Old City Hall (The Hague)
The Old City Hall in
History
The town hall (built in 1565 and restored and enlarged in 1882) contains a historical picture gallery.[1] The building was considered very large and imposing in its day; just after it was built in 1566 Lodovico Guicciardini referred to The Hague as the most beautiful, richest, and biggest village of Europe. However, The Hague was not a walled town and therefore Guicciardini categorized it with the villages. For a village, the city hall must have seemed quite grand.[citation needed] That The Hague was thus vulnerable to attack makes it all the more amazing that the old city hall survived the Protestant Revolution without damage to older ornaments and windows.[citation needed]
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Group portrait of magistrates standing before an allegorical presentation of Salomon's judgement, 1682 by Jan de Baen
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Vierschaar with three paintings by Willem Doudijns
The interior of the building underwent a number of changes over time, including restoration of the interior decorations that ended in 1773.[2] The statues on the facade depict "Faith", "Hope", "Love", "Strength", and "Justice". They were made by the Hague sculptor Jan Baptist Xavery before 1742.[2]
A number of paintings and objects from The Hague's artists of the Confrerie Pictura are found inside the building.[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 818.
- ^ a b Rijksmonument report