The 17th century in the Netherlands was one of the most creative and accessible periods of art the world has ever known. The Golden Age is here brought to life in a series of biographies of the most important artists active during this period when Holland had the highest concentration of artists anywhere in Europe. Painters in the Dutch Republic specialized in portraits, domestic genre scenes, still lifes, landscapes, townscapes metaphors of the tiny new country's immense pride and wealth. This book features comprises of all the great masters, from Frans Hals and Vermeer to Rembrandt whose poignant career from early success to bankruptcy is charted in an essay of 12,000 words as well as entries on more than 220 other artists.