Teacher’s Manual

Dutch Masters of the 17th Century

New Orleans Museum of Art

INTRODUCTION TO THE TEACHER’S MANUAL
This learning resource is intended for teachers of students in Grades 1 - 12. It may be
adapted for specific grade levels. We hope that you will use the manual and
accompanying images to help your students gain an in-depth knowledge of NOMA’s
collection of Dutch art from the seventeenth century.

cover: Bartholomeus van der Helst, Dutch, 1613-1670

Homo Bulla: A Boy Blowing Bubbles in a Landscape, circa 1665
oil on canvas, 32 x 28¾in. (81.3 x 73 cm.)
Gift by exchange of Edith Rosenwald Stern Fund, 95.188

2
 Dutch Masters of the 17th Century

Teacher’s Manual

Written by
Kathy Alcaine, Curator of Education
Tracy Kennan, Curator of Education for Public Programs

Edited by
Allison Reid, Assistant Director for Education

Written 2001; Revised 2004

This workshop and its accompanying materials were underwritten by

The RosaMary Foundation

3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
4
The Golden Age: The 17th Century in the Netherlands 6

Dutch Art of the 17th Century 9

Image List 13

Vocabulary 25

Time Line 26

Curriculum Objectives 29

Bibliography 32

5
 The Golden Age: Dutch Masters of the 17th Century

This workshop will focus on Dutch art (art of the Netherlands) of the seventeenth century. This
time has been called their Golden Age because it was an economically, artistically and
internationally prosperous time for the country. Examining the history of the area reveals a group
of people who defended their home land, gained independence from a foreign monarchy, and
experienced enormous wealth and artistic prowess. The Dutch were fiercely proud of their land.
The fight for supremacy between Protestantism and Catholicism played a major role in shaping
the forces that developed the expanding nation.

The Netherlands is a seafaring country with most of the land bordering the North Sea. It is also
called the Low Country, with most of the land lying at or below sea level. Rivers and bodies of
water flow through the landscape, with most of the towns and cities centered around water areas.
Germany is to the east of the country and Belgium is to the south. During the sixteenth century,
the area consisted of a group of seventeen self-governing provinces. The original seventeen
provinces today consist of what is called the Benelux countries. It can be subdivided into two
sections, the Northern Provinces and the Southern Provinces, also known as Flanders. This
workshop will focus on art works from the Northern Provinces, also known as the United
Provinces. There are seven provinces in this area: Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland,
Overijssel, Friesland and Groningen. Holland, one of the larger provinces, has erroneously been
used to signify the entire country of the Netherlands.

Since the fifteenth century, the Netherlands has been considered one of the richest areas in
Europe. A growing community of merchants made this area commercially strong. The area was
called the Hapsburg Netherlands when the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian married Mary of
Burgundy in 1477. In 1519, Charles I of Spain was given title of Holy Roman Emperor Charles
V and received control of Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Italy. The Protestant
religion was sweeping over the land, but the Spanish Kingdom was Catholic and attempted to
strengthen control of the Netherlands and enforce the Catholic religion. Charles V brought the
Spanish Inquisition into the Netherlands to extend and strengthen the Catholic faith. This attempt
at control ultimately led to an uprising of Protestant groups. Philip II of Spain inherited control
of the Netherlands in 1555.

The Catholic Religion was the main religion for much of Europe in the 15th century. There were
factions growing within the faith as people began to vocalize disagreements with the traditional
teaching and spiritual practices of the Church. Martin Luther, one of the more well-known
reformers, was a trained theologian in early 1500s. On October 31, 1517, Luther posted his 95
Theses on the church doors of the castle of Wittenburg, Germany. His theses were against the
traditional practices, and particularly the indulgences of the Catholic Church. This act prompted
religious sects to grow and split further from the Catholic religion. Throughout the sixteenth
century, Protestant religions increasingly gained converts and power. Differences between the
two base religions of Catholicism and Protestantism led to many ideological, social and military
conflicts in the sixteenth and seventeenth century.

6
The Northern Provinces resisted Spanish Catholic control, while the Southern Provinces
remained under the Spanish rule. The Protestant religion of Calvinism grew in popularity in the
Northern Provinces. Calvinism, named for its founder John Calvin in the 1530s, stressed the
virtues of thrift, industry, sobriety and responsibility as a path to salvation. Following the words
of Martin Luther, Calvinism believed that the faith of the individual was justified and pursued by
the individual. The individual was responsible for his or her actions.

In the sixteenth century, the Protestants were in the majority in the Northern Provinces. William
of Orange (1533-1584) became the leader of the northern rebellious group that moved to gain
independence from Spain. The Dutch Revolt began in 1568 starting the Eighty Years War.
William became the governor or stadholder of the Northern Provinces with The Hague as the
administrative center. The war lasted for eighty years with most of the conflicts and battles
occurring in the late sixteenth century. As an example of the Dutch’s persistence and dislike
towards Spanish rule, the people in the town of Leiden opened up the dikes, flooding the
countryside to make the Spanish retreat from the water logged land.

