also reflected in the art market itself. In 1700, the Dutch Republic remained a hub of artistic activity, albeit greatly altered from the glories of its past. The Dutch artists retained a high reputation, especially those who had made their names during the Golden Age. The Dutch school remained one of the foremost in Europe up until the 1740s, predominantly supported the major towns like Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. Although an estimated quarter of artwork production ceased between in the 1670s compared to the 1650s, this was still greater than any other European country. Perhaps this is testament to the growth of the previous decades, or perhaps this shows a misunderstanding in previous historical thought. Following the political restructuring of the ruling élite in the latter half of the seventeenth century, the French cultural influence, whose strength had been previously repressed whilst limited to the courts of the Prince of Orange, took over artist convention. The arrival of the Huguenots, permeating the higher end of society, reinforced the notion of French classicism as a superior discipline 28 . The centre of this was seen in Utrecht, where painting began to align itself to the rules of the French theorist Claude Lorrain 29 . One of Rembrandt’s pupils, Samuel van Hoogstraten noted: ‘One comes near to disgracing [the art of painting] if one makes it serve to picture and object that is not in itself worth contemplating’. A new generation of artists appeared to reject the characteristics of mass artistic production. Without a body of educated artists, the Dutch lacked theorists such as Charles Le Brun, who published his famous thesis ‘ Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions’ in 1698, outlining the humanist practice of artistic appreciation. We therefore see a remarkable correlation between the vitality of the art market and the stability of Republic’s economy across this period. Furthermore, we can identify the 1672 rampjaar as the turning point, in which the fragile origins on which the proliferation of art was able to flourish were exposed, facilitating the realisation of its inevitable decline. Upon review, the narrative of economic decline can also be deemed as more intricate than earlier historical writing might suggest, perhaps even contradictory at times. We may also observe that the dynamic between innovation and conservatism of artistic style can be approached from a wider variety of perspectives, and that the ultimate victory of European Renaissance influence has lent the art market of the late Golden Age its distinct impression. Etro, Federico, and Stepanova, Elena, ‘ The Market for Paintings in the Netherlands during the Seventeenth Century’ , Department of Economics Working Paper 16, Ca Foscari University, Venice (July, 2013) Franits, Wayne, ‘Introduction’, in Franits, Wayne, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Vermeer (Cambridge, 2001) Geyl, Pieter, The Netherlands in the Seventeenth Century, Part Two: 1646-1715 (London, 1974) Haley, Kenneth Harold Dobson, The Dutch in the Seventeenth Century (London, 1972) Israel, Jonathan , The Dutch Republic: It’s Rise, Greatness and Fall, 1477-1806 (Oxford, 1998) Kok, Erna, Innovation through Rivalry. History Painting in Amsterdam 1635-1645 North, Michael, Art and Commerce in the Dutch Golden Age , trans. Catherine Hill (London, 1997) Price, John Leslie, Culture and Society in the Dutch Republic During the 17 th Century (London, 1974) www2.uncp.edu/home/rwb/Amsterdam_I.html Bibliography
28 Haley, ‘The Dutch in the Seventeenth Century’ pp. 143 29 Pieter Geyl, ‘ The Netherlands in the Seventeenth Century, Part Two: 1646-1715’ pp. 237
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