THE question how buried remains should be treated, even when they are of public interest, has ignited a debate in the Netherlands between a church and the country’s main cultural institution, the Rijksmuseum.

The Oude Kerk (Old Church), Delft, is currently renovating the grave and monument of the former naval figure Piet Hein. The Rijksmuseum, in Amsterdam, has a bone and lock of hair on display, which are believed to be the Dutchman’s. The church has requested that the artefacts be reunited with his buried remains, but this has been refused by the museum on “historiographical” grounds.

Describing it to Dutch media as a perfect opportunity “to correct a mistake from the past”, the director of the Old and New Church of Delft, Nyncke Graafland-van den Berg, said: “Since the restoration in 1880, there has never been a moment when it was possible. The tomb is opening now, and then hopefully not for centuries to come.”

Speaking to The Art Newspaper, she said: “For all of the years that they have been in the Rijksmuseum, they have been named as the remains of Piet Hein. But I think that when you are buried you have the right to lie in peace. It is inappropriate to be going back and forth with bits of people’s bodies.”

A spokesperson for the museum said: “There are still many questions about the remains: for example, if they are actually human remains, and whether they come from Piet Hein’s grave. The Rijksmuseum intends to investigate this.”

Piet Hein was a privateer. In 1628, while working for the Dutch West India Company, he commandeered a year’s worth of treasures from the Americas when he intercepted the Spanish silver fleet. The loot was valued at 12 million guilders. Although Hein died a year later as lieutenant-admiral of the Dutch fleet, the bounty helped to fund the Dutch slave trade in the 1630s.

The relics are understood to have been presented by Victor de Stuers (1843-1916), a lawyer, politician, and art historian who promoted historical preservation in the Netherlands.