Portrait of Johan Maurits (1604-1679), Count of Nassau-Siegen, Founder of the Mauritshuis

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.