At Home in the 17th Century

Synopsis

What was everyday life really like in the Dutch Republic during the seventeenth century? Drawing on objects, archaeological discoveries, paintings, and other evidence, At Home in the 17th Century offers an intimate look at domestic life in the age of Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Jan Steen.

The book explores the material world of the home through furniture, textiles, utensils, jewellery, children's objects, religious items, food remains, and everyday household tools. Rather than treating seventeenth-century interiors as idealized scenes, it examines the objects people actually used and the traces they left behind, revealing how people lived, worked, ate, celebrated, mourned, and cared for one another.

About the Author

The book brings together contributions from curators and researchers at the Rijksmuseum, including specialists in furniture, textiles, glass, jewellery, decorative arts, and archaeology. Their combined research draws on the museum's collections as well as archaeological evidence to reconstruct everyday life in the seventeenth-century Netherlands.

Publisher

nai010 publishers / Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Publication Date

December 9, 2025

Format

Paperback

Pages

392

Subjects

Art & Ideas · Art History · Decorative Arts · Dutch History · Domestic Life · Material Culture · 17th-Century Europe

ISBN

9789462089501