This painting shows Prince Maurits dressed to the nines astride a white war stallion with a remarkably long mane. It is probably the horse presented to him after Lodewijk Günther of Nassau had captured it from the Spanish during the Battle of Nieuwpoort in 1600. It bears a striking resemblance to the monumental portrait of that warhorse painted by Jacques de Gheyn II (SK-A-4255), which not only has an explanatory inscription but was also described by Van Mander. The background in Van Hillegaert’s painting, with the vague dune landscape and a strip of sea, also appears to allude to Nieuwpoort. Hagen has pointed out that the stallion has some of the characteristics of the Frisian breed, such as the fetlocks. His conclusion that Van Hillegaert portrayed a descendant of the Spanish stallion born as a cross with a Frisian mare is not convincing, however. What is important is that Maurits is shown as a victor, with the attributes and landscape referring not just to the Battle of Nieuwpoort but above all to his military power in general. Among other things, this is clear from the fact that he is wearing the Order of the Garter, which was only awarded to him 13 years after his victory at Nieuwpoort.
Dendrochronology of the panel has revealed that the painting could not have been made before 1628, and should more probably be placed after 1633. This makes the likely date of execution c. 1633-35.
There has been some discussion about the attribution of the painting. In 1855 it was auctioned as a Van Mierevelt, and in 1925 it bore the name of Henri Ambrosius Pacx, after which it came up for auction as a work by Adriaen van de Venne. The attribution to Van Hillegaert made in the 1960 collection catalogue has never been called into question since. The painting fits in well with the work securely linked to the artist, with the most distinctive features being the modelling of the horse with short brushstrokes for the highlights, the background built up with green tints, and the countless, strikingly schematic lances.
Yvette Bruijnen, 2007
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This entry was published in J. Bikker (ed.), Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, I: Artists Born between 1570 and 1600, coll. cat. Amsterdam 2007, no. 130.
