Charm, elegance and refinement. It is with these words that the work of the baroque painter Theodoor van Thulden is best characterised. Van Thulden was born in 1606 in 's-Hertogenbosch, where he also died in 1669. Van Thulden led the life of a prolific artist and worked in Paris and Antwerp amongst other places. He can be regarded as a true seventeenth-century baroque master who was shy neither of the grand gesture nor of the grand format and who felt as at home in colourful compositions teeming with figures, as he did in portraiture or in intimate cabinet pieces. Rubens's influence is unmistakable, but Van Thulden's work has its own identity and breathes its own atmosphere. There are contributions from some of the best international authors and all of Van Thulden's known work is reproduced, most of it in colour.