Seventeenth Century

Worldpower

The foundation of the Dutch East Indies Company (V.O.C.) in 1602 is seen by many as the start of the so called 'Golden Age'. The V.O.C. had the monopoly on trade with Asia and became the largest trading organisation in the world. Their ships ruled the oceans of the world. Trade in spices in particular generated enormous profits.

The year 1609 is also viewed as a very important moment. In that year, a truce was signed with Spain in the Eighty Years War. Until this time, the Netherlands had been part of the powerful Spanish empire; now it achieved greater independence. After 1648 it even became an independent republic, with freedom of religion and economic and political independence.

The Taste of Private Collectors

In the Republic, an important new market developed for artists. They no longer worked primarily for the church, royalty and rich nobility. The middle class, grown rich thanks to trade, became the most important buyer of art. This had an enormous influence on the way artists worked and their specialisms. A large percentage of the canvases were no longer made on assignment, as had been usual until then. The artist now chose the subject himself and presented the works to the rich middle class directly or via art dealers. Paintings were now to be found in the homes of citizens, and became part of extensive private art collections. Artists specialised in popular subjects: such as still lifes, landscapes, history painting, portraits or genre painting.

History Painting

Such historical works could only be produced by the great masters. The painter had, after all, to be able to immerse himself in the story he was depicting, he had to convey emotions and have sufficient knowledge of anatomy in order to paint moving human bodies. As the same time, he also needed various different skills: the painting of a still life, landscape, perspective illustration and more. For an historical work, the artist had to be master of all the various facets of painting. It was not without reason that the historical work was the most admired of all the various genres in the 17th century.

Still Lifes

The production of still lifes reached its high point in the Netherlands in the 17th century. Dutch painters were particularly famous for the way they depicted materials: depicting the characteristics of the material of an object, for example, a transparent glass, a reflecting pewter plate or a soft, velvet cloak. One of the great masters of the still lifes was the Haarlem-born painter Willem Claeszoon Heda.

Such simple still lifes are characteristic for the first part of the 17th century. Later in the century, the sumptious still life earned increasing favour; they were was dominated by valuable objects, a rich use of colour and a full composition. The paintings by Abraham van Beijeren, Willem Kalf and Jan Davidszoon de Heem are good examples of such sumptuous still lifes.

Jacob van Ruisdael's uncle, Simon van Ruysdael, was also a well-known landscape artist.

Among the landscape artists, some specialised further and concentrated on seascapes, such as Simon de Vlieger and Jan van de Cappelle. They were masters in capturing threatening skies and reflecting water.

Genre Painting

Genre painting – the depiction of everyday scenes – was a very popular subject in the Golden Age. Jan Steen became famous for his lively and sometimes chaotic scenes, like in 'Easy Come, Easy Go'.

Steen and other 17th-century genre painters often produced works with a moralistic meaning. Based on these paintings and prints, art historians have, in the past, tried to ascribe a deeper meaning to virtually every example of genre painting. Recently, people have changed their view: many of the genre paintings seem to be nothing more than a depiction of everyday life without any deeper meaning.

Portraits

The middle class in the 17th century, grown rich through international trade, liked having portraits made of themselves. One client was Abraham del Court, an Amsterdam-based cloth merchant. He married Maria de Keerssegieter in 1651. Del Court asked Bartholomeus van der Helst to immortalise this union in a double portrait.

Worldly Interiors

When it came to decorating their homes, well-to-do 17th-century Dutch citizens were fascinated by the new, exotic materials and products that the extensive transatlantic trade of the Dutch East India Company brought within reach. 

The growing prosperity of the Republic meant that wealthy citizens could afford ever more expensive household effects, where artistic quality came first and in some cases functionality disappeared.