← Fame through time1600-1699
The 17th century
Whose working lives fell in the 17th century. Books are measured from 1800 and readers from 2015, so for this period we can say who lived then, not who was talked about then.
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 17th century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Rembrandt22 decades - 2
Johannes Vermeer3 decades - 3
Frans Halsnot measured- - 4
Carel Fabritius0 decades - 5
Jan Steen22 decades - 6
Gerard van Honthorst0 decades - 7
Rachel Ruysch0 decades - 8
Jacob van Ruisdael5 decades - 9
Judith Leyster0 decades - 10
Peter Lely22 decades - 11
Pieter de Hooch11 decades - 12
Gerrit Dou0 decades - 13
Pieter Claesz0 decades - 14
Hendrick Avercamp0 decades - 15
Aelbert Cuyp0 decades - 16
Gerard ter Borch0 decades - 17
Jan van Goyen4 decades - 18
Jan Davidsz. de Heemnot measured- - 19
Paulus Potter0 decades - 20
Gabriel Metsu0 decades - 21
Meindert Hobbema0 decades - 22
Willem Claesz. Hedanot measured- - 23
Ferdinand Bol2 decades - 24
Gerard de Lairesse1 decades - 25
Willem van de Velde the Youngernot measured- - 26
Maria van Oosterwijck0 decades - 27
Adriaen van Ostade1 decades - 28
Jan Lievens0 decades - 29
Ambrosius Bosschaert0 decades - 30
Govert Flinck0 decades - 31
Dirck van Baburen0 decades - 32
Bartholomeus van der Helst0 decades - 33
Samuel van Hoogstraten0 decades - 34
Balthasar van der Ast0 decades - 35
Pieter Lastman0 decades - 36
Hendrick ter Brugghen0 decades - 37
Nicolaes Maes0 decades - 38
Jan van der Heyden0 decades - 39
Willem van Aelst0 decades - 40
Willem Kalf0 decades - 41
Roelant Savery0 decades - 42
Hercules Seghers0 decades - 43
Arent de Gelder0 decades - 44
Matthias Stom0 decades - 45
Salomon van Ruysdael0 decades - 46
Melchior d'Hondecoeter0 decades - 47
Pieter Jansz. Saenredam0 decades - 48
Joachim Wtewael0 decades - 49
Albert Eckhout0 decades - 50
Pieter van Laer6 decades - 51Aert van der Neer0 decades
- 52
Jacob van Campen0 decades - 53
Philips Wouwerman0 decades - 54
Abraham Mignon3 decades - 55
Willem Drost0 decades - 56
Frans van Mieris the Elder0 decades - 57
Jan Asselijn0 decades - 58
Ludolf Bakhuizen0 decades - 59
Emanuel de Witte0 decades - 60
Hendrick de Keyser0 decades - 61
Willem van de Velde the Eldernot measured- - 62
Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchemnot measured- - 63
Grinling Gibbons21 decades - 64
Frans Post0 decades - 65
Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt0 decades - 66
Gerbrand van den Eeckhout0 decades - 67
Godfried Schalcken0 decades - 68
Jan Miense Molenaer0 decades - 69
Johannes van der Beecknot measured- - 70
Adriaen van der Werff0 decades - 71
Caspar Netscher0 decades - 72
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Jan Weenix0 decades - 73
Jan de Bray0 decades - 74
Esaias van de Velde0 decades - 75
Adriaen van de Velde0 decades - 76
Abraham van Beijeren0 decades - 77
Daniël Mijtensnot measured- - 78
Otto Marseus van Schrieck0 decades - 79
Adriaen van de Venne0 decades - 80
Karel Dujardin0 decades - 81
Gaspar van Wittel0 decades - 82
Thomas de Keyser0 decades - 83
Jan van Bijlert0 decades - 84
Dirck Hals0 decades - 85
Abraham Storck0 decades - 86
Leonaert Bramer0 decades - 87
Gerrit Adriaenszoon Berckheydenot measured- - 88
David Bailly0 decades - 89
Evert Collier0 decades - 90
Agnes Block0 decades - 91
Simon de Vlieger0 decades - 92
Jan van de Cappelle0 decades - 93
Jacob Adriaensz Backer0 decades - 94
Pieter de Grebber0 decades - 95
Gesina ter Borch0 decades - 96
Isaac van Ostade0 decades - 97
Egbert van der Poel0 decades - 98
Allaert van Everdingen0 decades - 99
Cornelius van Poelenburgh0 decades - 100
Jan Both1 decades
How to read these rankings
- Attention, not reputation. A place on these lists reflects the attention a person still draws in the public record. It is not a judgement on the life.
- Fame in print. The curves show how often a name appeared in the books of each decade from 1800 to 2019, drawn from the Google Books Ngram corpus.
- Gaps are left as gaps. Where the record is too thin to be fair, we would rather show nothing than guess.