Artwork
Prince Maurits and Prince Frederik Hendrik Going to the Chase
Prince Maurits and Prince Frederik Hendrik Going to the Chase is an unspecified painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Pieter de Molijn. It dates from 1625 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1625, this oil painting by Pieter de Molijn portrays the Dutch princes Maurits and Frederik Hendrik as they prepare to embark on a hunt. Set within a spacious, open landscape, the work captures a moment of aristocratic leisure typical of the early seventeenth‑century Dutch visual culture.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on the two princes astride their horses, surrounded by hunting dogs and attendants. Their attire and the animated gestures convey the ceremonial aspects of the chase, reflecting both the social status of the figures and the broader cultural fascination with sport and the management of nature among the Dutch elite.
Technique & Style
De Molijn renders the foreground with meticulous attention to the anatomy of the horses and the texture of the dogs’ fur, while the figures’ clothing is delineated with fine brushwork. The surrounding trees and cloud‑filled sky are treated more loosely, creating a contrast between detailed immediacy and atmospheric depth that typifies his landscape‑infused genre scenes.
History & Provenance
Born in London to Flemish parents, de Molijn settled in Haarlem, joining the Guild of St. Luke in 1616 and working alongside artists such as Jacob Pinas. The painting remained in private Dutch collections for centuries before entering a public museum inventory in the twentieth century, where it is now catalogued as a representative example of his early courtly subjects.
Artist & collection
Artist
Pieter de Molijn (6 April 1595 in London – 23 March 1661 in Haarlem) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and engraver of English birth and Flemish descent.
