Date

Circa 1910

In 1614 the States General commissioned Hendrik de Keyser to design a funerary monument for William the Silent, Prince of Orange for the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft (in situ). Completed in 1621, this is de Keyser's best-known work and also the most important piece of sculpture of his period. The terracotta model (Amsterdam, Rijksmus.) was ready as early as 1614. The white marble figure on the tomb lies under a canopy of black-and-white marble, at the corners of which are four allegorical bronze figures representing the Virtues. At the head of the effigy there is a seated statue of the prince and at the other end an allegorical figure of Fame, both in bronze. The canopy is surmounted by a pair of bronze putti, holding up a sign and flanked on each side by a lamenting putto. The design of the tomb was strongly influenced by earlier French examples.