All seven provinces of the Northern Provinces were ruled independently but joined together for
their common interest to gain independence. At that time in 1579, they changed their name to the
United Provinces and claimed independence from Spain. As stadholders, William and his
successors were the leaders of the common interest to promote and pursue religious, economic
and political freedom. However, Spain did not recognize the independence until 1609. The
United Provinces did not fully achieve formal recognition by the rest of Europe until the Peace
of Westphalia in 1648 with the end of the Eighty Years War. After the Peace of Westphalia, the
United Provinces continued to control their own area under a common governorship.

By seventeenth century the Netherlands was at the peak of its powers; this was the Golden Age.
The country was a leader in the European community with commercial interests throughout the
world. Amsterdam, the largest city in Holland, became the commercial capital of the
Netherlands. Dutch banks became the bankers for Europe, offering high interest rates for
countries fighting costly wars in Europe or overseas in the New World. The Dutch East India
Company and the Dutch West India Company formed early in the seventeenth century. The two
companies were privately owned trading empires with posts across the globe. At this time, the
Dutch were characteristically proud of their achievements in agriculture, colonization, trade and
religious tolerance. In 1626 Dutch traders bought Manhattan Island from Native Americans and
called the new colonies New Amsterdam and Haarlem (later, renamed New York City).

The United Provinces were prosperous on the homefront, becoming one of the most important
trading, shipping and merchant centers in Europe. The wealth of the middle and upper class was
growing rapidly. This growth in wealth created a market for luxury items, particularly in
paintings for home decorations. The demand for painting was so great that artists could
specialize in a particular genre such as landscapes or portraiture to create a special market for
him/herself. The Dutch had a great appreciation for material goods despite the Protestant
principles of hard work, practical living and dedication to the religion.
The Netherlands was a strong, colonial power throughout the seventeenth century, but as the
eighteenth century dawned, the strength of the nation waned. In the eighteenth century, France
7
and Great Britain gained so much economic and political power, they overshadowed the Dutch.
The United Provinces dissolved in the eighteenth century when William III of England, also
known as William III of Orange died in 1702. Any chance of a new governor or stadholder of
the land failed because strong local landowners did not allow for a central, uniting leader.
Individual countries traded directly with other countries, using the Dutch merchants increasingly
less. The United States was on the verge of becoming an independent nation during the second
half of the eighteenth century and European control of foreign lands was gradually declining.
Fortunately, the banks in the Netherlands continued to provide loans and financial backing for
European trade.

The Golden Age for Dutch art was clearly in the seventeenth century. This prosperous time was
focused mainly in the Protestant, United Provinces that were independent from Spanish control;
the Southern Provinces remained under Spanish, Catholic control. The merchant middle class
grew in wealth and helped employ artists and artisans to decorate their homes. Artists in this
period produced a great number of paintings and the artists were supported by an independent,
proud, civic-minded population.

Image 7: Portrait of the Martini Family, Jan Mytens

Dutch Art in the Seventeenth Century

8
Art created in the Netherlands during the seventeenth century was very different from that
created elsewhere in Europe. Italian patronage continued to be ecclesiastical, as well as private,
and was heavily influenced by the ideas of the Counter Reformation. In France the state-
sponsored Academy set the artistic style. Catholic Flanders, the Southern Provinces of the
Netherlands, was ruled by the Spanish Crown and the Catholic Church was the primary patron of
the arts. The Protestant Northern Provinces, including Holland, however, developed a bourgeois
economy which resulted in a free commercial art market. The expansion of the middle class and
their increasing wealth encouraged Dutch artists to create a wide variety of art works.

The seventeenth century is remembered as the Golden Age of Dutch art and culture. The Dutch
East India Company cornered the market in Indian products such as spices, silks and metals and
the Dutch shipping industry thrived. As a result, the Dutch merchant class grew in wealth and
supported the growing art market. For the first time artists were able to support themselves by
painting for the larger audience of the open market. Art dealers sold works to middle class
citizens who were often just as interested in art as an investment as they were in its aesthetic
value. Protestant churches were not decorated with paintings and sculptures, but works were
bought to decorate the homes of the middle class. While the subject matter of most art works
from this period was not religious in nature, many works did reflect Protestant ethics and often
contained a vanitas theme, a reminder of the brevity of life. Four distinct categories of paintings
are distinguished during this period: landscapes, still life, portraiture, and genre scenes. By
specializing in a specific subject matter, artists could establish their own niche in the market.

Landscapes were a very popular type of painting for hanging in the home. Several varieties of
landscapes were available on the market. Artists might specialize in local or foreign landscapes,
winter scenes, or seascapes or city views. Styles could vary from very realistic approaches to
romanticized interpretations.

