Mauritshuis: Must-See Paintings & Visitor Guide (2026)

The Mauritshuis is an intimate jewel box of a museum located on the edge of the Hofvijver lake in the heart of The Hague, the political capital of the Netherlands. Housed in a 17th-century classical mansion that was once the home of Count Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen, it holds the Royal Cabinet of Paintings, one of the most exquisite collections of Dutch and Flemish Golden Age art in the world.

Despite displaying only around 260 paintings, the quality is staggering. The Mauritshuis is home to Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, and masterpieces by Rubens, Hals, Steen, and Holbein, all displayed in beautifully restored period rooms that feel more like a private collection than a public museum.

Why Visit the Mauritshuis

The Mauritshuis offers something that larger museums cannot: an experience of concentrated, undiluted quality. Every painting on display is a masterpiece or near-masterpiece, carefully selected over centuries for the Royal Collection. There is no filler here, no rooms of minor works to wade through. A visit to the Mauritshuis is pure highlights from start to finish.

The museum's intimate scale makes it the ideal introduction to Dutch Golden Age painting. While the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam offers breadth and depth across 80 galleries, the Mauritshuis distills the essence of the Dutch Golden Age into 16 rooms that can be seen thoroughly in 90 minutes. For visitors with limited time in the Netherlands, the Mauritshuis provides the most efficient and pleasurable route to the heart of Dutch art.

The building itself is a significant attraction. Designed by Jacob van Campen and Pieter Post in the Dutch Classicist style, the mansion has been beautifully restored with a modern underground wing (accessible through the neighboring building) that houses a café, shop, and temporary exhibition spaces. The intimate scale of the rooms, with their painted ceilings and damask-covered walls, creates the feeling of visiting a private princely collection.

Must-See Paintings at the Mauritshuis

Every room in the Mauritshuis contains works of exceptional quality, but these ten paintings represent the absolute essentials that define the collection and the Dutch Golden Age.

1. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer (c. 1665)

The most famous painting in the Netherlands, Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring shows a young woman turning to look over her shoulder at the viewer, a large pearl earring catching the light beneath a blue and gold turban. The painting's power lies in the girl's luminous, slightly parted lips and her enigmatic expression, which has earned it the nickname 'the Mona Lisa of the North.' Vermeer's mastery of light is evident in the way the pearl seems to glow from within and the soft gradations of shadow on the girl's face.

2. The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt van Rijn (1632)

This monumental group portrait shows the Amsterdam surgeon Dr. Nicolaes Tulp demonstrating the musculature of a cadaver's forearm to a group of surgeons. Painted when Rembrandt was just 25, it was the work that established his reputation in Amsterdam. Rather than arranging the figures in a static row as was conventional, Rembrandt created a dynamic, pyramidal composition with the surgeons leaning forward with expressions of rapt attention. The painting revolutionized the Dutch group portrait genre.

3. The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius (1654)

This tiny painting, just 33 by 23 centimeters, shows a goldfinch chained to its perch against a pale wall. Fabritius, Rembrandt's most gifted pupil, painted it in the year of his death in the Delft gunpowder explosion at age 32. The painting's delicate illusionism and the bird's vivid life make it both a technical marvel and a poignant symbol of fragile beauty. It gained renewed fame through Donna Tartt's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel named after it.

4. View of Delft by Johannes Vermeer (c. 1660-1661)

Vermeer's only cityscape is a breathtaking panoramic view of Delft seen across the harbor on a morning after rain. The painting captures a specific moment when shafts of sunlight break through clouds, illuminating rooftops and church towers while other areas remain in shadow. Marcel Proust called it the most beautiful painting in the world, and its luminous, almost photographic quality continues to astonish viewers. The painting demonstrates Vermeer's supreme mastery of natural light on an unusually large scale.

5. The Bull by Paulus Potter (1647)

This life-sized painting of a young bull standing in a pasture is one of the most remarkable animal paintings in Western art. Potter painted it when he was only 22 years old, rendering the bull with almost photographic precision down to individual hairs and the texture of the hide. The painting's enormous size (over 2 by 3 meters) transforms a humble farmyard subject into something monumental and heroic, and it has been one of the most popular works in the Dutch national collection since the 18th century.

6. The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man by Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder (c. 1615)

This extraordinary collaborative painting combines Rubens' figures of Adam and Eve with Brueghel's lush, encyclopedic landscape teeming with hundreds of meticulously rendered animals, birds, and plants. The result is a vision of paradise that doubles as a natural history catalogue and a showcase of two masters at the peak of their powers. Brueghel's jewel-like detail in the landscape complements Rubens' robust, fleshy nudes in one of the most successful artistic collaborations of the Baroque era.

