The poetry of everyday life

by Ronni Baer

"Seventeenth-century Dutch paintings were often made for a newly wealthy middle class and were of a size, subject, and scale appropriate to their homes. Predominantly Protestant and ruled by an oligarchy rather than the monarchy prevalent elsewhere, The Netherlands stood apart from much of the rest of contemporary Europe.". "From early on, Americans have felt an affinity for seventeenth-century Dutch painting, perhaps because it reflects their own ideals and social structures: a shared belief in democracy, religious freedom, and prosperity; the rise of the middle class, and a Protestant...

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