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Rembrandt’s Orient

West Meets East in Dutch Art of the 17th Century
#RembrandtsOrient
 Jacob van Hasselt (?): The Wedding Feast of Grietje Hermans van Hasselt and Jochum Berntsen van Haecken, 1636, Centraal Museum Utrecht
 Jacob van Hasselt (?): The Wedding Feast of Grietje Hermans van Hasselt and Jochum Berntsen van Haecken, 1636, Centraal Museum Utrecht
Turbans and Silk Robes:
Bringing the Orient Home
First chapter
 Dirck van Loonen:  Assueer Jacob Schimmelpenninck van der Oye (1631–1673) with Servant and Dog,  1660, Stichting Duivenvoorde, Voorschoten

Dirck van Loonen: Assueer Jacob Schimmelpenninck van der Oye (1631–1673) with Servant and Dog, 1660, Stichting Duivenvoorde, Voorschoten

Dirck van Loonen: Assueer Jacob Schimmelpenninck van der Oye (1631–1673) with Servant and Dog, 1660
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 Aelbert Gerritsz. Cuyp:  Group Portrait of the Sam Family,  ca. 1653, Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest

Aelbert Gerritsz. Cuyp: Group Portrait of the Sam Family, ca. 1653, Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest

Aelbert Gerritsz. Cuyp: Group Portrait of the Sam Family, ca. 1653
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 Claes Jansz. Visscher II. and Pieter Bast:  View of Amsterdam,  Seen from the IJ, 1611, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
 Claes Jansz. Visscher II. and Pieter Bast:  View of Amsterdam,  Seen from the IJ, 1611, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Paths to Prosperity:
Trade and War
Second chapter

On board they had 400 loads of pepper and 100 loads of cloves, as well as mace, nuts, nutmeg and cinnamon, porcelain, silk and silk cloth, and other treasures

17th-century chronicler Pieter Christiaensz. Bor, describing a fleet of trading ships
 Gerrit Adriaensz Berckheyde:  The Town Hall on Dam Square in Amsterdam,  1672, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Gerrit Adriaensz Berckheyde: The Town Hall on Dam Square in Amsterdam, 1672, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Gerrit Adriaensz Berckheyde: The Town Hall on Dam Square in Amsterdam, 1672
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 Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn:  Group of Men in Oriental Apparel and Two Half-Length Studies of a Beggar,  ca. 1641–42, University of Warsaw Library

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn: Group of Men in Oriental Apparel and Two Half-Length Studies of a Beggar, ca. 1641–42, University of Warsaw Library

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn: Group of Men in Oriental Apparel and Two Half-Length Studies of a Beggar, ca. 1641–42
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Where else on earth could you find, as easily as you do here, all the conveniences of life and all the curiosities you could hope to see?

René Descartes describing Amsterdam, 1631
 Jan Lievens:  The Feast of Esther,  ca. 1625, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh
 Jan Lievens:  The Feast of Esther,  ca. 1625, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh
The Landscape of the Bible:
Early Rembrandt and His Influences
Third chapter
 Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn:  David with the Head of Goliath before Saul,  1627, Kunstmuseum Basel

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn: David with the Head of Goliath before Saul, 1627, Kunstmuseum Basel

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn: David with the Head of Goliath before Saul, 1627
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Do you wish to show the Turkish sultan in all his splendor? Then paint him in white satin or silver fabric. ... Put a tall turban with painted feathers on his head.

advice to painters by artist and writer Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1678
 Pieter Lastman:  Jephthah and His Daughter,  1611, Kunst Museum Winterthur
Biblical Themes
 Bartholomeus Breenbergh:  Joseph Distributing Corn in Egypt , 1655, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham

Bartholomeus Breenbergh: Joseph Distributing Corn in Egypt, 1655, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham

Bartholomeus Breenbergh: Joseph Distributing Corn in Egypt, 1655
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 Jan van der Heyden:  Room Corner with Curiosities, 1712,  Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest 
 Jan van der Heyden:  Room Corner with Curiosities, 1712,  Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest 
Understanding the World:
Collections and Research
Fourth chapter
 Willem Kalf:  Pronkstilleven,  1678, Statens Museum for Kunst––National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen

Willem Kalf: Pronkstilleven, 1678, Statens Museum for Kunst––National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen

Willem Kalf: Pronkstilleven, 1678
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Following his curiosity, for forty years he took pleasure in collecting shells and minerals according to their kinds, which arrived on all the ships from Italy and other parts of the world. He assembled a fascinating cabinet.