Local landscapes were especially popular on the market. The Dutch have a long history of
fighting for control of the land in their water-logged, low-lying region, so scenes of the local
landscape indicate a certain pride and celebration of the hard-won land. Jan van Goyen, a
specialist in local landscapes, tended to paint in subdued tones of ocher, browns and green.
Many of his drawings of the Dutch countryside still exist. These were often incorporated with
some artistic license into his painted landscapes of the flat Lowlands. Winter scene specialists
such as Hendrick Avercamp, who painted at the beginning of the seventeenth century, often
populated their works with skaters on the ice and placed important town buildings in the
background. These scenes give the viewer a striking view of daily life in the winter when the
canals of Holland would freeze over and the villagers would skate and play games on the ice.
Landscapes by Aelbert Cuyp almost always included cattle. Cuyp’s works are especially
remembered for their natural and direct quality. His focus on cattle in the national landscape may
point towards Dutch pride in the commercial value of their cattle industry. Whether or not this
literal explanation of the prevalence of cows in Cuyp’s landscapes is accepted, it is important to
realize that viewers may have had patriotic associations with local landscapes which would have
enhanced their appreciation of these works.
9
Landscape painters could also specialize in foreign views. Italian scenes were popular as they
represented prime vacation spots. Jan Both is remembered for his carefully composed mountain
scenes with clear paths, carefully placed trees, and lush, warm light. Such scenes were
particularly intriguing to the Dutch whose home landscape was usually flat and often chilly.
Brazilian landscapes by Franz Post were also popular. That this Dutchman was painting in Brazil
signifies both colonial expansion and Dutch mastery of the seas. Such views were considered
documentary.

Jakob van Ruisdael is probably the most celebrated Dutch painter of romantic landscapes. His
works are expressive, emphasizing one
aspect of the landscape, such as a
waterfall or a windmill, in order to evoke
a certain mood or feeling. Meindert
Hobbema, a student of Ruisdael, owes a
great debt to his master. Hobbema
specialized in romantic woodland scenes.
A Wooded Landscape (circa 1662) shows
traces of Ruisdal’s romantic sensibilities
in a carefully constructed composition. A
large arching tree to the left of the
landscape serves as a repoussior device
while footpaths lead the viewer’s eye
Image 12: A Wooded Landscape, Jakob van Ruisdael
deep into the landscape.

Still life paintings were also very popular for the seventeenth century Dutch home. A still life is
an assortment of inanimate objects. The Dutch were especially fond of art that mirrored their
world and recorded their values. As wealth increased throughout the seventeenth century, the
still life became more and more extravagant, displaying the objects acquired through purchase
power and mastery of trade. Artists tended to specialize within the genre, becoming especially
adept at flower scenes or breakfast pieces. Painters of still life might specialize in depictions of
fruit, flowers, game or fish. This genre was especially inviting to female artists who were
forbidden to paint from the nude model and thus challenged in completing figurative work.

Cornelis de Heem’s Still Life with Fruit on a Ledge from NOMA’s collection depicts a carefully
arranged pile of fruit including grapes, oranges and lemons with oysters, wheatstalks, and
insects. The entire composition is delicately balanced on a ledge. The painting is certainly an
amazing technical display, and it can also be considered for its iconographic message. The fruits
can be interpreted in a vanitas manner as their imminent decay indicates the transience of life.
The butterfly near the center of the painting may represent the human soul and its possibility for
redemption. De Heem’s still life may come across as very opulent, yet it serves to remind the
viewer that these are ephemeral pleasures. This point is perhaps more obvious in Michel
Simons’s Still Life of Fruit and Lobster with its dead game hanging from the wall. Luxuries
abound in both paintings, yet never far away is a reminder that life is short.

10
Portraiture thrived in the Netherlands where paintings of individuals and groups became an
important part of civic life. The growing middle class was quick to commission individual and
family portraits and the many civic guilds often requested group portraits to hang in their
meeting halls. Individual portraits could range from busts to full-length. Group portraits might
include the four regents of a community hospital, seven students and a doctor surrounding a
corpse in an anatomy lesson, or forty-seven banqueters gathered in a hall.

Franz Hals and Rembrandt van Rijn are probably the

most remembered of the baroque period portraitists,
although Rembrandt is the least typical of his
contemporary artists as he did not specialize in any one
particular subject matter. Hals’ A Dutch Lady and its
pendant A Dutch Gentleman is fairly typical of this
Haarlem painter’s style. He depicts the unidentified
woman in her predominately black costume with a sheer
lace collar. Both portraits are rendered with the loose
brush work for which Hals is remembered. Hals’
popularity as a portraitist was a result of his ability to
capture the liveliness and vitality of his sitters. Hals was
often hired to paint group portraits of civic guilds and
militia companies. Militia companies had been formed in
the sixteenth century to protect the emerging Dutch
Republic, but as the need for protection subsided the
militia meetings increasingly became social gatherings.
Rembrandt’s Night Watch (The Company of Captain
Image 10: A Dutch Lady, Franz Hals
Franz Banning Cocq) is perhaps the most famous
example of a militia group portrait. Company members have gathered in the morning for their
annual parade and interact in lively and diverse poses. The gradual darkening of this painting
over time led to its misnomer.

Family portraits were often commissioned to immortalize family members and ancestors. Jan
Mytens became a major portraitist in The Hague and is remembered for his elegant figural
groups in pastoral settings. His Portrait of the Martini Family features six figures in a landscape
setting and also includes representations of family members whose lives were unexpectedly cut
short. Jacques Martini, the Commissioner General for the Ammunition of War for the
Netherlands, is shown seated with his second wife and surrounded by his children. From an
opening in the sky we glimpse cherubs who represent in a uniquely Dutch manner those children
who died in infancy. Martini’s first wife also appears in the clouds. Mytens’ specialty was
especially demanding as it demanded high technical skill: the figures had to be variously posed
in full length; the faces had to be recognizable although usually small; the compositions and
treatment of light were often complicated in the outdoor settings. Mytens succeeded in all
respects.

