The Grand Staircase Paleis Het Loo

Visitors to Paleis Het Loo cannot miss it: the Grand Staircase at the heart of the building. Its old-fashioned shallow steps slow you down as you climb, and a world in paint unfolds around you on the walls and ceiling. There is lots to see: a parrot, vases festooned with garlands of flowers and, behind the balustrades, Ottoman men who appear to welcome you. This is the second largest painting in the Netherlands. Art with a story that takes us from the Veluwe heathland to Versailles and on to Istanbul. It shows how the Dutch House of Orange was connected to other royal courts, and what role they played on the global stage around the turn of the 18th century.