Floor plan

Time and place17th-century Netherlands

17th-century Netherlands

This is a drawing of two nude figures standing beneath a fruit-bearing tree surrounded by elements of nature. The drawing depicts a scene in a lush outdoor setting, featuring intricately detailed branches and leaves of the large tree as well as an eagle-like bird perched nearby. In the background are additional trees extending into a forested area, and a winding path leading into the distance. The foreground includes various plants and the ground is littered with their leaves. The figures are positioned at the center, engaged in a gesture of pointing towards the fruit in the tree. The scene is rendered in fine details with attention to the texture and flow of the natural elements surrounding the figures.
Christ Crucified Between the Two Thieves: 'The Three Crosses', by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1653-c.1660
Sleeping Peasants near Fields (Parable of the Weeds), by Simon de Vlieger, 1650–53
The Mocking of Ceres, by Hendrik Goudt, 1610
The image shows a woman standing close to us, slightly turned to the side, looking down, with a hand supporting her draped attire and the other grasping a stick. Next to her, a donkey drinks from a shallow stream, carrying a large wicker basket with barrels inside. A dog is splashing in the water beside them. The horizon is low, meeting a rise of land with trees and shrubs, leading the eye to a distant pathway where a couple of small figures can be seen. The sky above has sketchily rendered clouds. The style involves fine, detailed linework, characteristic of etching, emphasizing textures such as the fur of the donkey and the folds of the fabric. The color palette is monochromatic, relying on various intensities of ink and line density to render shadows and highlights.
Merry Company on a Terrace, by Jan Steen, ca. 1670

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

Works made in the Netherlands in the 17th century.

First room, north wall

  1. This is a drawing of two nude figures standing beneath a fruit-bearing tree surrounded by elements of nature. The drawing depicts a scene in a lush outdoor setting, featuring intricately detailed branches and leaves of the large tree as well as an eagle-like bird perched nearby. In the background are additional trees extending into a forested area, and a winding path leading into the distance. The foreground includes various plants and the ground is littered with their leaves. The figures are positioned at the center, engaged in a gesture of pointing towards the fruit in the tree. The scene is rendered in fine details with attention to the texture and flow of the natural elements surrounding the figures.
    Adam and Eve before the Tree of KnowledgeJan Saenredam, 1604Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Christ Crucified Between the Two Thieves: 'The Three Crosses', by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1653-c.1660
    Christ Crucified Between the Two Thieves: 'The Three Crosses'Rembrandt van Rijn, 1653-c.1660Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. 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
  4. The Mocking of Ceres, by Hendrik Goudt, 1610
    The Mocking of CeresHendrik Goudt, 1610Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

First room, south wall

  1. The image shows a woman standing close to us, slightly turned to the side, looking down, with a hand supporting her draped attire and the other grasping a stick. Next to her, a donkey drinks from a shallow stream, carrying a large wicker basket with barrels inside. A dog is splashing in the water beside them. The horizon is low, meeting a rise of land with trees and shrubs, leading the eye to a distant pathway where a couple of small figures can be seen. The sky above has sketchily rendered clouds. The style involves fine, detailed linework, characteristic of etching, emphasizing textures such as the fur of the donkey and the folds of the fabric. The color palette is monochromatic, relying on various intensities of ink and line density to render shadows and highlights.
    Woman Crossing a StreamKarel Dujardin, 1662Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Merry Company on a Terrace, by Jan Steen, ca. 1670
    Merry Company on a TerraceJan Steen, ca. 1670Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Second room, south wall

  1. Golden sunlight pours across a landscape with three people on horseback and two more people near a flock of sheep, a cow, and a mule in this horizontal painting. The people all have pale, peachy skin. The horizon is about a third of the way up the composition and is lined with towers on distant, hazy, pale yellow hills. Two of the horses are to the right of center, both facing us. The horse on the left is white, and the rider wears an azure-blue tunic and red brimless cap. The other horse is brown with a white blaze, and its rider wears a red tunic and black cap. That second rider points with a whip to the sitting and standing people near the sheep, to the right. Those two people wear brown jackets, and the standing man has a mustache. The seated person rests a long staff over one shoulder. About half of the nine sheep there lie on the ground, and the others stand. The cow dips her head down to the sheep, and the splay-footed donkey has baskets hung to each side. This grouping is in front of a copse of tall trees that nearly reach the top edge of the composition. The third rider is to our left and a short distance away. That dark brown horse gallops to our right. A short distance away, another herdsman along the left edge of the composition wears a red tunic and brown pants, and he rests a long staff on one shoulder. One cow stands and one lies down next to that herdsman. Sunlight rakes across twigs, leafy plants, scrubby growth, and rocks in the foreground, closest to us. Sailboats float on the waterways that stretch horizontally across the painting in the distance, and the land separating those bodies of water is dotted with spires, windmills, towers, and other structures. A dozen dark birds fly high in the sky, which takes up the top two-thirds of the picture. A bank of iridescent yellow and pearly white clouds trundle across the pale blue sky. The artist signed the painting in the lower right corner, “A.cuijp.”
    Horsemen and Herdsmen with CattleAelbert Cuyp, 1655/1660Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. The Dissolute Household, by Jan Steen, ca. 1663–64
    The Dissolute HouseholdJan Steen, ca. 1663–64Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Second room, north wall