17th-century chronicler, describing Amsterdam tax collector Johannes Wtenbogaert, 1667
 Jacob van Meurs and workshop:  Mandarin Insignia,  1670, University of Amsterdam

Jacob van Meurs and workshop: Mandarin Insignia, 1670, University of Amsterdam

 Willem Jansz Blaeu:  Asia noviter delineata,  ca. 1630, University of Amsterdam

Willem Jansz Blaeu: Asia noviter delineata, ca. 1630, University of Amsterdam

Willem Jansz Blaeu: Asia noviter delineata, ca. 1630
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 Michiel van Musscher:  Barend van Lin with His Younger Brother and His Future Brother-in-Law,  1671, Amsterdam Museum
The Portrait of Barend van Lin
 Michiel van Musscher:  Barend van Lin with His Younger Brother and His Future Brother-in-Law,  1671, Amsterdam Museum

Michiel van Musscher: Barend van Lin with His Younger Brother and His Future Brother-in-Law, 1671, Amsterdam Museum

Michiel van Musscher: Barend van Lin with His Younger Brother and His Future Brother-in-Law, 1671
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 J. F. F. nach Andries Beeckman: The Marketplace of Batavia, after 1688, Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam
 J. F. F. nach Andries Beeckman: The Marketplace of Batavia, after 1688, Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam
True to Life?
Or Mere Convention?
Fifth chapter

We discovered in them the most secret peculiarities of the stories, way of life, and religion of the land.

Charles Patin on Indian and Chinese miniatures, 1672
 Willem Schellinks:  Parade of the Sons of Shah Jahan on Composite Horses and Elephants , ca. 1665 – 70, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Willem Schellinks: Parade of the Sons of Shah Jahan on Composite Horses and Elephants, ca. 1665 – 70, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Willem Schellinks: Parade of the Sons of Shah Jahan on Composite Horses and Elephants, ca. 1665 – 70
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... as exceedingly noble as an artist’s brush could ever paint

Willem Schellinks on Indian Mughal painting, 1647
 Hans de Jode:  View of the Tip of the Seraglio with Topkapı Palace,  1659, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna

Hans de Jode: View of the Tip of the Seraglio with Topkapı Palace, 1659, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna

Hans de Jode: View of the Tip of the Seraglio with Topkapı Palace, 1659
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 Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn and workshop:  Samson Threatening His Father-in-Law,  ca. 1635, Natan Saban Collection, Israel
 Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn and workshop:  Samson Threatening His Father-in-Law,  ca. 1635, Natan Saban Collection, Israel
Light in the Temple:
Rembrandt in Amsterdam and His Followers
Sixth chapter
 Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn:  Samson Proposing the Riddle at the Wedding Feast,  1638, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn: Samson Proposing the Riddle at the Wedding Feast, 1638, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn: Samson Proposing the Riddle at the Wedding Feast, 1638
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Once I saw a picture of Samson’s wedding by Rembrandt... In it, one can see ... the guests sitting at the table—or rather reclining, for the ancients used beds, and lay on them ... as is still practiced in these lands among the Turks. 

Philips Angel, Netherlandish painter, 1642
 Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn:  The Tribute Money,  ca. 1634, Kunstmuseum Basel
The Prints of Rembrandt
 Ferdinand Bol:  Portrait of an Oriental,  ca. 1665, Milwaukee Art Museum
 Ferdinand Bol:  Portrait of an Oriental,  ca. 1665, Milwaukee Art Museum
Familiarizing the Exotic:
Rembrandt’s Adaptation of the Orient
Seventh chapter

In the house of my prince there is a portrait [by Jan Lievens] of a so-called Turkish prince, which was painted after the head of some Dutchman or other.

Constantin Huygens, secretary to the Stadtholder Frederick Henry, in his memoirs
 Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn and workshop:  A Tronie of a Bearded Old Man in Middle Eastern Dress,  ca. 1635, Lent by the Earl of Derby

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn and workshop: A Tronie of a Bearded Old Man in Middle Eastern Dress, ca. 1635, Lent by the Earl of Derby