Download or read book Class Distinctions written by Ronni Baer and published by Museum of Fine Arts Boston. This book was released on 2015 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Dutch Republic in the seventeenth century was home to one of the greatest flowerings of painting in the history of Western art. Freed from the constraints of royal and church patronage, artists created a rich outpouring of naturalistic portraits, genre scenes and landscapes that circulated through a newly open market to patrons and customers at every level of Dutch society. Their closely observed details of everyday life offer a wealth of information about the possessions, activities and circumstances that distinguished members of social classes, from the nobility to the urban poor. The dazzling array of paintings gathered here - from artists such as Frans Hals, Jan Steen and Gerrit Dou, as well as Rembrandt and Vermeer - illuminated by essays by leading specialists, invite us to explore a vibrant early modern society and its reflection in a golden age of brilliant painting.