Dutch Masters
During the 17th-century Dutch Golden Age, political and cultural events transformed Dutch art. New prosperity and changes that followed Dutch independence after the Eighty Years War fostered the development of many of the artists known collectively as the Dutch Masters. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer, and Willem van de Velde, the elder, are just a few the Dutch masters whose paintings continue to influence artists to the present day.
These 17th century Dutch Masters paintings provide an example of the variety of genres produced during this period, and show how these artists use light, shadow, and texture. Can you see why these artists are called “masters”?
Herman Doomer
(born about 1595, died 1650)
by Rembrandt, 1640
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 (29.100.1)
www.metmuseum.org
Young Woman with a Water Pitcher,
Johannes Vermeer, ca. 1662
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Maria DeWitt Jesup Fund, 1953 (53.111)
www.metmuseum.org
Still Life with Fruit, Glassware,
and a Wanli Bowl
by Willem Kalf, 1659
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Maria DeWitt Jesup Fund, 1953 (53.111)
www.metmuseum.org
Judith Leyster, A Boy and a Girl with a Cat and an Eel, 1635 Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Paulus Potter, The Bull (1647) Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Learn more about the Dutch Masters and the Dutch Golden Age.
