The Main Gallery | Republic by the Sea – The Maritime Museum

The Main Gallery | Republic by the Sea will be the new starting point of the museum. Using 50 masterpieces from the collection of the Maritime Museum, Republic by the Sea tells the story of the growth, prosperity and decline of the Netherlands as a maritime nation during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Paintings, ship models, globes, silver, glass, porcelain and weapons show how strongly the maritime world and Dutch society have been connected for centuries. Water has shaped the history of the Netherlands and has determined the country's place in the world. The visitor experiences how naval battles, trading companies and art in the 17th and 18th centuries are strongly related to the Netherlands' intimate relationship with water.

In the new presentation, the Maritime Museum also shows the other side of the Golden Age, which took place under colonial rule, violence and slavery. To tell this story even better, the Maritime Museum acquired two important acquisitions in 2018: a portrait of Admiral Cornelis Tromp by Ferdinand Bol and a sculpture of a standing figure made of Chinese famille noire porcelain. These objects place the often overexposed success stories from our maritime history in a more nuanced perspective.