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17th-century Netherlands

Works made in the Netherlands in the 17th century.

91 works · hang 875 ·

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

Walk this roomRehang this room

First room, north wall

  1. A work made of pen and brown ink, with touches of brush and brown ink wash, on cream laid paper.
    Woman Seated on Bench and Three Sketches of HeadsSchool of Rembrandt van Rijn, n.d.Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Portrait of a LadyFrans Hals, 1627Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. A work made of oil on canvas.
    The Dutch Whaling FleetAbraham Storck, c. 1695Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  4. Portrait of a woman as a shepherdess, by Crispijn de Passe the Younger, 1635-40
    Portrait of a woman as a shepherdessCrispijn de Passe the Younger, 1635-40Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

First room, south wall

  1. 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
  2. Self-Portrait, by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1660
    Self-PortraitRembrandt van Rijn, 1660Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. English Warship Firing a Salute, 1690
    English Warship Firing a SaluteUnrecorded Dutch maker, 1690Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  4. 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

Second room, south wall

  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. The Meeting of Christ with Martha and Mary after the Death of Lazarus, by Rembrandt van Rijn, c. 1662–65
    The Meeting of Christ with Martha and Mary after the Death of LazarusRembrandt van Rijn, c. 1662–65Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  4. Brown-tone drawing of a nude woman seated on a small stool, looking downward.
    Seated Female NudeRembrandt van Rijn, 1660/62Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Second room, north wall

  1. Mountain Valley with a Plateau, by Hercules Segers, ca. 1625–30
    Mountain Valley with a PlateauHercules Segers, ca. 1625–30Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. The image shows a slightly elevated perspective of a rugged landscape with dense vegetation and rock formations. The horizon is high in the upper third of the image, with a distant building or castle on a hill. The structure is silhouetted against the sky and partially obscured by foliage. Intricate line work and hatching create detailed textures and shading, especially in the trees and clouds. The color palette is monochromatic, using varying shades of brown and sepia to give the artwork an antiquated and rustic appearance.
    Firs in the DefileAllart van Everdingen, probably c. 1645/1656Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. Portrait of a Woman, by Govaert Flinck, 1646
    Portrait of a WomanGovaert Flinck, 1646Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  4. This is a drawing of multiple sheep in various poses. The full-page illustration depicts several sheep lying down. The fur of the sheep is textured with detailed pencil strokes, and there are subtle hints of shadow beneath each animal. There is a combination of different angles and poses, showing the sheep from different perspectives. The drawing also contains some rough sketches and outlines, suggesting movement and presence without complete detail. The background is plain.
    SheepNicolaes BerchemCourtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington