Author Description

At Home in the Golden Age reveals how the art industry operated during the seventeenth century. In word and picture the story is told of an abundance of art during this period in the Netherlands. Many reproductions are used to illustrate both the enormous production of paintings involved as well as the purchasing of art at auctions, art markets and even through lotteries. Much attention is given to the owning of art, where paintings were placed in the home and the way art works were perceived by their owners. The book answers such questions as 'Where were paintings bought?', 'How much did people pay to have their portrait made?', 'In which rooms did the owners hang their paintings?' or 'What were the popular types of paintings at the time?' All styles of paintings are looked at, including history pieces, still-lifes, portraits, genres and landscapes. To illustrate the sheer extent of the numeber of painters and art buyers in the Golden Age, the book's authors have taken a representative selection from the SØR Rusche Collection, amassed by the German textile baron Thomas Rusche, an art collection that contains all of the aforementioned aspects.