Slot Loevestein

The fourteenth-century Loevestein Castle still stands in the westernmost point of Gelderland. This canvas shows the convergence of the Maas (right) and the Waal (left). The land that lay between the Maas and Waal was divided between the duchies of Cleves and Guelders. Between 1477 and 1543 it was therefore the battlefield of border battles between Holland and Gelre and later between Spain and Holland. Since the reorganization of the provinces in 1814, Loevestein has belonged to the province of Gelderland. Jan van Meerhout (Gorinchem, 1610/13 - Amsterdam, 1677) painted an important fortress near his birthplace. At the time, the castle was used as a prison. Hugo de Groot managed to escape in a spectacular way - in a bookcase. At the time of painting, six Dutch state-minded people were possibly locked up. Among them Jacob de Witt, father of the De Witt brothers. This work can be seen until September 23, 2018 in Gelderland Grensland, an exhibition in CODA Museum Apeldoorn that brings together landscape painting from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. An excellent opportunity to travel through the province of Gelderland on the basis of masterpieces from four centuries of art history! www.coda-apeldoorn.nl/gg Image: Jan Meerhout, Loevestein Castle, 1630-1677, oil on canvas, Museum Slot Loevestein foundation