The spectacular Collection of Frederick Henry of Orange and Amalia of Solms in the Hague with brilliant pictures. Perhaps the most obvious image that the term Golden Age conjures up is that of the famous painters who flourished in the Dutch Republic of the seventeenth century. Yet the phrase actually refers to the incredible economic growth that occurred in the Northern Netherlands during this period. It was an age when the abundance of wealthy collectors created a climate in which artists thrived. Without doubt the greatest collectors of the period were Frederick Henry (1584-1647), youngest son of William the Silent, and his consort Amalia, Countess of Solms-Braunfels (1602-1675). They acquired an art collection of royal proportions to match the galleries of many a foreign monarch. But their acquisitions reveal a personal taste that was only marginally influenced by courtly cultures abroad. Louise de Coligny, Frederick Henry's mother, had sent the young prince to Paris to be educated at the court of his godfather Henri