Multimedia Art Productions

Nicolaes van Galen - Count Willem III Presides over the Execution of the Dishonest Bailiff in 1336 (190 x 213 cm)
Signed by N v Galen and dated 1657 - Old Town Hall HASSELT Overijssel

Count William III the Good, Hendrick Goltzius, after Willem Thibaut, 1586 - 1587

William the Good owes his name partly to his action against a magistrate's abuse of power. He obviously listened to what ordinary people, including those from the Zwijndrechtse Waard, had to tell him.
For instance, in Heer Oudelands Ambacht there was a poor farmer who had a beautiful cow. The cow gave a lot of milk, enough for the whole family. The bailiff of the High Court of South Holland wanted to buy the cow, but the farmer refused, as the family was too attached to the cow. At this, the bailiff decided to steal the animal and replace it with a cow that looked the same:
Maar [de baljuw] ziende, dat hy by kope daar an niet en konde geraken, heeft die behendelik, tegens des huysmans wille, uyt zijn land en weyde genomen, en heeft een ander, van gelijken hayre, in der zelver plaats doen stellen. Den boer hier over zijnde ontsteld, is, door raad zijner vrienden, na Henegouwen, tot graaf Willem getogen, die te Valenchijn krank lag, doende an hem klachten over den bailljou, wegens zijn ontroofde koe. Graaf Willem, dat hoorende, had medelyden metten armen landman…
Toen de klacht over de gestolen koe van de boer een, met jicht gevelde graaf Willem III bereikte, ontbood hij de schout van Dordrecht en diens neef, de betreffende baljuw van de Hoge Vierschaar van Zuid-Holland, en confronteerde hen met de klacht van de boer. De graaf vroeg aan de baljuw: ‘Waarom hebt gy, die een bailjou en rechter zijt, kracht en gewelt gedaen, eenen landman, mijnen onderzaat?’ Zijn vonnis was dat de schout van Dordrecht uit het bezit van zijn neef honderd gouden kronen aan de boer als vergoeding moest betalen. Daarna zei de graaf: ‘Nu is de huysman voldaan, maer de Justitie ende ick niet.’
After the peasant left, the count sent for a confessor and the executioner, and the bailiff was beheaded with his own sword. To the bailiff, the count said: ‘Dat alle officieren haer wachten souden van sulcks te doen, of hen soude mede desgelijcks geschieden.’
William III was known as an able and humane administrator. He must have realised that Dordrecht in particular served as an example. After all, this was where ‘the books of law’ were kept, which was special, because in those days books were still written by hand. In other cities of the county of Holland, oral justice and orally transmitted law were sufficient. Administrators and members of the High Court from all parts of the county came to Dordrecht to inspect the books in legally complicated cases. If it were to be tolerated that an administrator abused his power, the gate would be full.
The name of the beheaded bailiff is not known. Jacob van der Eyck writes: ‘who ...one wood that hy van´t gheslachte was Queeckel ghenaemt.’ And historian Matthys Balen mentions: ‘De baljuw, welke Gouthoeven houd te zijn uyt het geslacht Quekel.’ But Van Gouthoeven does not mention this fact by Balen in his book, so the source must have been old town gossip.
Even in noble circles, abuse of power was seen as an inexcusable crime. No one wanted to be associated with a bailiff in his ancestry who abused his power - a good Dutch tradition. The tone had been set by Count William the Good.

Jurisdiction
'Be well aware of the task you are taking on, for you judge not on human authority, but on the authority of the LORD, who stands by you in administering justice. Be guided by fear of the LORD and take heed, for the LORD our God does not tolerate injustice, partiality or corruption.' II Chronicles 19:6-8
This text from the Bible was painted on a panel in the council chamber in 1626 to remind city officials of their responsibility. The city council had the power to administer justice for offences within the city walls since the city law was granted. Judges had the power to decide on death and life. The city law laid down exact punishments for certain offences; distinguishing between citizens and foreigners.

Furnishing
The council chamber has been located on the first floor since 1550. Galen's painting measuring about 2 by 2 metres only fits on one wall in the hall: in the middle of the inner wall. Doors and window make placement elsewhere impossible. The western stepped gable as drawn by Blaue in 1650, seven years before the arrival of the painting, makes this clear.

The entrances to the council chamber are on the shortest side, which suggests that the orientation of the interior was longitudinal. It is obvious that the judges sat directly opposite the public gallery and thus overlooked the painting.

Mysterious master

Veils of mist envelop Van Galen's painting. A high-quality masterpiece by an unknown painter is a rare phenomenon. Little is known about Nicolaes van Galen. His biography is short because of a lack of data, and even less has been preserved about his work as a painter. Only one other small painting is registered to his name.

Image of ‘Townsmen and Soldiers enjoying a Meal amidst the Ruins of a Dutch Town’: Douwes Fine Art te Amsterdam
Nicolaes van Galen Gentlemen at Rest Oil on panel. 39 x 28 cm.

Now, there are many Dutch painters from the seventeenth century who are only known from one painting. But almost without exception, these are insignificant artists without distinctive characteristics. Presumably, some of these unsigned works are attributed to well-known and stylistically similar painters. Van Galen's signed work is an exception to this. An unusual case.
No notes on the painter of the ‘Justice of William the Good’ have been found in the Hasselter archive. No payment was made by the city council for the painting.

The Trial of William the Good (190 x 213 cm) Signed by N v Galen and dated 1657 from 1657 to present COUNCIL HOUSE HASSELT

COUNCIL HOUSE HASSELT

11 Oct 2019 to 19 Jan 2020
RIJKSMUSEUM AMSTERDAM - In the exhibition Rembrandt-Velázquez. Dutch & Spanish masters, over 60 paintings by THE great masters of the 17th century from the Netherlands and Spain hung side by side in pairs. Among them was the painting by Nicolaes van Galen!