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Justinus van Nassau. The Surrender of Breda by Diego Velázquez. Justinus of Nassau hands over the keys of the city to Ambrogio Spinola. Justinus van Nassau (1559–1631) was the only extramarital child of William the Silent. He was a Dutch army commander known for his role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada, his leadership of the forces in ...
- 1559
- William the Silent, Eva Elincx
- Anna van Mérode
Room 009A. On June 5, 1625 the Dutch governor of Breda, Justinus van Nassau, surrendered the keys of that city to Ambrosio Spínola, the Genoese general commanding the Spanish tercios (a group of soldiers that included pikemen, swordsmen and musketeers) of Flanders. Breda`s extraordinary strategic importance made it one of the most disputed ...
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Who was Justinus van Nassau?
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- What defines a great leader
- A commission from the King of Spain
- The aftermath of battle
- A painting about magnanimity
- Not a document of the event
How military leaders treat their vanquished enemies conveys much of their character. In early modern Europe, paintings of military victories usually followed a preconceived structure: the victorious commander appeared seated high on his horse, or on a throne, while the capitulating general would kneel on the ground. Degraded and humiliated, the con...
Between 1630 and 1635 the Spanish king Philip IV commissioned the construction of a royal palace just outside of Madrid. The Surrender of Breda was one of the paintings that decorated the most lavish room in that palace, the Hall of Realms. This multipurpose room had two important functions; it was a throne room, and it was a place for music and th...
Though the painting depicts a military victory, Velázquez removed the bloody and violent aspects of the battle from the canvas. Instead, he chose to present the aftermath of the battle: the capitulation of the Dutch to the Spanish troops. It is important to notice how Velázquez established the difference between these two groups. The Dutch, on the ...
The center of the painting is dominated by the exchange of the keys. Ambrogio Spinola, the captain of the Spanish troops, receives the keys of the city from Justinus van Nassau. Having descended from his horse, and looking at the Dutch commander eye-to-eye, Spinola places his hand over Justinus’ shoulder, most likely in order to stop him from kneel...
Some aspects of the painting correspond to the historical reality of the event. After the siege, Spinola granted the Dutch army very generous terms of surrender; he ordered the Spanish army to respect the Dutch, who were allowed to leave Breda in military formation and carrying their ensigns. However, we should not let Velázquez’s naturalistic style deceive us. The Surrender of Breda is not a faithful reproduction of the event. It is highly unlikely that the encounter between the two commanders took place as depicted. The painter, who was not present at the siege of Breda, carefully constructed the scene to commemorate Spinola’s magnanimous character, not to document an event. Velázquez has subtly emphasized the figure of Spinola who, holding a baton of command, wears a distinct, splendid armor and a vivid magenta sash. At the same time, Velázquez’s astonishing skill is precisely shown in the easiness with which he transforms the viewers into eyewitness to an impromptu encounter. The muted earth tones and a soft light give the painting a naturalistic character. Without blatant symbols, allegorical figures, or even idealized figures, the viewer is invited to encounter the scene as if they had been there.
The painting presents a humane encounter in the midst of the chaos and cruelty of war. But we should not think that there are no ulterior motives for the presentation of this seemingly virtuous moment. Spinola, the Spanish troops, and by extension Philip IV, are presented as powerful and honorable. Thus the painting operates at multiple levels: it is a rhetorical exaltation of Spanish national identity, a symbol of Philip IV and his army, and a tribute to Spinola, a personal friend of Velázquez who had died a few years before the commission of the painting.
Additional resources
Read a chapter in our textbook, Reframing Art History, about "The global baroque: secular matters."
This painting discussed on "Art Through Time."
About the redesign of the Hall of Realms.
Justinus van Nassau (1559–1631) was the only extramarital child of William the Silent. He was a Dutch army commander known for his role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada , his leadership of the forces in Breda during the siege of 1624 , and the depiction of his surrender in the painting by Diego Velázquez , The Surrender of Breda .
Justinus van Nassau (1559 – 1631) was the only extramarital child of William of Orange. He was a Dutch army commander known for unsuccessfully defending Breda against the Spanish, and the depiction of his surrender on the famous picture by Diego Velázquez, The Surrender of Breda.
When Graf Justinus von Nassau-Dillenburg was born in September 1559, in Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands, his father, Willem von Nassau-Dillenburg Prince of Orange, was 26 and his mother, Eva Elincx, was 24. He married Anna van Merode on 4 December 1597, in IJsselmonde, South Holland, Netherlands.
Justinus van Nassau. Between his first and second marriages, William had a common law relationship with Eva Elincx. They had a son, Justinus van Nassau (1559–1631), whom William acknowledged. On 4 December 1597 Justinus van Nassau married Anne, Baronesse de Mérode (9 January 1567 – Leiden, 8 October 1634). They had three children.
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