Book chest of Hugo de Groot

• Hugo de Groot’s Supposed Book Chest
• Book chest of Hugo de Groot

Hugo de Groot’s Supposed Book Chest

NG-KOG-1208

In his fall from grace, Oldenbarnevelt also took down a few friends. The most famous of them was the celebrated jurist Hugo de Groot. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, but managed to escape by hiding in a chest used to bring him books. The chest on display here was long thought to be the one from this famous story.

R.E.O. Ekkart, e.a., 'Het Delfts orakel Hugo de Groot 1583-1645' Delft 1983, afb. p. 53.

furniture worker: anoniem, Northern Netherlands

c. 1600 - c. 1615

vurenhout, bekleed met leer

height 73 cm x width 160 cm x depth 75 cm

M.b.v. deze koffer zou Hugo de Groot op 22 maart 1621 uit Slot Loevestijn zijn ontsnapt. De koffer was achtergelaten bij de boekhandelaar Daetselaer, via wie De Groot zijn boeken ontving.

On loan from the Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap

Public domain

• R.E.O. Ekkart, e.a., 'Het Delfts orakel Hugo de Groot 1583-1645' Delft 1983, afb. p. 53.
• A.W.J. Meijer, 'Dat de echte kist van Hugo de Groot opsta!', Specimina Specia 13 (1972), p. 12-17.

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:

https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/20018127