DUTCH PORTRAITS FROM THE GOLDEN AGE

They formed the first modern republic in Europe and the wealthiest society of their time, and their wealth was based not on the divine right of church or aristocracy, but on the power they earned with diligent commerce and clever dominance of the seas. These god-fearing burghers of the northern Netherlands were bound to see themselves as a different kind of human being who required new images to depict who they were.

And, indeed, no group before the Dutch 17th-century patricians had ever had so many portraits painted of themselves. Sixty of the best portraits of these proud citizens of the Golden Age are now on view at the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague.

The new self-awareness and self-confidence of the Dutch burghers that came with the tremendous wealth and independence of spirit and innovation that marked the Golden Age also created a new tension in the balance between the individual and the greater common whole. Often the reason for commissioning a portrait was a public or social occasion, such as a marriage or a professional achievement. read more (radionetherlands.nl)

The Age of Rembrandt and Frans Hals. Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague.
13 October 2007 through 13 January 2008.

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October 17, 2006