2. Welcome to the Museum! There are several artifacts in this virtual museum to view. To learn more about the paintings and artifacts, click on each item. Once you’ve learned about the item, then click on the windmill to return to that exhibit. To move to the next exhibit, click on the black arrows.

3. 17 th Century Dutch Paintings Architecture Wing

4. Dutch Golden Age Architecture Dutch East India Ship Artifact Wing

5. Last Picture

6. Scale Model of the Dutch Royal Palace Science Wing

7. The Night Watch

8. The 17 th Century : The “Dutch” Century Early in the 17 th Century, the Dutch had some conflict between opposing religious groups, however, by the end of the century religions including Catholics, Protestants and Jewish lived peacefully throughout the country. The Dutch used religion and everyday life as common themes in art including this painting by Rembrandt Portrait of an Old Man in Red.

9. Dutch Economy The Dutch were known for being masters of the “carrying trade” especially since they had the lowest shipping rates in all of Europe. Just like the famous painting of the Girl with the pearl earring by Vermeer, the Dutch were known for exporting luxury items including diamonds, pottery and linens. The economy did not experience much inflation which gave the Dutch a chance to initiate the land reclamation project which helped gain land from the below sea level area.

10. Quality of Life in Holland The Dutch had the highest standard of living in Europe in the 17 th century. Still Life with Gilt Goblet William Heda, 1635

11. Dutch Global Commerce

12. Homes for the Upper Class found in Amsterdam

13. Leiden Canal

14. Churches of Amsterdam

15. Prior to the Dutch Golden Age, the Portuguese monopolized the trade routes of the world. "Ships off the Coast", 1672 Willem van de Velde the Younger (1633-1707) “Dutch Merchant-Ships in a Storm”, Ludolf Bakhuizen (1631 – 1708)

16. During the Golden Age of the Dutch, the East India Company had a positive relationship with the Chinese and their famous porcelain pieces in the early 1600s. At the time, the highest class could only afford these imports, but when the trade was interrupted by the death of a Chinese emperor, Dutch potters began to create their own porcelain. In the town of Delft, the famous Delftware flourished and continues to be a staple of the Dutch beautiful exports.

17. Anton van Leeuwenhoek: The Microscope & the Discovery of Micro- Organisms Influenced Galileo’s Findings

18. University of Leiden 1575  This was largest university in the Protestant world at the time.  The Dutch educational system was free from the restrains of the church therefore, many topics of interest could be studied without interference.

19. Symbolism in Dutch Still Life Paintings Still life came into its own in the new artistic climate of the Netherlands in the 17th century. While artists found limited opportunity to produce the religious art which had long been their staple (images of religious subjects were forbidden in the Dutch Reformed Protestant Church), the continuing Northern tradition of detailed realism and hidden symbols appealed to the growing Dutch middle classes, who were replacing Church and State as the principal patrons of art in the Netherlands. Especially popular in this period were vanitas paintings, in which sumptuous arrangements of fruit and flowers, or lavish banquet tables with fine silver and crystal, were accompanied by symbolic reminders of life's impermanence. A skull, an hourglass or pocket watch, a candle burning down or a book with pages turning, would serve as a moralizing message on the temporary nature of sensory pleasures. Often some of the luscious fruits and flowers themselves would be shown starting to spoil or fade. The popularity of vanitas paintings, and of still life generally, soon spread from Holland to Flanders, Spain, and France.

20. (detail) Anatomy Lecture of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp – Rembrandt, 1632 Because of the lack of religious influence in education, the Dutch excelled in studying the human body.

21. Dutch Optics: The Telescope – Hans Lipperhey

22. Jan Vermeer and Optics The famous Dutch artist Vermeer used a Obscura box which was a new discovery in optics to help create his paintings. He would use the box with mirrors that helped him to draw his subjects with accuracy.

23. The Dutch had symbolic meanings to their most common flowers, and their painted flower arrangements included; The rose (Virgin Mary, transience, Venus, love). The lily (Virgin Mary, virginity, female breast, purity of mind or justice). The tulip (showiness, nobility). The sunflower (faithfulness, divine love, devotion). The violet (modesty, reserve, humility); The columbine (melancholy). The poppy (power, sleep, death). Insects like the butterfly represents transformation and resurrection while the dragonfly symbolizes transience and the ant hard work and attention to the harvest.