Huygens Music Festival

The world of the Huygens family

This is the house of the Dutch poet and statesman Constantijn Huygens and his family. He was secretary of the stadholder Frederik Hendrik. Life was busy at the Binnenhof so when there was some spare time left, Constantijn fled to his estate in Voorburg. Here he invited many guests, which whom he discussed a lot about art, music and literature. In the gardens he had an orchard and a herb garden, which provided the kitchen with ingredients for the meals. Guests also were allowed to pick apples and berries from the garden. Constantijn was an art lover and a contemporary of Rembrandt, Rubens and Lievens. He also made an elaborate poem on his garden. The garden plan (1640) was based on the Vitruvius Man from Da Vinci. In 1620 he made a trip to Venice. The impressions he gained here were of influence on the rest of his (artistic) life and likely on what we see when we look at Hofwijck.

Liberation Parade Wassenaar

Lady in Delftblue Dress