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At Frederik Hendrik's death in 1674, his widow, Amalia von Solms, conceived a new plan to honour the life, deeds, and memory of her late husband in the Oranjezaal in her own new palace Huis ten Bosch. Constantijn Huygens would serve as adviser, and Jacob van Campen was commissioned to oversee the execution of the painted decoration. The decorations cover the walls of the cross-shaped central hall with chamfered inner corners from floor to ceiling and were executed by Pieter de Grebber, Salomon de Bray, Caesar van Everdingen, Pieter Soutman, Gerrit van Honthorst, and Jacob van Campen himself. In addition to these Northern Netherlandish artists, several Southern Netherlandish painters were also retained, including Jacob Jordaens, who completed the largest canvas in 1652, Triumph of Frederik Hendrik, and Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert and Theodoor van Thulden. With its programmatic mixture of mythology, allegory, and actual historical events, the cycle recalls the glorifying decorative programs that Rubens had painted for the Spanish, French, and English courts.
The picture shows one of the canvases by Thulden on the wall of the Oranjezaal.
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