THE DUTCH GOLDEN AGE IN SIX PAINTINGS The 17th century in the Netherlands, referred to as the Dutch Golden Age, was the time of Rembrandt and Vermeer, of extraordinary riches and incredible progress. There may be no other country in which in the brief span of a hundred years so many paintings were executed. It would be hard to find a museum in the world not housing at least one painting from the Dutch Golden Age. This talk will use six paintings to introduce how the arts flourished in the tiny republic during this period, and to introduce the Dutch, their cities, landscapes, society, beliefs and artistic genres.