![](http://www.alamy.com/thumbs/6/6AAAFC55-08A4-4E6E-904A-D2F0165FF235/2M8G2A3.jpg)
Mid-1900s stained glass window, designed by Joep Nicolas (1897-1972), in the Oude Kerk, Delft, Netherlands. It depicts a young nobleman in typical Renaissance costume and commemorates William the Silent (1533-1584), Prince of Orange, who led the revolt against Spanish Hapsburg rule that resulted in the Eighty Years’ War and formal independence for the United Provinces in 1648. William became Prince of Orange in 1544 and, as founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, was the ancestor of the present Dutch monarchy. In the Netherlands, he is known as Vader des Vaderlands (Father of the Fatherland).
Delft, South Holland, Netherlands: a young nobleman wearing typical Renaissance costume stands in a lower panel of the mid-1900s stained glass window commemorating William the Silent, Prince of Orange, at the west end of the city’s Oude Kerk or Old Church. The man, armed with a sword and holding a pair of gloves, wears a doublet, jerkin, coloured stockings and blue and white particoloured sleeves and hose. The window is among 27 inserted when the medieval church underwent years of restoration beginning in 1949. Renowned stained glass artist Joep Nicolas (1897-1972) was responsible for 25 of the colourful designs, with the final two completed after his death. The windows depict biblical stories and record Dutch historical events, such as Liberation from the Nazis in World War II and the reign of Queen Wilhelmina. The Gothic Oude Kerk, founded in 1246 as the Roman Catholic Church of St Bartholomew, is Delft’s oldest church. It is one of the city’s best-known attractions and landmarks, with a 14th century tower and spire that lean dramatically. The church lost all of its medieval glass in a devastating fire in 1536 and a massive gunpowder explosion known as the Dutch Thunderclap in 1654; most of the windows were then either bricked up or filled with plain glass. William the Silent (1533-1584), also known as William the Taciturn and as William of Orange, led the revolt against Spanish Hapsburg rule that resulted in the Eighty Years’ War and formal independence for the United Provinces in 1648. He became Prince of Orange in 1544 and, as founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, was the ancestor of the present Dutch monarchy. In the Netherlands, he is known as Vader des Vaderlands (Father of the Fatherland).
Size: 2000px × 3008px
Location: Delft, South Holland, Netherlands.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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