Floor plan

Time and place17th-century Netherlands

17th-century Netherlands

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.”
Cottage among Trees, by Rembrandt van Rijn, ca. 1650
A work made of oil on canvas.
A work made of oil on canvas.
A work made of pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash on ivory laid paper, laid down on cream laid paper.
Dune Landscape with Oak Tree, by Jacob van Ruisdael, 1650–55
A work made of watercolor and opaque watercolor on cream laid paper.

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. 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. Cottage among Trees, by Rembrandt van Rijn, ca. 1650
    Cottage among TreesRembrandt van Rijn, ca. 1650Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  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. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Portrait of a LadyFrans Hals, 1627Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. 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
  3. Dune Landscape with Oak Tree, by Jacob van Ruisdael, 1650–55
    Dune Landscape with Oak TreeJacob van Ruisdael, 1650–55Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  4. A work made of watercolor and opaque watercolor on cream laid paper.
    A Horseshoe CrabPieter Holsteyn, the younger, 1640/80Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Second room, south wall

  1. 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
  2. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Lady Playing with a DogEglon van der Neer, c. 1670Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. The Mocking of Ceres, by Hendrik Goudt, 1610
    The Mocking of CeresHendrik Goudt, 1610Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  4. A work made of oil on copper.
    Portrait of a ManJan Baptist Weenix, c. 1650Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Second room, north wall

  1. The image shows a landscape with figures near a body of water. There are buildings made of logs, people gathered near a structure, and trees in the background. The style is detailed with precise linework, shading, and hatching. The color palette is monochrome, emphasizing light and shadow.
    Boat at a River Bank with Three GoatsAllart van Everdingen, probably c. 1645/1656Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Interior with a Young Couple, by Pieter de Hooch, probably ca. 1662–65
    Interior with a Young CouplePieter de Hooch, probably ca. 1662–65Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. The Dissolute Household, by Jan Steen, ca. 1663–64
    The Dissolute HouseholdJan Steen, ca. 1663–64Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Third room, north wall

  1. 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
  2. Peacocks, by Melchior d' Hondecoeter, 1683
    PeacocksMelchior d' Hondecoeter, 1683Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art