The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer: Dutch Painting in the Seventeenth Century

The "Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer" covers Dutch artists who worked in approximately the first two thirds of the 17th Century in the Netherlands. Although much of the text focuses on Rembrandt and Vermeer, the book briefly covers the Mannerists, Frans Hals, early landscape and genre painters, Rusidael, and Hobbema. The book begins with works of Hendrick Avercamp ("A Winter Scene with Skater near a Castle" painted about 1609) and ends with Samuel Van Hoogstraten ("Les Pantoufles"). Pages 1-63 provide an overview and pages 241-275 provide short biographies, bibliographies and an index.Pages 65-240 are printed on glossy paper and contain photographs of a representative sample of the Dutch artists working during the period. The paintings are mostly in black and white, however, colored photos are shown thoroughout the text. Rembrandt's "Jan Six" and "The Polish Rider" are in color, and reasonably captured. On the other hand, one of my favorites, "A View of Deventer" by Salomon Van Ruysdael from the National Gallery in London is shown in black and white. Sometimes a painting is in black and white, while a detail is shown in color. It's difficult to see much of the brushwork, but one can obtain an idea of the content, composition, lighting and shading, and other elements from these prints. Nothing beats the original, but the photographs do a reasonable job. I refer to this book from time to time, and on occasion have used it extensively. For example, while reading Schama's "Rembrandt's Eyes" I used the book to gain additional information about some of the paintings he covers. For example, Schama covers Rembrandt's "The Feast of Belshazzar: The Writing in the Wall" for several pages. The photo in Schama's book is adequate for following his discussion, but Nash's book shows larger and more detailed photos (in color), as well as an enlarged detail of the two women at the king's right hand.