Dutch Baroque

DUTCH FREEDOM The Dutch succeeded in securing their independence from the Spanish in the late sixteenth century. Not until 1648, however, after years of continual border skirmishes with the Spanish were the northern Netherlands officially recognized as the United Provinces of the Netherlands ( The Dutch Republic ). DUTCH MONEY Amsterdam had the highest per capita income in Europe. That city emerged as the financial center of Europe, having founded the Bank of Amsterdam in DUTCH GOVERNMENT Due to this prosperity and the absence of an absolute ruler, political power increasingly passed into the hands of an urban patrician class of merchants and manufacturers, especially in cities such as Amsterdam, Haarlem, and Delft. That these bustling cities were all located in Holland ( the largest of the seven United Provinces ) perhaps explains why the name “Holland” is used informally to refer to the entire country. DUTCH RELIGION While Spain and the southern Netherlands were Catholic, the northern Netherlands were predominantly Protestant. The prevailing Calvinism demanded a puritanical rejection of art in churches, and thus artists produced relatively little religious art in the Dutch Republic at this time (especially when compared to areas dominated by Catholicism in the wake of the Counter- Reformation.)

Ruebens, Henri IV Receives the Portrait of Marie de’ Meidici , Oil on canvas

Rembrandt van Rijn Self-Portrait 1660

Frans Hals. Officers and Sergeants of the St Hadrian Civic Guard. c

Frans Hals. The Governors Of The Old Mena Almhouse At Haarlem, 1664.

Frans Hals Buffoon (Jester) Playing A Lute 1623

Frans Hals The Laughing Cavalier 1624

Frans Hals The Laughing Child

Frans Hals The Jolly Toper (or The Merry Drinker)

Frans Hals Lute Player With Wine Glass 1626.

Frans Hals Portrait of Rene Descartres c1649.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp, 1632.

Rembrandt van Rijn The Nightwatch 1642 The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq and of Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburgh is more commonly known as Night Watch. This common title is, however, as misnomer- Night Watch is not a nocturnal scene. Not your typical group portrait…

Rembrandt van Rijn, The Syndics of the Clothmaker's Guild (The Staalmeesters) 1662.

Judith Leyster Self-Portrait 1630

Judith Leyster A Boy and a Girl with a Cat and an Eel c1635

Judith Leyster Man Offering A Woman Money 1631

Judith Leyster Boy Playing a Flute 1630

Jan Vermeer The LaceMaker

Jan Vermeer Allegory of the Art of Painting 1670

Jan Vermeer The Letter 1630

Jan Vermeer The Music Lesson

Jan Vermeer Young Woman with a Water Pitcher c1665

Jan Vermeer The Guitar Player 1670

Jan Vermeer The Kitchenmaid c1658

Jan Vermeer Girl With a Pearl Earring 1665

Willem Claez Heda Still Life with Oysters, c. 1640s

Pieter Claesz, Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill, 1628.

Willem Claez Heda Still Life with Tobacco, Wine and Pocket Watch, 1637.

Willem Claez Heda Banquet Piece with Mince Pie, 1635.

Jan van Goyen, View of Dordrecht from the Dordtse Kil, 1644

Jakob Van Ruisdael, Benthein Castle, 1653.

Salomon van Ruisdael, View of Deventer Seen from the North-West, 1657.

Jan Vermeer, View of Delft, c1661.

Jakob Ruisdael, Landscape With Church and Village,

Jacob van Ruisdael, Windmill at Wijk-bij-Duurst-ede, c1665.