We imagine the seventeenth century almost entirely through its art: the chiaroscuro dramas of the Caravaggists; the contained domestic world of De Hooch; the sly glances of Lely's duchesses; and the quiet repose of Van Ruysdael's landscapes. Unsurprisingly, the world of historical films is composed almost exclusively through reference to these and other artworks. How, then, are these historical art worlds constructed? Do the artworks only provide a matrix for the film's production design, or are they implicated in the narrative and theme? How does painting address the problem of “realism” in the historical film? Is the presentation of the past a matter of realism? What about the overwhelming experience of immersion into a distant, remote film “world”?

This chapter looks at two popular historical dramas set in the seventeenthcentury Netherlands: Girl with a Pearl Earring (Peter Webber, 2004) and the lesser-known Dutch epic Admiral (Dutch title Michiel de Ruyter), directed by Roel Reiné (2015). Both have a complex relationship with Dutch Golden Age painting. Both films cover a similar time frame and are somewhat based on actual events. This chapter examines how these films explicitly address painters and painting in the mise en scène, presenting a world whose historical realism is created by and through art.

As one of the principal visual conventions of the history film, painting is frequently employed in the production of spectacle. Painting can connect the film's subject with well-known works from recognized artists and can cast and style the characters.