A Moral Compass Seventeenth an

Painting in the Netherlands during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries offers a compelling visual record of the tastes and values of a prosperous society mindful of its obligation to personal and public standards. This richly illustrated volume examines twenty-six paintings by master artists from this Golden Age of Dutch art and features essays by leading scholars who explore the various interpretations of these works within the context of their culture.

A Moral Compass, published in conjunction with an exhibition organized by the Grand Rapids Art Museum, includes individual descriptive entries on each work and artist by Henry Luttikhuizen, guest curator, an introduction by Peter Sutton and essays by Arthur Wheelock, Jr., Lawrence Goedde, and Mariët Westermann. These distinguished curators and art historians provide their insights on the artistic achievement of the Netherlands during an extraordinary period of maritime dominance, material affluence, and moral purpose.

Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr. is curator of Northern Baroque painting at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and professor of art history, University of Maryland. A leading national authority on Dutch art, he is the author of numerous books and has organized major exhibitions, including the celebrated exhibition on Johannes Vermeer (1996).

Lawrence O. Goedde is professor of art history, University of Virginia, and specializes in seventeenth-century Dutch painting and Old Master prints. He has lectured extensively on Dutch and Flemish art and has contributed essays to a number of exhibition catalogues.

Mariët Westermann is assistant professor of art history, Rutgers University. She is the author of A Worldly Art: The Dutch Republic 1585-1718 and The Amusements of Jan Steen: Comic Painting in the Seventeenth Century.

Henry M. Luttikhuizen is associate professor of art history, Calvin College, and specializes in fifteenth-century Netherlandish panel painting and methods of art historiography. He is coeditor of and a contributor to Pledges of Jubilee: Essays on the Arts and Culture in Honor of Calvin G. Seerveld and the forthcoming Art, Community, and Cultural Democracy.

Peter C. Sutton is director of the Wadsworth Atheneum and a specialist in seventeenth-century Dutch art. Author of Dutch Art in America, he has organized numerous exhibitions, including the recent major exhibition and catalogue on Pieter de Hooch (1998).