Floor plan

Time and placeThe 17th century

The 17th century

The Dissolute Household, by Jan Steen, ca. 1663–64
Portrait of Gerard de Lairesse, by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1665–67
A work made of pen and brown ink, with traces of black chalk, on cream laid paper.
A work made of ink on paper.
The image depicts a woman seated with a child in her lap. The woman looks down at the child, who has curly hair. Both figures are intricately drawn in a detailed line drawing style. The woman wears a headdress and flowing garment, holding a cross-topped staff. The child clutches her arm. Surrounding them are cloud-like forms and cherubic figures with wings, some holding rosary beads. In the background, more clouds and angelic faces are sketched.
A work made of hanging scroll; ink and colors on paper.
Desk Album: Flower and Bird Paintings, by Zhang Ruoai, 1700s
The image displays an oval portrait of a man's upper torso. He is turned slightly to the right, looking directly at the viewer with a composed expression. The man has pale skin, defined facial features, softly arched eyebrows, a subtle mustache, and styled hair in an 18th-century fashion. He wears a blue coat with white lapels, silver buttons, and a silver-fringed epaulet on the shoulder, along with a cravat and waistcoat. The background is a smooth, neutral gray.

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

Works made in the 17th century, anywhere in the world.

Section 1, north wall

  1. The Dissolute Household, by Jan Steen, ca. 1663–64
    The Dissolute HouseholdJan Steen, ca. 1663–64Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. 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
  3. A work made of pen and brown ink, with traces of black chalk, on cream laid paper.
    Head of MedusaGodfried Maes, 1680Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  4. A work made of ink on paper.
    Akbar Offering Timur's Crown to Shah JahanIslamic, Mughal period (1526–1857), ca. 1650–1700Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 1, south wall

  1. The image depicts a woman seated with a child in her lap. The woman looks down at the child, who has curly hair. Both figures are intricately drawn in a detailed line drawing style. The woman wears a headdress and flowing garment, holding a cross-topped staff. The child clutches her arm. Surrounding them are cloud-like forms and cherubic figures with wings, some holding rosary beads. In the background, more clouds and angelic faces are sketched.
    The Madonna of the RosaryVicente Salvador Gómez, 1674Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. A work made of hanging scroll; ink and colors on paper.
    Beauty Turning Her HeadHishikawa Moronobu, c. 1685-94Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. Desk Album: Flower and Bird Paintings, by Zhang Ruoai, 1700s
    Desk Album: Flower and Bird PaintingsZhang Ruoai, 1700sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  4. The image displays an oval portrait of a man's upper torso. He is turned slightly to the right, looking directly at the viewer with a composed expression. The man has pale skin, defined facial features, softly arched eyebrows, a subtle mustache, and styled hair in an 18th-century fashion. He wears a blue coat with white lapels, silver buttons, and a silver-fringed epaulet on the shoulder, along with a cravat and waistcoat. The background is a smooth, neutral gray.
    Portrait of a Man in a Military UniformUnrecorded French maker, 18th centuryCourtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Section 2, south wall

  1. The image shows a pastoral scene in black and white with fine line work. A small bridge with a circular archway crosses a stream. A dirt path winds through the landscape flanked by grass and bushes. A rocky cliff ascends on the left with a tower-like structure partially obscured by vegetation. The horizon features a cloudy sky, with swirling lines indicating motion. In the distance, a tall, thin structure, possibly a spire or chimney, stands amid faint hills and trees. The scene conveys a serene atmosphere through hatching and cross-hatching techniques.
    Cascade under a Stone BridgeJan van de Velde II, c. 1616Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. A sage-green harbor teems with more than a dozen sailing ships and rowboats under a pale gray sky in this horizontal painting. The horizon comes about one-fifth of the way up the composition, and dark gray and white clouds tower above. Light filters onto the scene through the clouds from our left to fall across the ships while casting shadows on the water nearest us. Painted in tones of slate gray and warm brown, most of the ships closest to us have their sails furled so the masts and horizontal yard arms bristle against the sky. The larger ships have cannons poking out of square portholes. On our right, a war ship floats with its ornately carved and gilded stern facing us. A flag flying from the tallest of the three masts has red, white, and green stripes. The artist painted his name on that flag, “R. Zeeman.” The ship is tied to a buoy with a length of rope, and an empty rowboat is tethered to the right side of the ship. A similar ship but with the sails hanging loosely is tied to a buoy just beyond this one. A row of pickets, like a fence, extends into the water behind these two ships. To our left, a rowboat full of men has pulled up alongside a partially sunken ship, its masts tilting toward us. A few people stand on two more ships nearby. A black temporary dock floats next to the leftmost ship here. A person mixes something that smokes on the platform, and another person stands on a board lifted halfway up the ship’s side, presumably working on a repair. Two women in another rowboat next to the floating dock lean over the side, washing clothes. Another fence encloses the harbor to our left, and a hut in the middle of the harbor is surrounded by a similar structure. Two rowboats closer to us are filled with men wearing tall hats and black or brown coats, and women wearing black bonnets and white shawls. More sailing ships and rowboats move back or around beyond the harbor, out to sea. Visible cracks cover the surface of the painting.
    Amsterdam Harbor SceneReinier Nooms, called Zeeman, c. 1654/1655Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. The Holy Family on the Steps, by Nicolas Poussin, 1648
    The Holy Family on the StepsNicolas Poussin, 1648Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  4. A work made of oil on panel.
    Alpheus and ArethusaMoses van Uyttenbroeck, 1626Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 2, north wall

