The Story
De Grootste Nederlander ('The Greatest Dutchman') was a public poll held in 2004 by the broadcasting company KRO of the Publieke Omroep. The series has the BBC's 100 Greatest Britons TV format. During the series, it included individual programmes on the top ten, with viewers having further opportunities to vote after each programme. The recently assassinated politician Pim Fortuyn was announced as the winner in a live television broadcast on 15 November 2004, two weeks after Theo van Gogh was murdered.
This was controversial, and was said to be an "embarrassing" choice by several journalists and historians. Later it became revealed that William of Orange had received the most votes in total, but only the votes that were tallied before the end of the live programme counted (the number of calls was so large that not all could be counted before the end of the show). And thus Fortuyn remained the official number one according to the rules, as announced originally.
Executed in support: height 79.5 cm x width 66.5 cm, measuring width: 66.5; height: 79.5, the surface rewards close looking. Frans Hals builds the composition through layered glazes and a tightly controlled palette, letting cool shadows recede so that the warm, lit passages step forward. The brushwork shifts from the precise to the almost dissolved — a hallmark of mature Baroque practice.
“A silence so complete it becomes its own witness.”
