- The first book to recount the complete history of the Mauritshuis,
the municipal museum of the city of The Hague The Mauritshuis, completed
in 1644, is an exceptional building. Designed by Jacob van Campen, the
premises are a textbook example of the architectural style known as
Dutch Classicism. It was the residence of a colorful individual, Count
Johan Maurits of Nassau-Siegen, a relative of the stadholders, who made
a career for himself in the army and as a governor of the Dutch colony
in Brazil. For nearly two hundred years his former home has been a
museum famous for its collection of Old Master Paintings. This book is
the first to recount the complete history of the Mauritshuis. The
authors examine its architectural qualities, the original furnishings,
the garden, the fire of 1704, the decoration of the Golden Room, the
people who resided there, and the premises' recent extension. It is the
history of a buildings whose first owner once described it as
'beautiful, very beautiful and supremely beautiful house'.