Floor plan

Time and place17th-century Netherlands

17th-century Netherlands

Merry Company on a Terrace, by Jan Steen, ca. 1670
A work made of oil on panel.
A work made of oil on canvas.
An elegantly dressed man and woman ride horses toward us and to our right in a landscape with low, rolling hills, stone buildings, and trees in this horizontal painting. The two horses and riders take up the right half of the composition. Both people have pale skin and look at us. The woman has a high forehead, a straight nose, a round face, and curly blond hair falling to her shoulders. She wears a sapphire-blue dress with slashed sleeves to reveal a white garment beneath. Her hat is adorned with blue and white feathers, and she wears a string of pearls around her neck. The legs of her white horse darken to black below the knees, and the bridle is tied with blue bows near the horse’s ears. The sidesaddle sits on a woven, rug-like blanket. Next to her, to our right, the man rides a larger chestnut-brown horse with a white triangle between its eyes. The man looks at us out of the corners of his dark eyes under gathered brows. He has a long, straight nose and is cleanshaven, though a hint of a five o’clock shadow slightly darkens his cleft chin. His light brown hair falls in curls down past his shoulders, and he wears a dark brown coat with voluminous white fabric rippling out above tan-colored gloves. He holds a riding crop in his right hand, on our left, resting against his hip. Near the white horse’s feet, to our left, a dark brown dog with a white nose sniffs at a plant. Behind it, another reddish-brown dog sniffs the ground near the horse’s back hoof. A third dog stands beyond, partially obscured by bushes and plants growing in the lower left corner of the canvas. A man wearing a tall black, wide-brimmed hat and carrying a long staff leads two slender dogs resembling grayhounds on leashes along the path, a little behind the riders. Two more elegantly dressed men ride horses toward us father back on the path. Sand-colored stone buildings, hazy in the distance, are clustered around a squared tower, possibly a bell tower, to our left. The land dips gently to the horizon line in the deep distance. The riders are silhouetted against a swirling slate-blue cloud that fills most of the sky in the top two-thirds of the painting. The sky clears to pale blue to our left and then warms to golden yellow along the horizon, beyond the buildings. The artist signed the painting near the lower left corner: “A. Cuijp.”
A View of Bracciano with the Church of S. Maria Assunta, by Bartholomeus Breenberg, c. 1619–33
Reclining Female Nude, by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1658

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. Merry Company on a Terrace, by Jan Steen, ca. 1670
    Merry Company on a TerraceJan Steen, ca. 1670Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. A work made of oil on panel.
    Still LifePieter Claesz, c. 1625Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Portrait of a womanFerdinand Bol, c. 1655Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

First room, south wall

  1. An elegantly dressed man and woman ride horses toward us and to our right in a landscape with low, rolling hills, stone buildings, and trees in this horizontal painting. The two horses and riders take up the right half of the composition. Both people have pale skin and look at us. The woman has a high forehead, a straight nose, a round face, and curly blond hair falling to her shoulders. She wears a sapphire-blue dress with slashed sleeves to reveal a white garment beneath. Her hat is adorned with blue and white feathers, and she wears a string of pearls around her neck. The legs of her white horse darken to black below the knees, and the bridle is tied with blue bows near the horse’s ears. The sidesaddle sits on a woven, rug-like blanket. Next to her, to our right, the man rides a larger chestnut-brown horse with a white triangle between its eyes. The man looks at us out of the corners of his dark eyes under gathered brows. He has a long, straight nose and is cleanshaven, though a hint of a five o’clock shadow slightly darkens his cleft chin. His light brown hair falls in curls down past his shoulders, and he wears a dark brown coat with voluminous white fabric rippling out above tan-colored gloves. He holds a riding crop in his right hand, on our left, resting against his hip. Near the white horse’s feet, to our left, a dark brown dog with a white nose sniffs at a plant. Behind it, another reddish-brown dog sniffs the ground near the horse’s back hoof. A third dog stands beyond, partially obscured by bushes and plants growing in the lower left corner of the canvas. A man wearing a tall black, wide-brimmed hat and carrying a long staff leads two slender dogs resembling grayhounds on leashes along the path, a little behind the riders. Two more elegantly dressed men ride horses toward us father back on the path. Sand-colored stone buildings, hazy in the distance, are clustered around a squared tower, possibly a bell tower, to our left. The land dips gently to the horizon line in the deep distance. The riders are silhouetted against a swirling slate-blue cloud that fills most of the sky in the top two-thirds of the painting. The sky clears to pale blue to our left and then warms to golden yellow along the horizon, beyond the buildings. The artist signed the painting near the lower left corner: “A. Cuijp.”
    Lady and Gentleman on HorsebackAelbert Cuyp, c. 1655, reworked 1660/1665Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. A View of Bracciano with the Church of S. Maria Assunta, by Bartholomeus Breenberg, c. 1619–33
    A View of Bracciano with the Church of S. Maria AssuntaBartholomeus Breenberg, c. 1619–33Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. Reclining Female Nude, by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1658
    Reclining Female NudeRembrandt van Rijn, 1658Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Second room, south wall

