Patrick Bade
The National Gallery London, Part 5: Dutch School

Since the 18th century the British have been eager collectors of the 17th-century Golden Age of Dutch painting, not only works by the giants of Rembrandt, Franz Hals, and Vermeer, but also many minor masters like Gabriel Metsu, Jan Steen, Jan van Goyen, and Willem Van der Velde the Younger. Over a period of not more than half a century these artists held up a mirror to the early modern world and to a society celebrated for its openness and tolerance.