11
Genre painting was one of the most popular of the Dutch styles and found renewed popularity in
the seventeenth century. Several sub-genres exist within this group including scenes of merry-
making, domestic scenes, depictions of brothels and smoking scenes. Many of these works
contain strong moralizing admonitions, but cast in a light hearted manner. Jan Steen is a master
of genre painting. A School for Boys and Girls of 1670 depicts a schoolroom gone berserk. The
inattentive schoolmaster and his wife pay
no attention to children who dance, sleep
and fight in the classroom. The room is a
mess, with pages torn from a book scattered
on the floor along with the contents of
rucksacks. A young boy to the right of the
composition offers a pair of spectacles to an
owl perched near a lamp, acting out a Dutch
proverb: “What is the need for a candle or
glasses if the owl refuses to see?” Such
literal interpretations of proverbs were
often included in Steen’s genre scenes.
Even in the Netherlands today the phrase
Image 5: A School for Boys and Girls, Jan Steen “Jan Steen household” is used to denote a
messy disorganized home full of mayhem.

Brothels, smoking rooms and other such merry-making scenes were frequently portrayed by
Dutch baroque painters. These images of merry company included portrayals of the upper and
lower classes and are revealing in their inclusion of the furniture and dress of the day. Hendrick
Geritz. Pot’s A Bordello Scene is typical of this type of genre scene. Three characters are
portrayed: the patron, the prostitute and the procuress. They appear in a large black and white
tiled room with the not-so-subtle inclusion of a large bed in the background. All three characters
laugh and make merry, as the patron grabs the prostitute and the procuress reaches toward his
pockets. The pitchers on the table beside them are probably filled with some intoxicating
beverage and we can easily imagine the progression of the evening. Perhaps the contemporary
viewer enjoyed such views of debauchery and intoxication on two levels. The contemporary
viewer would have appreciated the moralistic overtones implicit in merry-making scenes with
their representation of vices such as smoking, drinking and prostitution. Secondly, the audience
would have enjoyed this peek at such unsavory behavior.

Artists in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century were able to explore their own styles and
specialize in a particular subject matter as no artists had done before. The economic and political
factors that contributed to the Netherlands’s glorious Golden Age helped to establish an art
market which could satisfy taste of the emerging middle class. The development of landscapes,
still life, portraiture and genre scenes and each of the sub-genres within each of these categories,
assured that a variety of art works would be available to decorate the lives and homes of the
Dutch republic.

12
 Image List

I. Still Life

1. Cornelis de Heem (Dutch, 1631-1695), Still Life with Fruit on a Ledge, n.d.,
oil on canvas, 26½ x 21½in (67.3 x 54.6cm), New Orleans Museum of Art.
Still life paintings
were popular during
the Golden Age in
the Netherlands. The
Dutch population was
fond of images which
reflected their
surroundings and
their values. While
images such as this
one may seem like
simple reflections of
the surrounding
world, there are
usually undertones of
moralistic and
religious meanings.
Cornelis de Heem
incorporated the
inanimate objects
found in his
contemporary world:
oranges, oysters,
lemons, wheat shafts,
grapes and insects.
The butterfly at the
center of the
composition can also
be interpreted as
symbolizing the
redemption. The
ripeness of the fruit
and the presence of
insects serve to
demonstrate the transience of life. The precarious placement on a ledge of the entire composition
further illustrates the theme of vanitas, a gentle reminder that life is short. Still life paintings
such as this one also indicate the wealth and trade power of the low-lying country as they often
incorporated goods from disparate lands.
2. Michel Simons (Dutch, d. 1673), Still Life of Fruit with Lobster and Dead Game, n.d.,
13
oil on canvas, 39¼ x 56¼in, New Orleans Museum of Art.

Paintings in the still life tradition included a variety of inanimate forms. In this example from
NOMA’s collection the artist combined the bounties of land and sea. Lobsters, dead birds and a
hare are combined with fruits, vegetables and a glass of wine. The artist is thus able to display
his technical skill in dealing with the various textures and surfaces. The work is carefully
composed and creates a large diagonal across the canvas. The vanitas theme is not so subtle here,
where the dead game dangle in front of the viewers eyes. The gentle spiral of the lemon peel can
also be interpreted as symbolic of the transience of life. Inviting on the outside but sour on the
inside, the lemon is a symbol of luxury which alienates man from God.

II. Genre Scenes

14
3. Andries Andriesz Schaeck (Dutch, d. ca. 1682), The Latest News, n.d.,
oil on canvas, 21 ¼ x 19½in , New Orleans Museum of Art.

