Mauritshuis and Miffy

On our first full day in Den Haag, we headed to Binnenhof, the site of the parliamentary buildings in the Netherlands. While wandering with the help of our e-sims and Google maps, we found that Mauritshuis was right in the vicinity of our wanderings.

Mauritshuis is an art museum. Founded as a museum in 1822, it houses the Royal Cabinet of Paintings. The building itself is beautiful and old. It was built in the 1600s as a residence for Count Johan Maurits of Nassau-Siegen, and as such is called “Maurits’ house.” Today, this relatively small museum showcases over 800 works by Dutch and Flemish masters, including those famous to even those who are rather philistine like myself- artists such as Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Steen. According to the museum website, it is the ‘most beautiful museum in The Hague.’ While one can argue this is quite a biased claim, I would say that it is true in many ways. I loved our visit to Mauritshuis.

We were fortunate on the drizzly Tuesday morning of our visit to get tickets for our 13:30 visit. We had arrived to the gates of the museum just before lunchtime, and I purchased our tickets online for the same day, giving us some time to pick up a disappointing lunch at an American-themed restaurant a couple blocks away. After the unimpressive meal, we walked back to the museum, ready to appreciate some art.

Prior to our trip, Michael had wondered whether the kids would even enjoy visiting art museums, as we had purchased tickets well in advance for the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. I opined that living in Southern California, so close to LACMA and the Getty, and in walking distance to the Huntington Library where they had seen works by European artists and played in fountains at the Children’s Garden when they were small. Indeed, they had grown up with art, and though sometimes viewed with the snarky lens of Gen Z, they do appreciate art, and possess some artistic talent themselves. He ended up suggesting this particular activity, and I was glad he did. This museum did not disappoint.

The collections were awe-inspiring, as we meandered from room to room, trying to gauge the artist’s thoughts and moods as they painted their various compositions while regarding their work. For instance, the way that Vermeer uses light seems to give his works both a depth and a softness that strikes me as beautiful. I personally do not care as much for Rembrandt, just because he used darker tints, but his work is no less impressive. And of course, we poked fun at Steen and his works depicting the unprincipled chaos of life in the seventeenth century. It seems that not much has changed in terms of debauchery; it just looks more sophisticated today when viewed on canvas versus the instant gratification of Instagram and Snapchat.

We took our time admiring the hundreds-year-old works of the masters, then headed back downstairs to the gift shop. We found a few gifts and trinkets to bring back home to friends and family. We also found a 3D reconstruction of Carel Fabritius’ unique painting, ‘The Goldfinch,’ which is on display in room 14 of the museum. Fabritius was considered to be one of Rembrandt’s most talented students. Unfortunately, he was killed at the age of 32 in an explosion in Delft. His legacy is only twelve known works that showcase his skill; most of his work was likely destroyed in the gunpowder blast that killed over 100 people and leveled about a third of Delft. ‘The Goldfinch’ is a lovely trompe-l’oeil work, one that I am glad survived for us to see nearly 400 years after its creation.

Miffy Nijntje

The Mauritshuis shop also carried many items that featured ‘The Girl with a Pearl Earring.’ Among the pillows, books, and home goods, there were also several Miffy items that were on display. Curious as to why this character that harkened back to my childhood days was on knuffles and keychains, and dressed like the subject of a Dutch painting, I turned to Google and found out the Miffy is Dutch!

Miffy is known in the Netherlands as Nijntje, which is a shortening of the word konijntje, which translates to ‘little bunny.’ She was created in 1955 by Dutch author and illustrator Dick Bruna, based on stories that he would tell his children about a little white bunny who had adventures in their garden. Since then, there have been 36 Miffy books which have sold over 85 million copies in 50 different languages.

One of those languages was English, and the Miffy series helped me learn to read many years ago. My mom used to check out the books from my elementary school library and read them to earn punches on my reading prize card. As a little girl, I loved reading about Miffy’s adventures, and I was drawn to the cuteness of the character. But like many in my area, there was an assumption that she was related to the Hello Kitty, who was created in 1971. While there is a similarity in their lines and style, they do not have the same origins. It was thought by Bruna that Hello Kitty was copied from Bruna’s creation. Whether this is true, my guess is as good as anyone’s, but Miffy was ‘born’ 16 years before Hello Kitty. So I was this many years old when I learned that Miffy is indeed Dutch, and for some reason, this gave me a greater appreciation for how books and art, even the simple lines of drawings in children’s books, can cross cultures and generations. As I have fond memories of my mom reading me the Miffy books, my girls have memories of me reading Miffy to them in their early literacy years.

Some things to consider:

To reserve tickets for Mauritshuis, visit mauritshuis.nl. There are also group tickets available for parties of 15 or more. Samantha was free, as she is under age 19, and my ticket was half-price as I am currently a student.

We found Miffy merch at many of the places we visited in Den Haag, Amsterdam, and Delft. There is also a full Miffy store in Amsterdam on Scheldestraat 61. For online purchases, the Miffy Shop has a variety of Miffy books and merchandise. It is based in the UK and offers international shipping.

I recommend at least an hour-and-a-half to two hours at least to take in the collections at Mauritshuis. We spent close to two hours, and I felt we probably rushed the last couple rooms. There really was a lot to see and learn at this relatively small museum.

If you can’t make it to Den Haag, or you miss something, the Mauritshuis website is very well done, and has the collection, biographies of the Dutch masters, as well as information on art restoration. It is not the same as seeing the paintings in person, but it is a great resource.

In both Miffy and Mauritshuis, I am thankful to have been able to share in adventures of art, and literacy, and life with my family. This was a fun start to our explorations in Den Haag and beyond, and one that gave me an appreciation for history and the talents of those who came before us. Proost!

References:
“History of the Building.” Mauritshuis, http://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/what-s-on/always-on-show/welcome-to-the-mauritshuis/history-of-the-building/#:~:text=The%20Mauritshuis%20in%20The%20Hague,its%20200th%20anniversary%20in%202022. Accessed 19 July 2024.

“Carel Fabritius (1622-1654).” Mauritshuis, http://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/our-collection/our-masters/carel-fabritius/. Accessed 19 July 2024.

Harris, Gareth. “Why There Should Be Pilgrimages to See Carel Fabritius’s Paintings and How the Dutch Golden Age Offers Us ‘the Visual Speech of Life.’” The Art Newspaper – International Art News and Events, The Art Newspaper – International art news and events, 2 Aug. 2023, http://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/08/01/why-there-should-be-pilgrimages-to-see-carel-fabritiuss-paintings.

“Miffy.” Miffy, http://www.miffy.com/about-miffy. Accessed 19 July 2024.