Portrait of William I (1533-1584), Prince of Orange

William the Silent was aged around 46 when the Antwerp portrait painter Adriaen Thomasz Key painted this likeness of him. It is one of the finest portraits of the Father of the Fatherland.

The portrait spent a long time in the conservation studio after the panel was damaged by a substantial crack in the wood. Fortunately the face survived intact, but the prince’s shoulder had to be reconstructed. The reconstruction was based on other versions of Key’s portrait.