Three documents concerning the Oranjezaal, Huis ten Bosch (1648-1652): A new find and two more precise datings

Between 1648 and 1652, Amalia van Solms, widow of Stadholder Frederik Hendrik, had the central hall of her new country house in the Haagse Bos decorated from floor to ceiling with paintings. To perform the work, she hired twelve painters from both the Dutch Republic and the Southern Netherlands. The room at Huis ten Bosch Palace is known today as the Oranjezaal. A great deal is known about the production of the hall’s decorations thanks to the well-preserved correspondence of the stadholder’s secretary, Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687) and other contemporary documents. Several of the notes are not dated, however, which means the precise circumstances, sequence of activities and dating of some of the paintings has remained unclear. Fortunately, new archive documents turn up from time to time that can fill in the gaps.

This article presents one such find: a short letter from François Oliviers to Huygens. Although this has already been published by J.A. Worp in 1911-1917, the document has not previously been connected with the Oranjezaal. Oliviers was the ‘primuerder’, who supplied the prepared canvases for the ensemble. These were made to size, primed and sent out to the artists tasked with executing the paintings for the walls of the hall. Oliviers’ letter accompanied a consignment of four such prepared canvases and several ‘models’. While the letter is brief, it nonetheless provides all manner of fresh information, including confirmation of Oliviers’ previously suspected place of residence, Haarlem.

Also, a more precise dating is proposed here for two already known but undated documents. One of these – a report from Huygens for Amalia – can be dated more accurately thanks to a letter from the painter Pieter Soutman to Huygens, published by K. Barrett in 2009. The other document proved harder to date. In this note, the painter and architect Jacob van Campen, who acted as designer and project manager for the Oranjezaal, lists the number of pieces still to be done. It is not clear, however, whether he is referring to paintings, as has long been thought, or possibly to design sketches. The more accurate dating offers a better insight into the decoration of the Oranjezaal and the discussions that lay behind it.