The Latest News by Andries Andriesz Schaeck is a merry company genre scene set in a tavern.
Three men have gathered to smoke their pipes and discuss the news. Genre scenes depict images
of everyday life and often contain moralizing admonitions. Schaek’s image is somewhat comical
in the exaggerated gestures of the patrons of the tavern and the revelation that at least one of the
gentlemen is probably drunk. This figure stares straight out to the viewer, his flushed cheeks and
exuberant expression probably indicate that he has been drinking alcoholic beverages. Pipe
smoking was also considered intoxicating, and there is evidence of this activity. The Dutch
viewers enjoyed such scenes of debauchery, most likely because they could appreciate
depictions of merry- making while haughtily disdaining such behavior.

4. Hendrick Gerritsz. Pot (Dutch, ca. 1585-1657), A Bordello Scene, n.d.,

15
oil on oval panel, 14½ x 19in, New Orleans Museum of Art.

Brothel scenes were also a popular sub-genre of merry company paintings. A Bordello Scene
represents the exchange of money for affections. Three characters are shown in the interior of a
bordello, a large room with a white and black tiled floor and a large bed looming in the back-
ground. The prostitute, the patron and the procuress are seated on each others’ laps and the
patron reaches for the prostitute as the procuress reaches toward the man’s pocket. Scenes such
as this are tongue-in-cheek, mocking the aberrant behavior of the characters while chuckling at
their foolishness.

5. Jan Steen (Dutch, 1625/26-1679), A School for Boys and Girls c. 1670,
16
oil on canvas, 32 x 42¾in (81.7 x 108.6cm), National Gallery of Scotland.

Jan Steen is probably the most remembered of Dutch genre painters. He often painted a topsy-
turvy world whose inhabitants sit amongst the messes they have made. In A School for Boys and
Girls the students engage in a variety of activities including fighting and sleeping while the
schoolmaster and his wife seem to pay no attention to their students. Genre scenes such as this
one illustrate the opposite of Dutch thrift and Protestant ethics. Cleanliness was a very important
aspect of the Dutch aesthetic and way of life, yet in Steen’s works mayhem reigns. Even today a
disorderly household is referred to as a “Jan Steen household.”

17
6. Abraham Bloemaert (Dutch, 1564-1651), St. John the Baptist Preaching in the
Wilderness, circa 1632 , oil on canvas, 35½ x 51in (90.2 x 129.5cm), New Orleans Museum
of Art.

St. John the Baptist Preaching in the Wilderness is unusual in its Biblical subject matter.
Protestant churches were not adorned with paintings and art work, so Biblical interpretations
such as this fell out of favor. Bloemaert, however, integrates the traditionally academic theme of
a religious subject with the Dutch liking for casual groupings in a landscape. A diverse crowd of
peasants, journeymen and soldiers gathers around to listen to the preaching of the nearly nude
John the Baptist. Even the clouds and trees seem to strain inward to hear the words of the Saint.

18
III. Portraits

7. Jan Mytens (Dutch 1614-1670), Portrait of the Martini Family, 1647,

oil on canvas, 48 x 60in (121.8 x 152.4cm), New Orleans Museum of Art.

This is an example of a group portrait, typical to Dutch painting. Mytens was a well known
portraitist and genre painter in The Hague. In this portrait, Jacques Martini is painted with his
second wife and his children from his first wife; the painting was completed the year Martini
married his new bride. Martini’s middle son and young daughter stand with the married couple.
These two children offer the new wife grapes which symbolized chaste love in marriage. The
oldest son, the one who will inherit the land and wealth, stands alone to the right of the portrait.
The open landscape beyond the oldest son is an interesting contrast to the more compact scene
on the left. Martini’s deceased first wife is painted in the upper right hand corner in the clouds
surrounded by cherubs. Typical to Dutch paintings, the cherubs symbolized children who died in
childbirth.

19
8. Jan Lievens (Dutch 1607- 1674), Portrait of an Old Man, 1640,
oil on canvas, 30½ x 25in, New Orleans Museum of Art.

Jan Lievens painted in the Netherlands and had a great reputation in his lifetime. Unfortunately,
his reputation has been overshadowed by the more well-known artist, Rembrandt. Lievens, a
child prodigy, worked closely with Rembrandt both in training and in practice. Their styles are
very similar from the period when they worked together as can be seen in this portrait of an old
man. The man’s face emerges out of the dark background, a painting style similar to Rembrandt.
The portrait is a delicate study of age which can be seen in the etched face of the man and the
wisps of gray hair and thick beard.

20
9. Bartholomeus van der Helst (Dutch 1613-1670), Homo Bulla: A Boy Blowing Bubbles in
Landscape, circa 1665, oil on canvas 32 x 28¾in, New Orleans Museum of Art.

Van der Helst practiced in Amsterdam and became one of the more fashionable portrait artists of
his time. He became well-known for his painting of opulent fabrics and flattery of his sitters of
which this painting is an excellent example. The portrait of the boy is playful and informal as he
stands in a landscape holding a shell and straw for blowing bubbles. But, an underlying
symbolism is present. Following a long tradition, “homo bulla” was a reference to the frailty of
life, and more specifically, that human life is as transient as a soap bubble. Following the morals
of the Protestant religion which discourages material gain, it is ironic that a child dressed in fine
clothing is presenting the lesson of cherishing life.

