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The 17th century

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

266 works · hang 9307 ·

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

Walk this roomRehang this room

Section 1, north wall

  1. The image shows a landscape with trees, rocks, and water. The perspective is slightly elevated. Rocks are prominent in the central area, with various shapes and textures. Trees and foliage are depicted with detailed brushstrokes. The color scheme is sepia, creating a warm and vintage atmosphere. The scene includes water reflecting rocks, distant hills, and faint cloud formations.
    A Rocky PondLaurent de La Hyre, 1640Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. The image features a detailed black and white illustration with multiple human and animal figures in a symbolic arrangement. In the foreground, two full-body figures are depicted in long robes and sandals, positioned on either side of a large draped banner with text. One figure holds an open book. Above the banner are celestial figures in dynamic poses. To the left is a winged bull-like creature and a seated male figure with a beard, next to a female figure in classical attire. They are all surrounded by flowing fabric and a lion-like animal. In the lower center foreground, there is an emblem resembling a coat of arms with an eagle and a crowned shield. The background is textured, with no natural landscape or architecture present, allowing the figures to stand out. The illustration is framed by the margins of an open book.
    Title Page for Balthasar Cordier, Catena Sexaginta Qvinqve Graecorvm Patrvm in S. Lvcam...Cornelis Galle I, 1628Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. 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
  4. A work made of black chalk, with touches of white chalk, on cream laid paper.
    A ProcessionAmbroise Dubois, c. 1610Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 1, south wall

  1. A work made of opaque and translucent watercolors, with pen and brown ink, over graphite, on cream laid paper.
    Two Old Men beside a Sled Bearing the Coats of Arms of Amsterdam and UtrechtHendric Avercamp, 1620/33Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. 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
  3. A sprig of flowering rosemary lying against an ivory-white background and the twelve insects that surround it fills this horizontal painting. Stretching nearly the length of the composition with the cut end to our left, the rosemary has blunted, needle-like, gently curling teal-green leaves and small periwinkle-blue flowers along the ash-brown stem. Several insects perch on the sprig while others are seen as if looking from overhead, resting on the white background. The three largest insects perch along the top of the sprig, with an ivory-white butterfly with moss-green and black markings to the left, a black and golden, fuzzy bumblebee near the center, and a lemon-yellow butterfly with red antennae to our right. A tiny red insect, perhaps a ladybug without spots, sits on a leaf between the bee and yellow butterfly, and a small wasp-like insect rests on a leaf in at the lower left. Another mosquito-like insect alights on the surface nearby, next to a beetle with a honey-orange body with black, almost tiger-like stripes. A large cockroach sitting near the lower right corner has six spindly legs, a mahogany-colored abdomen, a black thorax, and tiny, black head. Spaced somewhat evenly across the top of the panel are a brick-red, winged insect to the left, a mint-green, beetle-like bug near a moth patterned with bone white and black, and a black, fly-like insect to our right. Lit from the upper left, the rosemary and insects cast shadows on the surface. The artist signed and dated the work with gray in the lower left corner: “J v. kessel . . f. Ao 1653.”
    Insects and a Sprig of RosemaryJan van Kessel the Elder, 1653Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. Queen Esther Approaching the Palace of Ahasuerus, by Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée), 1658
    Queen Esther Approaching the Palace of AhasuerusClaude Lorrain (Claude Gellée), 1658Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 2, south wall

  1. Painting
    Sadashiva worshipped by ParvatiDevidasa, ca. 1690Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution
  2. Self-Portrait, from "The Iconography", by Anthony van Dyck, ca. 1640
    Self-Portrait, from "The Iconography"Anthony van Dyck, ca. 1640Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. The Abduction of the Sabine Women, by Nicolas Poussin, probably 1633–34
    The Abduction of the Sabine WomenNicolas Poussin, probably 1633–34Courtesy of The Metropolitan 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

Section 2, north wall

  1. Virgin and Child, by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, 1670s
    Virgin and ChildBartolomé Esteban Murillo, 1670sCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. A work made of hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on paper.
    Standing BeautyUnrecorded Japanese maker, 1661/73Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. The image has an elevated perspective showing two figures with animals in the scene. One person is leaning against a tree with a stick, while the other is seated on the ground. A cow is between them and other livestock in the middle distance. A person in the distance is tending to the animals. The horizon is low in the image, hidden by rolling hills. The artwork is in monochrome with fine linework, creating texture through hatching and cross-hatching, emphasizing depth and dimensionality.
    Peasant Couple with CowJacques Callot, c. 1621Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. The Lovesick Maiden, by Jan Steen, ca. 1660
    The Lovesick MaidenJan Steen, ca. 1660Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art