"This volume provides an overview of the most important of these masters of seventeenth-century Dutch painting. Still capable of holding us spellbound today, the exuberant, erotic, elegant, and enigmatic scenes were brought together from a large number of museums in Europe and the United States. They are illustrated here in color and accompanied by detailed commentaries. The introductory essays inquire into frequently discussed possible interpretations of the paintings. And by taking a comparative and critical look at objects of everyday use which have survived from that period, they also examine the extent to which these artworks can actually be viewed as mirrors of past reality."--BOOK JACKET