Equestrian Portrait of Frederick Henry, anonymous, in or after 1631
oil on turtle-shell, h 117cm × w 68cm × d 30cm Catalogue entry
The capture of Den Bosch is chiefly due to the strategic brilliance and perseverance of the army’s commander, Frederick Henry. As a result, the war takes a new turn. Several years later the prince also seizes Venlo, Roermond, and Maastricht. Frederick Henry is often triumphantly depicted on horseback. But quite uniquely he is here portrayed as such on the shell of a South American giant tortoise: an indirect expression of the Netherlands as a world power.
