-
/ Rembrandt van
Rijn
Portrait of Jan Six
1654 on canvas, 44 x 40'/4 in. (112 x 102 cm) oil
Six Collection,
Amsterdam
At
the end of the sixteenth century, after a
long, grueling
war
against Philip
II
of Spain,
seven United Provinces of the Netherlands
won independence. Holland was one of these seven
areas, but
it
tration of cities and industries.
were the
a republic,
really only
had the largest concen-
The United Provinces
ruled by the stadtholders (governors) of
House of Orange, but they had
autonomy. Lacking
in great art
a great deal of local
and culture, except for
the outstanding figure of Erasmus of Rotterdam, Hol-
land almost unexpectedly
became one of the powers of
Europe. That small population, constantly battling against the sea, living in a
flat,
monotonous landscape
that the ingenious system of canals
and windmills had
transformed into rich agricultural land, emerged from
anonymity and won the envious admiration of the
whole continent
in
onlv a few decades. j
Thanks to the extraordinary enterprise of the East India
Companv,
at
the beginning of the seventeenth century,
the ports of Amsterdam and Rotterdam were the most flourishing financial and
and with
this
solid
commercial centers
basis
in
Europe,
of widespread wealth the
Dutch people found many reasons for cohesion and naThe Dutch language, which spread thanks
tional pride.
to an intensive and intelligent literacy campaign, be-
came completely autonomous and definitively separate from the German, and acquired literary dignity. Calvinism became the official religion that imposed a temperate lifestyle
and firm moral principles. However, strong
Catholic and Jewish minorities were
welcomed with
own
original cultural
unusual tolerance and
made
their
contributions to the society. The rapport between life
home
and moments of socialization was governed by
precise calendar in
a
which holidays and days of penance
alternated; love of the family and care of the household
was
offset
cial
exploits
by
compensated In other
a brilliant social life.
The
risky
commer-
on oceans throughout the world were for
by the peace and comfort of daily
life.
words, during the seventeenth century the
Dutch enjoved a private prosperity and social harmony were unique. Without a real court or an aristocra-
that cy,
and devoid of ecclesiastic privileges, seventeenth
century Holland saw the establishment of a bourgeoisie of entrepreneurs,
professionals,
merchants, and
nanciers, and can be considered the first
modern
fi-
capi-
talist
democracy.
Among
the
more
precise indicators of
from the
dai-
literacy figures,
was
the flourishing situation in Holland, apart ly
consumption of calories and the
the fact
it
had the highest ratio
art, particularly paintings, to
The Dutch school
in
Europe of works of
number of inhabitants.
perfectly followed the course of his-
tory and the creative development of the principal masters.
Between the end of the sixteenth and the begin-
ning of the seventeenth century,
came autonomous,
it
distinguishable as a school.
century,
it
when
During the
and pride taken
in a precise identity,
ed with the unusual
1660,
influences
when
availability
half of the
new
to the pleasure
but also connect-
of merchandise and of
brought by overseas trade. After
the greatest painters, Vermeer, Frans Hals,
and Rembrandt, had died, and
more
first
continued to become enriched by
themes and personages, mostly linked
exotic
the country be-
began to become independent and
tastes
ordinary, classicizing themes,
had swung to
Dutch
art
began to