Mary Stuart, Princess of Orange, as Widow of William II, Bartholomeus van der Helst, 1652
oil on canvas, h 199.5cm × w 170cm More details
White is the colour of mourning for people of royal blood. Mary was already a widow by the time she turned 19. Her husband, the Stadtholder William II, died in 1650 of smallpox. Two years later she had herself portrayed as his widow, holding an orange in her hand as a reference to the House of Orange. At the left is the stadtholders’ gate of the Binnenhof with a view of The Hague.