  1. Cottage among Trees, by Rembrandt van Rijn, ca. 1650
    Cottage among TreesRembrandt van Rijn, ca. 1650Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. 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

Second room, north wall

  1. Rush Gatherers, by Nicolaes Berchem, 1657
    Rush GatherersNicolaes Berchem, 1657Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. A work made of oil on canvas.
    The Dutch Whaling FleetAbraham Storck, c. 1695Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. Leisure Time in an Elegant Setting, by Pieter de Hooch, ca. 1663–65
    Leisure Time in an Elegant SettingPieter de Hooch, ca. 1663–65Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Third room, north wall

  1. A rutted, dirt road curves from the bottom center of the canvas toward and behind a grove of tall trees to our left, beneath a pale blue sky with fluffy white clouds that fills the top two-thirds of this horizontal landscape painting. The broad, green canopies of the trees to our left create deep shade over twisting trunks, shrubs, and grasses. A narrow stream meandering alongside the road to our left reflects the moss, pine, and sage greens of the leaves. The land rises in a sloping bank to our right, and leads back to open fields with hedgerows that stretch to the horizon. Shorter, more spindly trees cluster along the bank in the distance. Tiny in scale, people are sprinkled throughout the landscape, either singly or in small groups. In the shade of the grove to our left, a man with dark pantaloons, a brown hat and coat, and a walking stick strolls along the road with a woman wearing a red skirt, a dark shirt, and a white apron and cap. Just off the curve of the road to our right, another man with a walking stick, tan hat, and dark gray pantaloons talks to a woman also wearing red, black, and white. Another person, slightly smaller in stature, stands between them. At a pond farther back from this trio, a man with a broad-brimmed hat sits fishing at the edge of the water. Barely visible, a house with a pitched roof, a tall, brick-red chimney, and a white picket fence peeks out from behind the trees beyond the pond. Finally, a man wearing a rust-orange coat, gray pantaloons with white stockings, and a tall hat, carrying a pole propped on his shoulder, walks toward us on a footpath running alongside the fields. Tall, cream-white clouds dot the pale blue sky above, and tiny dots of dark paint suggest flying birds. Soft sunlight pours across the countryside. The artist signed and dated the painting in small script in the lower right corner: “meijndert Hobbema F 1663.”
    A Wooded LandscapeMeindert Hobbema, 1663Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Samson and Delilah, by Gerrit van Honthorst, c. 1616
    Samson and DelilahGerrit van Honthorst, c. 1616Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. In the center of this painting, a large animal carcass is hanging upside down from a wooden frame, with several people attending to it. The carcass is light pink and has been cut open to reveal white ribs, red muscles, and purple organs. On the far left, a young boy stands next to a barrel and a basket, holding several small knives. To the right, a man in a red cap and white apron observes the carcass while holding a drink. An older man in a furred cap and dark clothing looks towards him and holds one edge of the carcass. On the other side of the animal, a young boy blows up a round object. Two women peer out from the doorway of a wooden building in the background, one holding a basket full of what looks like meat. Behind this group of people are several brown structures and a bare tree against a light pink sky.
    The Slaughtered HogJan Victors, 1653Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington