The New York Historical
May 1 – August 30, 2026
This spring, The New York Historical provides visitors with a unique glimpse into life in New Amsterdam through portraits, genre scenes, and still life paintings created by renowned 17th-century Dutch masters. In this first-of-its-kind exhibition, which celebrates the 400th anniversary of the founding of New Amsterdam, paintings by Rembrandt van Rijn and his contemporaries help imagine the world of the Dutch settlement that would eventually become New York, depicting people at home, at the marketplace, at prayer, at play, and in taverns. Featuring objects from The New York Historical’s collection and more than 60 Dutch 17th-century paintings, including works from the Leiden Collection—among the largest and finest collections of 17th-century Dutch art in private hands—the exhibition also includes works from a variety of institutions, including the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, National Gallery of Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the New York State Archives, and Trinity Church, as well as private collectors.
“As we continue our commemoration of the United States’ 250th anniversary, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to showcase works of art by Rembrandt van Rijn, Frans Hals, and Jan Steen, many of which have never before shown in New York,” said Dr. Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of The New York Historical. “Old Masters, New Amsterdam is a fascinating view into daily life in New Amsterdam—a diverse settlement and a place of commerce, creativity, and conflict, which laid the foundations of the city and nation we know today.”
“Four centuries ago, the Dutch founded an outpost at the tip of Manhattan Island—a humble but vibrant settlement that would give rise to New York,” said Russell Shorto, the exhibition’s co-curator, director of the New Amsterdam Project at The New York Historical. “Across the ocean, meanwhile, Rembrandt and his peers were transforming art, revealing the beauty and drama of everyday life. These Dutch artists never set foot in New Amsterdam, but their portraits, character studies, and depictions of daily life in the Netherlands provide real insight into the world of Manhattan’s 17th-century settlers.”
“The Dutch greatly enjoyed family festivities that included music, dancing, food, and drink,” said Arthur Wheelock, co-curator of the exhibition, and senior advisor to the Leiden Collection. “Jan Steen’s joyous Peasants Merrymaking Outside an Inn, for example, wonderfully captures the vibrancy and wide range of human interactions that could be found at a country fair, whether in the Netherlands or in New Amsterdam.”
In the 1600s, the tiny Dutch Republic became a global power, outpacing larger nations through bold innovations in trade and finance. By entrusting overseas ventures to private companies, the Dutch extended their reach across the oceans, bringing home spices, textiles, and extraordinary wealth.
From 1626 to 1664, New Amsterdam was the capital of New Netherland, a colony established by the Dutch West India Company that stretched across parts of five future states. The Dutch policy of religious toleration spawned an unusually pluralistic society, in which at least 18 languages were spoken. The city’s position and its diverse inhabitants made it a hub of global trade in the Atlantic network.
Some of the finest Dutch artists of the 17th century, among them Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Lievens, Gabriel Metsu, Frans Hals, and Jan Steen, painted portraits and character studies. Though portraying scenes in the Netherlands, these works of art offer hints of what life was like in New Amsterdam for government officials, fur traders, preachers, doctors, and women at home and in the markets. One of the most memorable portraits on view is Rembrandt’s engaging Self-Portrait from 1634, which the young master painted just as he was becoming Amsterdam’s most celebrated artist. Rembrandt’s large portrayal of a dignified Amsterdam merchant, painted much later in his career, projects the gravity of a wealthy gentleman who has assumed social and political responsibilities in his life.
Homes in New Amsterdam echoed those of the old country, though they were generally more modest. Paintings of Dutch interiors on view offer glimpses into the rhythms of domestic life on Manhattan Island. As evident in Gerrit Dou’s Herring Seller and Boy, shopkeeping was a common way for a woman to make a living at home during the era. Paintings of Dutch women reading also echo the habits in New Amsterdam, where people devoured books and pamphlets. Each arriving ship brought letters with news from the home country. Gabriel Metsu’s Smoker Seated at a Table, and Caspar Netscher’s Two Women in an Interior with a Basket of Lemons, also provide tangible examples of how integral the transatlantic trade had become during this period, and how it brought luxury products within reach of ordinary citizens.
The exhibition includes market scenes as well as still-life paintings by Pieter Claesz and Frans Snyders that depict the types of foods that could be savored in New Amsterdam. Tavern life, where the Dutch enjoyed gathering for drink and song, is also seen in several works. Music was a constant feature in Dutch life, whether in the quietude of one’s home, on street corners, or at county fairs, as in Jan Steen’s large Peasants Merrymaking outside an Inn.
The story of New Amsterdam is also one of exploitation. Indigenous people were displaced, and the first enslaved Africans arrived only a year after the city’s founding. On display from The New York Historical’s collections are maps, portraits, and a deed from 1651 granting property north of New Amsterdam to Manuel de Spangie, a formerly enslaved African who had won his freedom a few years earlier. Works by the Bohemian artist Wenceslaus Hollar showcase rare likenesses of people whose societies were reshaped by colonialism, including Native Americans. The figures shown in Head of a Young Black Boy (1635) and Head of a Black Woman with a Lace Kerchief Hat (1645) may have been household servants in Amsterdam or Antwerp. While slavery was technically illegal in Amsterdam, the line between “servant” and “slave” was a blurry one.
Also on view are two foundational documents in the early struggle for religious freedom in America: the Flushing Remonstrance and the journal of Quaker leader John Bowne.
The exhibition ends with several paintings providing a glimpse into 1776 and beyond. The individuality fostered in the Dutch era evolved into a New York hallmark: a brash, confident, entrepreneurial energy. On the eve of the American Revolution, the city’s diversity made it a cauldron of debate and unrest. Built on Dutch foundations and shaped by waves of newcomers, New York reflected the American experiment and propelled it forward. From The New York Historical’s collection, Francis Guy’s 1797 painting Tontine Coffee House, New York City, where commercial activity seemingly bursts across the canvas, shows the expansive growth of the city in the century after the Dutch founded New Amsterdam.
Accompanying the exhibition is a digital 3D reimagining of the 1660 Castello Plan. Created in partnership with the New Amsterdam History Center, this interactive map lets visitors step directly into 17th-century New Amsterdam—exploring the interior of a home and visiting the original City Hall, the Indian Trading House, and a house where enslaved Africans lived. The map also traces the Lenape trail that would later become Broadway, revealing the living city beneath today’s street.
The exhibition is co-curated by Russell Shorto, director of the New Amsterdam Project at The New York Historical, and Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., senior advisor to the Leiden Collection.
Publication
A fully illustrated, 65-page booklet, featuring a list of all the objects in the exhibition, is available for visitors to take home with them.
IMAGES
Caspar Netscher (1639-1684), Two Women in an Interior with a Basket of Lemons, ca. 1664-65. Oil on panel. Image courtesy of the Leiden Collection, New York
Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667), Young Man Smoking and A Woman Pouring Beer, ca. 1656-58. Oil on panel. Image courtesy of the Leiden Collection, New York
Jan Steen (1626-1679), Peasants Merrymaking Outside an Inn, ca. 1676. Oil on canvas. Image courtesy of the Leiden Collection, New York
Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677), Head of a Black Woman with a Lace Kerchief Hat, 1645. Etching printed in black ink on laid paper. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. Gift of Frank Raysor. Photo: David Stover, © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Nicolaes Visscher (1649-1702), Novi Belgii Novaeque Angliae nec non Partis Virginiae tabula, 1655. Black ink with color wash on paper. Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, The New York Historical
Peter Stuyvesant (ca. 1610-1672), Property deed to Manuel de Spangie, January 18, 1651. Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, The New York Historical
Ferdinand Bol (1616-1680), Man with a Fur-Trimmed Hat, ca. 1646-48. Oil on canvas. Image courtesy of the Leiden Collection, New York
Frans Hals (1582-1666), Portrait of Conradus Viëtor, 1644. Oil on canvas. Image courtesy of he Leiden Collection, New York
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), Self-Portrait with Shaded Eyes, 1634. Oil on panel. Image courtesy of the Leiden Collection, New York
Gerrit Dou (1613-1675), Herring Seller and Boy, 1664. Oil on panel. Image courtesy of the Leiden Collection, New York
Frans van Mieris (1635-1681), Young Woman Feeding a Parrot, 1663. Oil on panel. Image courtesy of the Leiden Collection, New York
Anthony Meucci. Pierre Toussaint (ca. 1781-1853). ca. 1825.
Gift of Miss Georgina Schuyler.
