Refine your search

The results of your search are listed below alongside the search terms you entered on the previous page. You can refine your search by amending any of the parameters in the form and resubmitting it.

Select all Deselect all Add selection to lightbox
Large Small
Thumbnails per page
Maurits / Maurice, Prince of Orange (1567-1625) was stadtholder of all provinces within the Dutch Republic except for Friesland. Commonly known as Maurits of Nassau for much of his life due to his Catholic elder half-brother Philip William holding the title of Prince of Orange until his death in 1618, he was the son of the famed William the Silent, and succeeded him as stadtholder after his death.<br/><br/> Frederik Hendrik / Frederick Henry (1584-1647) was the ruling Prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Guelders, Overijssel, Utrecht and Zeeland. The youngest son of the famed William the Silent, he was the half-brother of the previous Prince of Orange and his predecessor, Maurice, who passed away in 1625. Frederik was born six months before his father's assassination in 1584, and was trained in arms and educated by Maurice.
In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Jesus walked past a lake and saw some fishermen at work. He called on them to follow him and be his disciples: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”—Matthew 4:19.<br/><br/> This passage is generally taken to mean that Christ was calling on the fishermen to become missionaries, convert unbelievers, and spread his word. In 1614, Adriaen Van de Venne used the idea to illustrate the fierce battle for people’s souls that was taking place at the time between Protestants and Roman Catholics. In the lake we see Protestants dressed in black on the left fighting for souls against Catholics on the right led by a bishop.<br/><br/> This allegorical masterpiece was also a political statement: Spain and the Netherlands had signed an armistice in 1609 that would last until 1621 (the 12-year Truce), but not end the 80 Years War (1568-1648). The painter depicts the Protestants as members of the Dutch House of Orange bathed in light, while the Catholics are in cloudy darkness. The tree on the left is in full bloom while the Catholics’ tree is withered. In fact, Van de Venne did not paint any nude swimmers going to the Catholics’ boats in his original canvas. Those converts were painted in later.