He was appointed as the governor of the Dutch possessions in Brazil in 1637 by the Dutch West India Company. His generous support of the arts and sciences, and the large sums of money he spent on construction works, made him unpopular with the directors of the Company, and he was called back in 1644.
After he returned to Europe, he was stadtholder of Cleves.
The residence he built in The Hague is now called the Mauritshuis, and is now a museum.