This is the Huis Bergh portrait gallery Jan Herman van Heek’s collection of early portraits is quite unique Van Heek was fascinated by what he called the ‘awakening’ of the individual. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, people gradually came to see themselves as individuals rather than as a mere part of a greater whole. With this collection of 15th and 16th century portraits, Van Heek aimed to document this awakening individualism. Van Heek started collecting portraits after he had stumbled upon thirteen historical portraits in one of the castle’s towers . They depicted Burgundian, Habsburg and Van Den Bergh counts and countesses. He found the rolled up portraits, which were in a very bad state, immediately after he had bought the castle.

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