21
10. Frans Hals (Dutch, c. 1580/5-1666), A Dutch Lady, 1643-5,
oil on canvas, 45¼ x 33¾in (115 x 85.8cm), National Gallery of Scotland.

Frans Hals was the unrivaled master of portraiture in Haarlem in the seventeenth century,
painting the elite and wealthy merchant class. His family originated from the Southern Provinces
but fled to the Northern Provinces after the Spanish were ousted. Characteristic of Hals’ quick
brush style, this portrait shows his talents of creating depth and space with a limited range of
color. In his time he was praised for the ability to reveal the personality of his sitters. This
portrait is a pendant piece with the National Gallery of Scotland’s A Dutch Gentleman; the
sitters’ identities are unknown.

22
IV. Landscapes

11. Jan Van Aken (Dutch 1614-1661), Dune Landscape with Gypsies, 1650,
oil on canvas, 15¼ x 22½in, New Orleans Museum of Art.

The dunes in this landscape probably represent the area around Haarlem with the Church of St.
Bavo visible on the horizon. Not much is known about the artist Van Aken, but the painting is a
typical landscape scene of the Netherlands. An artist would specialize in a particular style of
landscape painting such as seascapes, city views or country sides. Landscapes were popular
home decorations in a Dutch house. The Dutch appreciated landscape paintings as a reminder of
how hard they fought for their land against foreign rule. Also, it is a reminder to the Dutch of
their dedication and prowess of working the land.

23
12. Meindert Hobbema (Dutch 1638-1709), A Wooded Landscape, c. 1662-3,
oil on canvas, 37 x 51½in (93.7 x 130.8cm), National Gallery of Scotland.

Hobbema is considered one of the last great Dutch landscape painters of the seventeenth century.
His specialty in landscapes was that of woodland scenes. Although not an actual scene,
Hobbema carefully constructed the scene by darkening the foreground and allowing the middle
scene appear to be lit by a break in the clouds. The wooded scene is lush and dense with cottages
and people scattered through the landscape. Hobbema uses the repoussoir technique by framing
the painting with the tree on the left. The tree frames the highlighted central, middle ground,
drawing the viewer’s eye to observe this area. Hobbema worked as an artist in Amsterdam and
trained under Jacob van Ruisdael to whom Hobbema owed much of his success.

Vocabulary
24
Academy- The French Royal Academy in Paris, which stressed traditional draftsmanship, somber color
and beauty with classical or historical themes.

baroque- A period in western art history c. 1580-18th century. In Catholic countries the style formed out
of a revolt against Mannerism and a desire to serve the religious impulse of the Counter-Reformation by
creating religious artworks that were accessible to the masses. In Northern countries the style reflected the
ideas of modern philosophy and the scientific revolution with a move toward greater naturalism. Baroque
style is characterized by having dynamic movement and theatrical effects.

breakfast piece- A still life showing various items of food and drink, usually arranged in some
disorderly fashion.

Benelux countries- The unified countries of Belgium (BE), Netherlands (NE) and Luxumbourg (LUX)

Calvinism- the religion based on the teachings of John Calvin (1509-64) emphasizing the depravity of
man and characterized by an austere moral code

Counter Reformation-The movement within the Catholic Church in the sixteenth century in reaction to
the Protestant Reformation.

expressive- having qualities which evoke a mood or feeling

genre scenes- art which shows scenes from daily life

iconographic- the study of the subject matter in an artwork or symbolism found within it that relates to
the narrative

landscapes- paintings representing a natural scenery or setting

merry company- a type of genre scene which shows the figures in acts of merriment, often drinking,
smoking, eating or dancing

pendant - one of a pair of paintings or other works of art which had been conceived by the artist as
related and interdependent in subject and composition, often portraits of a man and his wife

portraiture- representation or likeness of an individual

repoussoir- an object or figure placed in the immediate foreground of a pictorial composition to direct the
spectator’s eye into the picture

stadholder - the governor or unified political leader of land in the Netherlands. In this case it was the
leader of the United Provinces in the Netherlands

vanitas- Latin term for vanity used to describe the allegorical aspect of a painting in which all of the
objects depicted are meant to be reminders of the transience of human life.

