[De Wereld van Johan de Witt]
Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht
27 April 2025 – 26 October 2025
Group Exhibition
Collection Dordrechts Museum,
acquisition 2021, with thanks to the Mondriaan Fund
and the Corporate Friends of Dordrechts Museum
The Dordrechts Museum commemorates the 400th anniversary of Johan de Witt’s birth, reflecting on the life of one of the most important and well-known politicians in Dutch history. In a historical art exhibition featuring works by the most famous seventeenth-century artists, the museum poses the question: who was Johan de Witt?
This exhibition immerses visitors in seventeenth-century painting that sheds new light on Johan de Witt’s life. He is known as the Grand Pensionary who made decisions for the Dutch Republic that still resonate today. In art, De Witt was often seen as a swan protecting its nest. Now, we also discover him as a bon vivant, husband, father, brother, and son. He learns to dance in the French town of Angers, copes with the loss of his wife and children, and survives an assassination attempt before being lynched in The Hague in 1672.
With paintings from renowned European collections and extensive research into Johan de Witt’s correspondence, the Dordrechts Museum tells a story where art and history are intertwined. This approach offers a new perspective on exceptional artworks, the colonial past, and the role of women in the Dutch Republic.
Website Dordrechts Museum