The Dutch Golden Age: Mills

The Dutch Golden Age: Mills

As in other countries across Europe at the time, industry in the Dutch Republic during the Golden Age was largely dependent on wind and water, forces that were seldom in short supply. Here’s a small selection of what were effectively some of the first paintings of industry long before the industrial revolution. Both watermills and windmills date back to ancient times, and became widespread in the Middle Ages. By the seventeenth century they were…