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17th-century Netherlands

Works made in the Netherlands in the 17th century.

91 works · hang 7436 ·

The rooms are imagined; every work on their walls is real.

Walk this roomRehang this room

First room, north wall

  1. Water laps at a curving shoreline in front of a steep sandy dune carpeted in grass, shrubs, and trees in this horizontal landscape painting. The dune takes up the lower right quadrant of the composition. A few broken tree trunks are overgrown with vines and plants across the top and down the sloping side of the dune facing us. A red brick wall cuts through the vegetation up the side of the dune and disappears into the shrubbery at the top. The twisting branches and canopies of three large trees reach into the upper right quadrant of the composition. The vegetation stops abruptly along the sheer edge of the dune where it faces the water. The land curves like a backward capital letter C so it almost reaches the left edge of the painting along the horizon, which comes a quarter of the way up the composition. A cow and three more animals, perhaps sheep or more cows, graze or lie on a grassy mound in the distance, and sailboats line the horizon in the deep distance. White ripples swirl in the steel-blue water. The artist signed and dated the lower center, “J Ruisdael . 1648.”
    Dunes by the SeaJacob van Ruisdael, 1648Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Portrait of Elizabeth Spiegel, by Dirck Dircksz. Santvoort, 1639
    Portrait of Elizabeth SpiegelDirck Dircksz. Santvoort, 1639Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. Merrymakers at Shrovetide, by Frans Hals, ca. 1616–17
    Merrymakers at ShrovetideFrans Hals, ca. 1616–17Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

First room, south wall

  1. Portrait of Gerard de Lairesse, by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1665–67
    Portrait of Gerard de LairesseRembrandt van Rijn, 1665–67Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Self-Portrait, by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1660
    Self-PortraitRembrandt van Rijn, 1660Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. Aristotle with a Bust of Homer, by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1653
    Aristotle with a Bust of HomerRembrandt van Rijn, 1653Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Second room, south wall

  1. A work made of pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash on ivory laid paper, laid down on cream laid paper.
    The Coronation of the Virgin and The Flight into EgyptJan de Bisschop, 1648/71Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Reading the News at the Weavers' Cottage, by Adriaen van Ostade, 1673
    Reading the News at the Weavers' CottageAdriaen van Ostade, 1673Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. Shown from about the knees up, a pale-skinned young woman stands within a stone niche, with a parrot perched on her finger as she gazes out at us in this vertical painting. The woman’s hands are raised to chest height, and she balances the spruce-blue parrot on the index finger of her far hand while her other hand holds an indistinct, white object. Her body is angled to our left, and she looks at us from the corner of her green eyes under faint brows. Her round face has a small nose, flushed cheeks, and her coral-red mouth curls up in a slight smile, her lips parted. Her honey-blond hair is gathered at the back of her head with curly tendrils framing her face and falling to her shoulders. She wears a golden-brown gown trimmed with a narrow ruffle of white fabric along the low neckline that reveals her décolletage. The bird faces the woman and lifts something, presumably a bit of food, up with one dark claw. The underside of its tail is crimson red. A light-skinned boy stands in deep shadow just to the right of the woman. He looks up at her and holds a silver tray in both hands. They stand within a light brown, arched, stone opening beyond a ledge, which comes up to about the woman’s knees. A carpet patterned with stylized flowers in ruby red, burnt orange, teal blue, white, and black is bunched up and draped over the parapet, to our right. A tall, iron-gray cage sits to our left. The rug partly covers an inscription on the front face of the niche that reads, “M. DO,” with the O cut off. A copper-colored, fringe-lined drapery hangs from the upper right of the arch and is fastened to the inner edge of the opening to create a swag. The woman is brightly lit from the upper left, and the space behind her and the boy is ink black. The artist signed and dated the lower left corner as if he had carved into the front face of the arch. It reads, “CNetscher .Ao. 16.66,” with the C and N overlapping to make a monogram.
    A Woman Feeding a Parrot, with a PageCaspar Netscher, 1666Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. A work made of oil on panel.
    Trompe-l'Oeil Still Life with a Flower Garland and a CurtainAdriaen van der Spelt, 1658Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Second room, north wall

  1. Enclosed Valley, by Hercules Seghers, c. 1623–30
    Enclosed ValleyHercules Seghers, c. 1623–30Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. The Witch (Night Piece), by Jan van de Velde II, 1626
    The Witch (Night Piece)Jan van de Velde II, 1626Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. A work made of watercolor and opaque watercolor on cream laid paper.
    Megasoma Elephas or Megaceras Jason and Six Other InsectsPieter Holsteyn, the younger, 1640/80Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  4. Sleeping Peasants near Fields (Parable of the Weeds), by Simon de Vlieger, 1650–53
    Sleeping Peasants near Fields (Parable of the Weeds)Simon de Vlieger, 1650–53Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Third room, north wall

  1. This is a drawing of a rural scene with horses and figures. The image shows an interaction between several figures and two horses within a pastoral setting. In the foreground, two individuals are seated on the ground, accompanied by a small child. Nearby, a figure atop a horse reaches towards another figure who leads a laden horse. A dog is present, standing alert at the horse's hooves. The backdrop showcases lush trees and distant hills, suggesting a serene countryside environment. The attention to detail and shading creates a realistic depiction of this rustic scene.
    Robbers on HorsebackJan van Huchtenburgh, late 17th/early 18th centuryCourtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. A Cottage in the Woods, by Meindert Hobbema, c. 1662
    A Cottage in the WoodsMeindert Hobbema, c. 1662Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art