Map of the Republic of the United Netherlands in 1648 showing the seven provinces, Lands of the States General, principal rivers, cities and towns

~Dutch painting of the seventeenth century has such a distinctive character that one easily overlooks its ties with the Baroque style as an international phenomenon. Yet the moment one thinks of such artists as Rubens and Bernini, Frans Hals and Velázquez, in juxtaposition, one feels a common denominator. Baroque art, however, seems to defy an...

Dutch seventeenth-century genre paintings, commonly known as scenes of everyday life, encompass a startling variety of subject matter. They range from women working...