The Interiors of Paleis Het Loo: Continuous Improvement
Het Loo Palace opened its doors in April 2022 after a four-year renovation. This was followed – a year later – by the underground extension of the seventeenth-century building, which was built in Apeldoorn for William III, Prince of Orange and stadholder of the Dutch Republic, and his wife Mary II Stuart. In the centuries that followed, stadholders, kings and queens used it as a summer palace. In 1984, it became a museum. The latest renovation provided additional museum spaces. As a result, it was decided to change some of the period rooms in the palace. Given the desire to furnish these rooms as authentically as possible, some were moved or given a facelift to show a different layer of time. At the same time, storytelling was introduced. The focus shifted from the art-historical value of the objects in the interiors to those who had resided in the palace. Some of these plans proved more successful than others. After less than a year, it was decided once again to make major alterations to some of the seventeenth-century rooms.

Hanna Klarenbeek

Paleis Het Loo, Apeldoorn
Hanna Klarenbeek is curator of paintings, prints, and drawings at Het Loo Palace, Apeldoorn. She took part in the recent refurbishment of the period rooms and the new exhibitions of the collection. She studied art history at Utrecht University, gaining her PhD there in 2012 on the strength of her dissertation on women artists: Penseelprinsessen & broodschilderessen: Vrouwen in de beeldende kunst 1808-1913. She previously worked for the RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History) and taught art history at Radboud University and the University of Amsterdam. She publishes on a wide range of subjects relating to Dutch art, focusing on female artists and art related to the Dutch royal family down the centuries.