Portrait of Johan Maurits (1604-1679), Count of Nassau-Siegen, Founder of the Mauritshuis
Artist: Jan de Baen (Dutch, 1633–1702)
Date: c. 1668-1670
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: The Mauritshuis, The Hague, Netherlands
John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen
John Maurice of Nassau (17 June 1604 – 20 December 1679), called "the Brazilian" for his fruitful period as governor of Dutch Brazil, was Count and (from 1664) Prince of Nassau-Siegen. He served as Herrenmeister (equivalent to Grand Master) of the Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg) from 1652 until his death in 1679.
He was born in Dillenburg, and his father was John VII of Nassau-Siegen. His grandfather John VI of Nassau was the younger brother of Dutch stadtholder William the Silent of Orange, making him a grandnephew of William the Silent.
After his return from Brazil Johan Maurits was appointed stadholder of Cleves. That was where De Baen painted this portrait, with in the background the garden that Johan Maurits had laid out there.
The portrait radiates power, exactly how Johan Maurits wanted to be remembered. He owed this reputation largely to his role as governor of Dutch Brazil – even if the WIC had dismissed him for financial issues. This one-sided image meant that for centuries little attention was paid to Johan Maurits’s role in the slave trade.