25

Key Events in Netherlands
1384 Philip of Burgundy acquires
1400-1500 Flanders
1430s Van Eyck Brothers invent oil
paint
1474 Caxton prints first book in
English at Bruges
1477 Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian obtains Hapsburg
Netherlands
1501-1550 1505 Bosch paints The Garden of
Earthly Delights
1519 Charles I of Spain is elected as
emperor of Spain, the Low
Countries, Germany, Austria and
Italy as Charles V.
1522 Charles V introduces the
Spanish Inquisition to the
Netherlands
Timeline
North America
1492 Christopher Columbus lands in
the Caribbean
1513 Florida discovered and claimed
by Ponce de Leon for Spain.
1538 The city of Havana, Cuba is
burned by slaves and French
pirates
1541-42 Hernando de Soto earns his
place in history as the European
discoverer of the Mississippi
River (Spanish explorer A. de
Pineda discovers the mouth of
the Mississippi in 1519)
Europe and the World
1453 The Byzantine Empire ends
when Constantinople Falls to the
Turks
1491 Portuguese missionaries and
artisans go to the Kongo, Africa
1498 Vasco de Gama is the first
European to sail around Africa to
reach India
1508 Michelangelo paints the Sistine
Chapel Ceiling
1517 Martin Luther nails his 95
Theses to the door of a church in
Wittenberg, Germany
1519 Magellan begins
circumnavigating the globe
1530s John Calvin begins Protestant
Reformation in France and
Switzerland
1547 Ivan the Terrible is crowned
Czar of Russia
26
1550-1600 1555 Philip II of Spain inherits the
Hapsberg Netherlands
1568 Beginning of the revolt of the
northern Low Countries against
Philip II, King of Spain The
Eighty Years War begins
1579 The Northern Provinces join
together to form the United
Provinces and claim
independence from Spain
1583 William of Orange becomes
ruler of the Netherlands
1601-1650 1602 Dutch East India Company is
established
1610 A Dutch East India company
brings lacquer furniture to
Holland
1625 Holland begins involvement in
slave trade
1626 Dutch traders buy Manhattan
Island and found colonies of New
Amsterdam and Haarlem
1648 Peace of Westphalia recognizes
Netherlands’ independence from
Spain
1565 St. Augustine, Florida founded
by Pedro Menendez
1587 Second English colony forms on
Roanoke Island off North
Carolina
1607 Jamestown is founded, John
Smith elected president of
Jamestown colony council the
following year
1608 Samuel de Champlain found the
village of Quebec
1619 First African slaves brought to
Virginia
1620 The Mayflower with 102 people
seeking religious freedom land in
Plymouth Rock
1642 Montreal, Canada founded
1558 Elizabeth I becomes Queen of
England Her rule lasts until her
death in 1603
1564 John Calvin and Michelangelo
die, Galileo and Shakespeare
born
1562 Britain begins slave trade in
Africa
1598 Edict of Nantes revoked,
sends Protestants fleeing
France
1599 Globe Theater, famous as
Shakespeare’s playhouse, opens
in London
1609 Galileo demonstrates his first
telescope to Venetian
lawmakers
1605 Cervantes writes Don Quixote
1644 Ming Dynasty ends in China
1649 Charles I of England beheaded
by Cromwell
27
1650-1700 1652 Dutch establish colony at Cape
of Good Hope, South Africa
1663 Dutch render map of Africa
1670 Spinoza, one of the most
controversial thinkers of the
17th century, publishes Tretise
on Religious and Political
Philosophy
1683 Van Leewenhoek discovers
bacteria
1701-1750 1700s The United Netherlands
dominate the financial community of
Europe by providing loans and money
for European trade
The Netherlands do, however, lose
influence as a political, maritime, and
domestic industries power.
1750-1800
1664 Dutch lose American colonies to
the British; New Amsterdam
renamed New York
1682 Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La
Salle, claimed the entire
Mississippi watershed for France
and named it for King Louis
XIV
1690 First paper money in America
issued in colony of
Massachusetts
1712 Slaves united for the New York
Slave Rebellion
1718 The “Casket Girls” of New
Orleans begin to arrive from
France with caskets full of
dowry articles to marry settlers
1746 Princeton University chartered
1751 Sugar cane is first introduced
into Louisiana
1755 The French and Indian War
begins, 11,000 Arcadians are
deported from Canada in the next
6 years
1776 Declaration of Independence is
signed
1789 George Washington becomes the
first US president; The French
Revolution begins
1654 Louis XIV crowned King of
France
1660 The monarchy is restored in
England
1687 Isaac Newton’s Prinipia
published
1689 Peter the Great becomes Czar
of Russia
1693 Dom Perignon invents
champagne
1703 St. Petersburg founded by Peter
the Great
1707 The Act of Union joins Scotland
and England into the United
Kingdom of Great Britain
1709 Ancient Herculenium is
discovered
1754 St. Andrews Golf Club is
founded in Scotland
1755 Samuel Johnson publishes
Dictionary of the English
Language
1786 The British government
announces its plans to make
Australia a penal colony
1799 The metric system is
established in France
28
 Curriculum Objectives

Geography:

• Discuss and describe the various geographic formations of the Netherlands. (G-1A, G-1A, G-1D)

• Draw a map of the Netherlands and denote the type of climate, agricultural products and
common vegetation for each province. (G-1C, G-1D, G-1B).

• On your map of the Netherlands denote the major bodies of water and discuss each type of
body of water. Compare the canal system of Amsterdam to that of New Orleans. (G-1B, G-
1C, G-1D)

• During the Golden Age, the Dutch were masters of the sea and leaders in trade. Examine and
discuss trade routes from the Netherlands to Asia, Africa and the Americas. Calculate distances
between ports. What goods were exchanged? (G-1A, G-1D, E-1A, E-1B, H-1C-Era 6)

• What are the major cities of the Benelux today? What were the major cities in this area
during the 17th century? (G-1C, G-1D, H-1C-Era 7, Era 6)

Mathematics:

• Calculate distances between major cities of the Netherlands in miles and kilometers.
Consider The Hague, Amsterdam, Haarlem, and Utrecht. (M-1, M-4, M-5)

