At Home in the 17th Century (Pre-order October 2025)

Instead of familiar idealized genre paintings, this book focuses on real life. Several Rijksmuseum curators delved into the world behind the paintings: the residents and the objects that surrounded them. What people left behind – furniture and utensils and even cesspool finds – gives a picture of how they furnished and used their homes. The result is an intimate look behind the front door of the 17th century – into a world that is sometimes surprisingly recognizable, but often radically different as well.