Click on image for more information. Photo by and © Michael Hasted
PRINSENHOF MUSEUM
Sint Agathaplein 1
2611 HR Delft
(015) 260 23 58
The Prinsenhof is typical of many older museums in the Netherlands in that the building itself is worth seeing in its own right. It has the distinction of having been not only the court of William of Orange but also the place where he was assassinated. In addition to the plaque marking the spot, the bullet holes are still in the wall to prove it
The building re-opened after a major refurbishment in 2014 and is a very fine museum housing mainly Dutch paintings alongside some rare pieces of blue and white Delft pottery and lots more beside. The myriad rooms and halls linked by narrow passages and twisting stone staircases house dozens of portraits, both single and group, of Dutch royalty, which has strong links to the city, and many past eminent burghers of Delft. There are also paintings depicting everyday life with many showing the fateful gunpowder explosion, known as the Thunderclap, which severely damaged the city on 12th October 1654. It is only a pity that the museum doesn’t have a painting by Vermeer, Delft’s most famous son.
The covered inner court-yard,the Van der Mandelezaal, is also the venue for concerts, most notable the annual Delft Chamber Music Festival in July/August
Next to the museum is a beautiful tranquil garden with neat box hedges enclosing beds of exotic plants. The garden can be seen from many of the building’s many leaded windows and provides a place to sit in the sun and rest weary feet. A fine museum which falls into the “must see” category.
