Art-Houckgeest-Tomb of William the Silent TB

This trackable is unusual. In the years 2010 to the present, collections of 100-400 travel bugs have been annually released in the United States (95%) and Europe (5%). This travel bug is part of the mere three percent of the 2010-14 collections that has been dropped off at least 25 times and has survived for at least five years.  As of 20 December 2015, this particular travel bug had been moved by 34 cachers and had lasted 5.0 years (1841 days). 

Please drop this item in rural OR Premium Member Only caches.  Do not place it in an urban cache or abandon it at a caching event.  Transport the bug in the original plastic bag for as long as the bag lasts; the bag keeps the trackable clean and prevents tangling with other items.  Otherwise, take the travel bug anywhere you wish.  No permission is needed to leave the U.S.

Photos in the travel bug logs are appreciated.  I will be re-post them here, where they can be seen by other cachers.

This is one of a series of travel bugs made to recognize paintings seen, and admired by the bug owner. A digital copy of this painting was downloaded from the internet. The copy was reduced in size and proportions cropped to accommodate the laminating materials available to the owner. Regrettably these processes diminish the effort of the artist. One truly must see the original in person to fully appreciate the work. The text below is a mixture of my own observations and material gleaned from the internet (mostly Wikipedia and Web Gallery).

Gerard Houckgeest (1600-61) was a painter during the Dutch Golden Age, the 17th century. Prior to this time most patrons of the arts were the church and royalty who largely wanted portraits and paintings with religious or allegorical themes. After the Renaissance, northern Europe became a center of commerce and the middle classes prospered to the point that they wanted art to decorate their homes. And, they had broader tastes is subject matter than institutional patrons. To satisfy the demand, the Dutch and Flemish regions developed an amazing number of artists. Portraiture and religious topics were still important, but landscape, seascape, cityscape, still life and commemorative paintings began to appear.

Houckgeest specialized in painting real and imaginary church interiors and renaissance buildings. This is a real scene in the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) in Delft. It depicts the tomb of William the Silent (also known as William of Orange), who is credited as the father of the independent Dutch Republic. William was entombed there in 1584, so the Oude Kerk (Old Church) in Delft is really old. Delft is a wonderful place to visit and both the new and old churches are a treat. This painting hangs in the Mauritshuis, The Hague.