• Have fun with ratios. Use a current atlas or almanac to calculate current population ratios for
the Netherlands, the Benelux, and Europe. Draw a pie chart showing the percentage of Dutch
citizens in the Benelux and in Europe. How has the population changed since the 17th
century? (N-9-E, N-5-M, N-8-M, N-6-H, Data Analysis)

• Discuss lines and shapes within the still life works in the image list. What shapes can be
found in the paintings? Discuss overall composition in the works. What shapes are
dominant? (Geometry Benchmarks)

• Find the average yearly temperature in degrees Fahrenheit of The Hague, Amsterdam, New
York, and Calcutta. Convert these temperatures to Celsius. (M-1, M-4, M-5)

29
Social Studies:

• Discuss the purchase of Manhattan Island by the Dutch from Native Americans. How much
did the Dutch pay for the Island? What did the Dutch originally call the area? What Dutch
names remain today? (H-1B-Era 1, H-1C-Era 6, H-1A)

• Research religious history in the Netherlands. During the seventeenth century, what
percentage of the Dutch were Calvinist, Lutheran, Catholic or other religions? Draw a bar
graph showing the results. (N-2-E, N-2-M, H-1C-Era 6, H-1A)

• Research the Dutch Golden Age and write a report on your findings. You may want to focus
on one aspect of the history and culture such as trade, home life, civic guilds, or religious life.
(H-1A, H-1C-era 6, ELA-1, ELA-2)

Science:

• Discuss environmental issues as they have affected the Netherlands since the seventeenth
century. Discuss issues of global warming for the low-lying country. Compare Dutch issues
to those in Louisiana. (SE-E-A5, SE-M-A8, SE-H-A11, SE-H-C2, SE-H-D2, LS-H-D4)

• Discuss the ecology of the Netherlands. Use the landscapes and still life paintings provided
in the slide list to discuss local vegetation. (LS-E-C, LS-M-C, LS-H-D)

• Experiment with water displacement using a bucket and an assortment of rocks. Discuss
ways in which the people of the Netherlands had to alter their environment and reclaim the
land from the ocean. (SE-E-A3, SE-H-C1)

Language Arts:

• Choose a painting from the slide list with more than one figure (Bloemaert, Steen, Martini)
and write an explanation about the characters in the painting. Create the story emphasizing
the theme, the people, and the setting. (ELA-1, ELA-2, ELA-4)

• Write a poem describing a portrait or landscape from the image list. (ELA-2)

• Write a story incorporating at least six paintings from the image list as if they were book
illustrations. (ELA-1, ELA-2)

• Dutch painters of the seventeenth century often incorporated moralizing tales into their works
even though they were not specifically religious in nature. Use the image list to discuss
examples of this trend (Steen, Geritz. Pot, Schaeck). How do such works illustrate nature?
What is the moral? Does the moral apply today? (ELA-1, ELA-2)
30
Visual Arts:

• Discuss the use of vanitas symbols in 17th Century Dutch painting. What are some of the
symbols common in today’s world? Create your own symbol and incorporate it into a
collage. (HP-3VA-3, HP-3VA-5, CA-4VA-2, CA-4VA-4, CE-1VA-1)

• Discuss the symbols and subject matter in a Dutch still life or genre scene. How does the
painting reflect the society in which it was made? (CE-1VA-1, AP-2VA-5, HP-3VA-3)

• What did you have for breakfast this morning? How would you artfully arrange your meal?
Create your own breakfast piece and draw your breakfast in a carefully balanced composition.
(CE-1VA-1, CE-1VA-3, AP-2VA-1, HP-3VA-3)

• Draw or paint a picture of your house. Include its surroundings like trees, other houses, plants
and flowers. (CE-1VA-2, AP-2VA-5)

• Research your family tree and create a family portrait. Discuss Jan Myten’s Portrait of the
Martini Family. How did Myten’s portray deceased family members?(H-1B-E1, CE-1VA,
HP-3VA)

• Paint three landscapes: one of your favorite place in Louisiana, one of your favorite vacation
spot and one from your imagination. Write a story to accompany your work describing the
land and what goes on there. (CE-1VA, HP-3VA, CA-4VA, ELA-1, ELA2)

Bibliography

31
Fleming, William. Arts and Ideas, ninth ed. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace and Company, 1995.

Kagan, Donald, Steven Ozment, Frank M. Turner. The Western Heritage, Volume 1, to 1715.
New York: Mazimillan Publishing Company, 1987.

Haak, Bob. The Golden Age: Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century. New York: Stewart,
Tabori and Chang, 1996.

National Gallery of Scotland. Scottish Treasures: Masterpieces from the National Gallery of
Scotland. Ghent, Belgium: Snoeck-Ducaju and Zoon, 2001.

The New Orleans Museum of Art. The New Orleans Museum of Art Handbook. New Orleans,
1996.

Rosenberg, Jakob, Seymour Slive, and E. H. ter Kuile. Dutch Art and Architecture, 1600-1800.
Maryland: Penguin Books, 1966.

Schama, Simon. The Embarassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden
Age. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.

Schwartz, Gary. The Dutch World of Painting. The Vancouver Art Gallery and the Rijksdienst
Beeldende Kunst, 1986.

32