Art Collections Online

Etienne Van den Bergh falsely accused of Treason

SCHENDEL, Petrus van (1806 - 1870)

Media: oil on canvas

Size: 127.0 x 151.7 cm

Acquired: 1927; Gift; Mrs C.H. Bailey

Accession Number: NMW A 508

Comments (2)

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Geert van Loon
14 January 2017, 16:42

This is Stephen van den Bergh, steward for the prince of Orange (William the Silent) in Breda, with his daughter Anna. The scene is part of the events leading up to to the Dutch insurrection or Eighty Years' War (1566–1609). Anna van den Bergh had rejected the advances of a Spanish suitor, who then proceeded to accuse her father of treason. Father and daughter have just read the accusation in the letter that he is holding. Stephen was to die in a Breda prison in 1568. I am not sure if this was due to this accusation, or to his master's conflict with king Philip II of Spain. Anna went on to marry a local nobleman called Jan Christiaan Coenen.

Rex Callahan
4 February 2014, 12:32
Does anybody have any knowledge of the story behind this work? Who was Etienne Van den Bergh? Where was he accused? Why?
rexcal19@tpg.com.au
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