Information

Zuylen Castle dates from the thirteenth century and stands on the Vecht river, just north of the city of Utrecht. The castle served uninterruptedly as the residence of the Van Tuyll van Serooskerken family from 1668 to 1952, when the last inhabitants transferred the entire estate and its collection to the Zuylen Castle Foundation. The collection reflects almost 300 years of the residential culture of the nobility. The most important section consists of a portrait gallery of more than 200 paintings made between the fifteenth and twentieth centuries, by artists including Paulus Moreelse, Gerard van Honthorst, and Nicolaas Maes. There is also a large collection of glassware, silver, and porcelain. The greatest masterpiece in the applied arts is a seventeenth-century tapestry by Maximiliaan van der Gucht. In addition, the collection contains furniture and accessories ranging in date from the late Middle Ages to the late nineteenth century. The archives of Zuylen Castle are included in the Utrecht Archives and run to several thousand items, including several royal and imperial charters (from the sixteenth century onwards), and items of a heraldic nature.

Willem te Slaa, Director and Curator (May 2023)