GREEF, Jan de
(b. 1784, Dordrecht, d, 1835, Amsterdam)

Interior view

1820
Photo
Noordeinde Palace, The Hague

The Noordeinde Palace in the centre of The Hague has been a palace of the Royal House since 1609 when the state presented it to William of Orange's widow as a gift. Today, the Dutch monarch uses it as a working palace.

The photo shows the ballroom which was patterned after the Egyptian Hall described by Vitruvius. This was a hall with double colonnade, which in Greek architecture was given a basilican cross-section with light entering from a triforium. Palladio resurrected this building type and passed it on to English Neoclassical architects, who in turn were probably the inspiration for de Greef.