Woman and Boy with Candles” appear so uneven and why is the red cabbage in Joachim Beuckelaer’s “Kitchen Scene with Christ at Emmaus” not red or purple at all?
Find out about this and more and stimulate your art experience in one of the Netherlands’ most important museums. Get enchanted by detailed still lifes, landscapes ready for your eyes to extensively stroll around, impressive portraits of fellow human beings from past ages, wittily encrypted genre paintings of seemingly everyday scenes of the 17th century and more.
Apart from works of art like these and others from the so called Golden Age of Dutch painting, there are also first class renaissance paintings to be admired, like Saint Mary by Lucas Cranach the Elder, portraits by Jan Gossaert and Hans Memling or Hans Holbein the Younger’s unbelievably accurate effigy of the falconer Robert Cheseman.
The Mauritshuis muauem – a great destination for a private museum tour
Since a recent renovation 2012-2014, the Mauritshuis has gained a new wing, called the Royal Dutch Shell Wing, where special exhibitions are shown. The museum rooms in the main building, the actual Mauritshuis, shine in their new old splendor and present masterpieces from the museum’s collection. The former city palace of John Maurice of Nassau Siegen, designed by Jacob van Campen, is regarded as one of the most important examples of classicist architecture in Holland. Since 1822, it serves as accommodation for a high class collection of paintings that goes back to the belongings of stadholder William V (Willem V). He had already granted public access to his art collection in his gallery at the Buitenhof in The Hague in 1774. Today, the „Prince William V Gallery” (Galerij Prins Willem V) on this location, also belonging to the Mauritshuis museum, simulates the stadholder’s original art gallery.
Now is the perfect time to visit the Mauritshuis, a hidden gem among Dutch museums. The best way to experience it is on an enjoyable guided museum tour, which will make your visit even more memorable.
So perhaps we will meet in The Hague soon?
All agreements for guided museum tours in the Mauritshuis are subject to the Mauritshuis’ approval of an external guided tour on the preferred or booked date and time. That is why we advise to request your Kukullus museum tour at least 3 weeks before your planned visit to the Mauritshuis.