7. Portrait of an Elderly Man by Rembrandt van Rijn (1667)

One of Rembrandt's last portraits, this painting shows an elderly man in a dark cap and fur-trimmed coat, his weathered face illuminated by warm golden light. The thick, expressive brushwork of Rembrandt's late style builds the face from layers of paint that seem to breathe with life. The sitter's gentle, weary expression communicates a lifetime of experience. The painting exemplifies the extraordinary depth of human sympathy that defines Rembrandt's late work.

8. The Laughing Boy by Frans Hals (c. 1625)

This small, irresistible painting captures a boy mid-laugh with a spontaneity that seems impossible for a 17th-century oil painting. Hals' virtuoso brushwork freezes a fleeting expression with such vivacity that the boy seems about to burst out of the canvas. The loose, rapid strokes that define the collar and hair are centuries ahead of their time, presaging Impressionism. It is one of the most joyful images in the entire Dutch Golden Age.

9. Portrait of Robert Cheseman by Hans Holbein the Younger (1533)

Holbein's portrait of the English falconer to King Henry VIII shows Cheseman in a fur-lined coat holding a hooded falcon on his gloved hand. Holbein's meticulous technique renders every detail of the costume, the falcon's feathers, and the sitter's face with breathtaking precision. The cool, northern light and crystalline clarity of the image demonstrate why Holbein was the supreme portrait painter of the Northern Renaissance.

10. Diana and Her Nymphs by Johannes Vermeer (c. 1653-1654)

This early painting by Vermeer, before he developed his famous interior scenes, depicts the goddess Diana with her companions in a nocturnal outdoor setting. The subdued palette and contemplative mood are already distinctly Vermeer's own, even in this history painting format. It is a rare opportunity to see the young Vermeer working in a genre he would soon abandon for the domestic interiors that made him famous. The painting is one of only three mythological or religious works in Vermeer's entire surviving output.

Gallery Guide: Navigating the Mauritshuis

Ground Floor

The ground floor rooms contain works from the 15th and 16th centuries, including Flemish Primitives, German Renaissance paintings, and early Dutch works. Holbein's portraits and Rubens' collaboration with Brueghel are found here. The rooms are smaller and more intimate, with painted ceilings and period furnishings.

First Floor: The Golden Room

The first floor houses the heart of the collection: the Dutch Golden Age masterpieces. The Girl with a Pearl Earring hangs in a dedicated room, while Rembrandt's Anatomy Lesson dominates another. Vermeer's View of Delft, Potter's Bull, and works by Steen, Hals, and Ruisdael fill the remaining rooms. The Golden Room, with its gilded leather walls, is the most atmospheric space in the museum.

Underground Wing

The modern underground extension, accessible through the Royal Dutch Shell building next door, houses the museum café, bookshop, cloakroom, and spaces for temporary exhibitions. This wing was added during the museum's 2012-2014 renovation and connects seamlessly to the historic building via an underground passage.

Practical Tips for Your Mauritshuis Visit

Getting to the Mauritshuis

The Mauritshuis is centrally located in The Hague, adjacent to the Binnenhof parliament complex on the Hofvijver lake. From The Hague Centraal station, it is a 10-minute walk through the city center. From The Hague HS (Hollands Spoor) station, tram lines 1, 9, 15, and 16 stop nearby.

The Hague is well connected by train to Amsterdam (50 minutes), Rotterdam (25 minutes), and Leiden (15 minutes). If driving, the closest parking garage is the Museumkwartier garage on Stadhouderslaan. The museum does not have its own parking.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should I plan for a visit to the Mauritshuis?

Plan for 1.5 to 2 hours. The museum is small enough to see completely in this time, but the exceptional quality of the paintings means you may want to linger. The free audio tour takes about 90 minutes.

Can I see the Girl with a Pearl Earring here?

Yes, the Girl with a Pearl Earring is permanently displayed at the Mauritshuis. It is one of the museum's most important works and is always on view unless temporarily loaned for a major exhibition, which is rare. Check the museum's website for any temporary changes.

Is the Mauritshuis worth visiting if I am also going to the Rijksmuseum?

Absolutely. While both museums focus on Dutch Golden Age art, they offer different experiences. The Rijksmuseum is vast and comprehensive; the Mauritshuis is intimate and concentrated. Key works like the Girl with a Pearl Earring, View of Delft, and The Goldfinch are only here. The two museums complement each other perfectly.

Is the Museumkaart accepted?

Yes, the Museumkaart provides free admission to the Mauritshuis. However, you still need to reserve a timed-entry slot online during busy periods, even with the Museumkaart.

Can I take photographs?

Yes, photography without flash is permitted throughout the museum for personal use. Tripods and selfie sticks are not allowed. The museum encourages visitors to share their photos on social media.