
Baroque Art: 1600s

More than 5 million artworks were produced in 17th-century Holland in the span of about 100 years

Idealized depictions of sugar plantations and African laborers in Dutch-colonial Brazil were popular in the Dutch art market in the 17th century
Painting Brazil for the Dutch art market, ...

From Asia to the Netherlands, the Dutch East India Company dominated maritime trade in the 17th and 18th centuries
Model of the Dutch East India Company ...

This willfully forgotten Dutch artist explores how we experience the world around us during the time of the Scientific Revolution
Michaelina Wautier, The Five Senses

This collection of objects speaks to the international mercantile culture and wealth of the Netherlands in the 17th century.
Symbolism and meaning in Dutch still life ...

One of the earliest of its type, these architectural finials would have decorated a Torah, the sacred text of Judaism, and feature dragon-like creatures and bells
Early Dutch Torah Finials

This intimate portrait of Rembrandt's friend and his collection also hints at the city of Amsterdam's wealth and global connections at this time
Rembrandt, Abraham Francen

Sirani primarily celebrates Portia as a courageous heroine, but also pays homage to the work’s intended owner
Elisabetta Sirani, Portia Wounding her Thigh

Did Peter sit here? Dizzying but unified, light and gold glorify this sacred place.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Cathedra Petri (Chair of ...

Contemporary artist and MFA graphic designer Eben Haines compares 17th-century Dutch and Flemish self-portraits to his own work—whereas artists of the past depicted power in their self-portraits, Haines attempts to portray vulnerability.
Why make a self-portrait?

How real is too real?
Pedro de Mena, Ecce Homo and Mater ...

Tour a doll’s house modeled after a 17th-century Dutch home
A Dutch doll house

What lies behind this ornate display of pewter, oysters, blue-and-white porcelain, and sugary sweets?
Osias Beert, Still Life with Various Vessels ...

Based on a print made a century earlier, this figure appeared again in a later Rubens painting as the artist attempted to create an authentic portrayal of an African king.
Peter Paul Rubens, Mulay Ahmad

Learn what a genre scene is and why this type of subject grew in popularity
What is genre painting?

One of Rembrandt’s most technically ambitious prints has been primarily known more for its price tag than for its subject: The Hundred Guilder Print.
Rembrandt, Christ Preaching (Hundred Guilder Print)

You can almost smell the sweet fragrance of honeysuckle emanating from the garden alcove in this full-length portrait by Peter Paul Rubens of Rubens and his new wife, Isabella Brant
Peter Paul Rubens, Rubens and Isabella Brant ...

A glimpse of the lost art of painted wooden synagogues popularized among Eastern European Jewish communities in the 17th and 18th centuries