Canvas

anonymous master

Herman van den Bergh on his deathbed in Spa 1611

Count Herman van den Bergh (1558-1611), knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece and stadtholder of Spanish Gelderland.

In 1610, the health of count Herman van den Bergh, son of Willem van den Bergh and Mary of Nassau, began to go rapidly downhill. He drew up his will, gave instructions about how he wished to be buried, and in 1611 departed for Spa in the hope of being cured there by a famous physician. The good doctor couldn’t do much for Herman: he died in the spa town on 12 August 1611 aged 54. This localisation, and information about dates and age can be deduced from the inscription that adorns the count’s death portrait. Worthy of note is the gold chain bearing the sign of the Golden Fleece; like his forebears, Herman was a knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Also clearly pictured are the candle, the crucifix and the balm pot. These can leave us in no doubt that the count died as a good Catholic. However, Willem van den Bergh and his sons, directly related to William the Silent via Mary of Nassau, were originally Lutheran. Later they chose to fight on the side of Catholic Spain in the Eighty Years War. Castle Bergh considers this canvas as a highly important part of its collection, since it is the only known portrait of count Herman van den Bergh.