  1. This horizontal painting shows a tapestry being unfurled and held up by winged, baby-like putti against a structure with gray and gold columns, seen at the edges of the composition. Taking up most of the composition, the tapestry shows two ranks of men, women, and children gathered behind two central men, who meet at the center. All the people have light or tanned skin, and the bodies we can see are muscular. In the central pair of men, the one to our left, Abraham, faces our right in profile as he holds two loaves of bread. He has a brown beard and short, wavy hair, and dark brows over a prominent nose. He looks at the other man with dark eyes and leans toward him, to our right. Abraham wears an armored breastplate over silver chainmail edged with gold, which falls to mid-thigh. A crimson-red cape wraps around his shoulders and swirls around his back. A sword hangs by his hip, and tan sandals cover his heels and shins. Behind him are seven men and one brown horse, who gnaws at its foreleg. Most of the men are bearded and five wear armored helmets. A cleanshaven man wearing a lavender-purple tunic stands with his arm slung over the horse’s neck, holding the rein between thumb and forefinger. The man to our right, Melchizedek has a long white beard and short white hair. His red cap is encircled with a wreath of dark green leaves. He wears a long-sleeved, waist-length, aquamarine-blue garment over a white skirt. A heavy, golden-yellow cape with a broad, white fur collar and lining drapes over his shoulders, and is supported by at least one attendant. Behind and around Melchizedek are eight men, women, and children, standing near stone, gray ruins. Behind Melchizedek, one portly person wearing a dark pink mantle reaches into a basket of bread held across the shoulders of a blond, bearded, bare-chested man. Closer to us, in the lower right corner of the tapestry, one man wearing a green toga and another wearing blue kneel and sit, holding oversized silver and gold urns, the size of their torsos. The man in blue, to our right, turns to look at us over his shoulder. A third large urn sits near the other man. A view into the landscape with a low, green hill and a pale blue sky is glimpsed between the groups. The tapestry showing this scene curls over at the edges where the pudgy angels lift the top edge. The top right corner of the tapestry wraps around the edge of an unseen feature of the building, next to a gray column that rises the height of the painting up along the right edge. The border of the tapestry is rose pink with stylized gold designs. One putto with brown hair holds up the left corner, and one with light gray hair holds up the middle one arm slung over the front of the tapestry. The third putto, with blond hair, hooks an arm over a leafy garland with fruit that hangs from the cornice near the top center of the composition.
    The Meeting of Abraham and MelchizedekPeter Paul Rubens, c. 1626Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. A windmill stands on a promontory cutting into a waterway under a partially stormy sky in this square landcape painting. The promontory and mill are painted in muted tones of brown and rust orange, while steel-gray and white clouds encircle a topaz-blue sky above. The promontory juts into the scene from our left, and the front of the windmill is angled to our right so its golden-tan sails catch the light. Silvery water winds around the base of the promontory and extends to a dark green, shadowy bank on the far side. A boat in the lower right corner of the composition is rowed by a man wearing a red jacket and cap. A path runs to the water’s edge from the left edge of the painting, in front of the promontory’s retaining wall, which is shored up with stones or panels. A person in dark clothing close to the windmill seems to rest their arms on the retaining wall, their back to us. Closer to us, a woman holds a child’s hand as they walk down the path to the bank. A bearded man with tattered brown clothes and bare feet stands leaning against the wall near a woman wearing burnt-orange garment. She sits or kneels at the water’s edge in front of a basket of clothes and holds up a brown cloth. The olive-green forms of the trees on the far bank are reflected in the water, and closer inspection reveals two cows near the water there. Charcoal-gray clouds pile up along the left of the painting and span the top edge. There is a brilliant blue sky beyond and a screen of white clouds near the horizon, which comes about a third of the way up the canvas.
    The MillRembrandt van Rijn, 1645/1648Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Section 3, north wall

  1. Samson Captured by the Philistines, by Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri), 1619
    Samson Captured by the PhilistinesGuercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri), 1619Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. A work made of oil on canvas.
    The Ecstasy of Saint FrancisGiovanni Baglione, 1601Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago