Dutch Classicism in Europe

At first glance, the Golden Age and classicism would not seem to be an obvious pairing. Of all the art produced in the Dutch Republic during the seventeenth century, the works which are viewed as paeans to the everyday are the ones that generally receive the most attention. Biblical and mythological subjects are framed as domestic genre scenes or usurped by painted still lifes, landscapes, and seascapes. In contrast, classicism harks back to Greco-Roman antiquity and strives for simplicity and harmony, but also monumentality and grandeur. All of this is far removed from the daily life that in the Republic was so often immortalized in paint. The prevalence of everyday life in the art of the Golden Age should, however, be qualified. Greco-Roman antiquity was, in reality, an important influence within the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic and often eclipsed the representation of daily life in painting, architecture, and the theatre. One of the most pre-eminent examples of classicism is the mid-century Huis ten Bosch, which was designed by Pieter Post as a retreat for Amalia van Solms, wife of the stadholder Frederick Henry (Figure 16.1). Hailed both at home and abroad, the commission conferred a semi-regal aura upon the House of Orange. The English envoy Samuel Pepys claimed that the central space, known as the Orange Hall, was the most impressive painted room that he had ever seen. The chamber, which is shaped like a Greek cross with truncated arms,