  1. A work made of oil on panel.
    Breakfast Still LifeWillem Claesz. Heda, 1647Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Landscape with a Windmill, by Jacob van Ruisdael, 1646
    Landscape with a WindmillJacob van Ruisdael, 1646Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. Landscape painting featuring a wavy tree tree in the foreground and a watermill with a red roof adjacent to a river at right. Colors are subdued earth tones, the foliage a dark green and the river a muddy brown. Water flows through the mill wheel under a cloudy sky of gray and blue. Three individuals can be seen in the distance at left.
    The Watermill with the Great Red RoofMeindert Hobbema, c. 1665Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Third room, north wall

  1. Shown from the chest up, a light-skinned man with a wrinkled face and a silvery gray beard and hair gazes into the distance in this oval portrait painting. His chest is angled to our right but he turns his head to look off over his other shoulder, to our left. His slate-blue eyes are a little sunken and lined with wrinkles. Shading marks the hollows of the temple and cheek we can see. His thin lips are closed and framed by his curly mustache and beard. A dark, mahogany-brown cap is pushed back on his head, and his brown jacket has gold-colored buttons down the front. The collar of a cream-colored shirt shows through at the neckline. The background is dark olive green. The artist signed the work near the man’s shoulder, to our right: “GDOV.”
    Bust of a Bearded ManGerrit Dou, c. 1642/1645Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Wheat Fields, by Jacob van Ruisdael, ca. 1670
    Wheat FieldsJacob van Ruisdael, ca. 1670Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. Gathered in a round glass vase, a tall bouquet of flowers in shades of light and deep pink, sunshine yellow, and white with pine-green leaves nearly fills this vertical still life painting. Shown against an gray background, the vase sits on a narrow ledge, perhaps made of wood. A label with looping, cursive French text painted in gold against a baby blue background is affixed to the front of the ledge, along the bottom edge of the composition. The text reads, “C'est l'Angelicq main du grad Peinctre de Flore AMBROISE, renommé jusqu' au Rivage Moré.” A few of the flowers draw the eye, including a tulip and iris at the top of the bouquet. To our left, the tulip is mauve pink with cream-colored streaks, and one petal folds down to reveal the stamen inside. Next to it, a damselfly, an insect like a delicate dragonfly, rests on the vibrant yellow iris. The petals curling down from the iris are veined in muted burgundy red. Flowers filling in the bouquet below include a shell-pink cyclamen, a white gardenia, a closed blue and white striped columbine, a slate-blue grape hyacinth, lily of the valley, pale blue forget-me-nots, and a pink peony interspersed with leaves and greenery. The round glass vase has a narrow opening. A sprig of viola rests to our left of the vase on the ledge, and an orange, black, white, and brown butterfly perches on the stem of a pink cyclamen laying to our right of the vase. The artist signed the painting with a monogram and dated it in dark paint to our right on the face of the ledge: “AB 1621.”
    Bouquet of Flowers in a Glass VaseAmbrosius Bosschaert, 1621Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Third room, south wall

  1. A work made of engraving in black on cream laid paper.
    Drunken SilenusJonas Suyderhoef, 1642Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. The image displays intricate, swirling lines and textured shading to create an abstract scene. On the left side are fine lines resembling branches and leaves, with a small figure nearby. On the right side is a large, densely shaded form reminiscent of mountains or a rock formation. The elements come together to suggest landscapes and nature through imaginative shapes and line work.
    Sheet with Two Studies: a Tree, and the Upper Part of a Head of the Artist Wearing a Velvet CapRembrandt van Rijn, c. 1642Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington