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(This article was first published on <strong><a href="https://edwinth.github.io/blog/dutch-masters/"> That’s so Random</a></strong>, and kindly contributed to <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.r-bloggers.com/">R-bloggers)</a> </div>
<p>Among tulip fields, canals and sampling cheese,<br>
the museums of the Netherlands are one of its biggest tourist attractions. And<br>
for very good reasons! During the seventeenth century, known as the Dutch Golden<br>
Age, there was an abundance of talented painters. If you ever have<br>
the chance to visit the Rijksmuseum you will be in awe by the landscapes,<br>
households and portraits, painted with incredible detail and beautiful colors.</p>
<h2>The <code>dutchmasters</code> color palette</h2>
<p>Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer are the most famous of the seventeenth<br>
century Dutch masters. Both are renowned for their use of light and color,<br>
making encounters with their subjects feel as being in the room with them.<br>
Recently, during the OzUnconference, the beautiful <a rel="nofollow" href="https://github.com/ropenscilabs/ochRe/" target="_blank"><code>ochRe</code> package</a> was<br>
developed. This package contains color palettes of the wonderful Australian<br>
landscape (which my wife got to witness during our honeymoon last<br>
year). Drawing colors from both works of art and photographs of Australia.<br>
I shamelessly stole both the idea and package structure of <code>ochRe</code> to create <a rel="nofollow" href="https://github.com/EdwinTh/dutchmasters" target="_blank"><code>dutchmasters</code></a>. This package contains six color<br>
palettes derived from my six favourites by Van Rijn and Vermeer.</p>
<p>Vermeer’s paintings are renowned for their vivid and light colors. The package<br>
offers palettes from Vermeer’s <a rel="nofollow" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Milkmaid_(Vermeer)" target="_blank"><em>The Milkmaid</em></a>,<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl_with_a_Pearl_Earring" target="_blank"><em>Girl with a Pearl Earring</em></a>,<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_of_Delft" target="_blank"><em>View of Delft</em></a>, and<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Street" target="_blank"><em>The Little Street</em></a>.<br>
Rembrandt’s paintings on the other hand are more atmospheric, with a lot of dark<br>
colors and subjects that stare you right into the soul. From him you find<br>
palettes derived from the <a rel="nofollow" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anatomy_Lesson_of_Dr._Nicolaes_Tulp" target="_blank"><em>The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp</em></a><br>
and <a rel="nofollow" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syndics_of_the_Drapers%27_Guild" target="_blank"><em>The “Staalmeesters”</em></a>.</p>
<p>Like <code>ochRe</code>, the package comprises a list with the color palettes. I have added<br>
names to each of the color codes, reflecting the color it represents and moreover<br>
where on the painting the color was taken from. As mentioned, I shamelessly<br>
converted the functions from <code>ochRe</code> into <code>dutchmasters</code> functions. Why invent<br>
something that smarter people already figured out?</p>
<h2>Using the package</h2>
<p>Grab the package from github with <code>devtools::install_github(&quot;EdwinTh/dutchmasters&quot;)</code>.<br>
Make sure to install <code>ochRe</code> right away for the handy <code>viz_palette</code> function,<br>
with <code>devtools::install_github(&quot;ropenscilabs/ochRe/&quot;)</code>.</p>
<p>This is what the palette “milkmaid” looks like.</p>
<div>
<div>
<pre><code><span>library</span><span>(</span><span>dutchmasters</span><span>)</span><span>
</span><span>ochRe</span><span>::</span><span>viz_palette</span><span>(</span><span>dutchmasters</span><span>[[</span><span>&quot;milkmaid&quot;</span><span>]])</span><span>
</span></code></pre>
</div>
</div>
<p><img alt="plot of chunk unnamed-chunk-1" src="https://i1.wp.com/edwinth.github.io/figure/source/2017-12-13-dutch-masters/unnamed-chunk-1-1.png?w=456&ssl=1" data-recalc-dims="1"></p>
<p>Now to put those beautiful Vermeer shades into action on a ggplot.</p>
<div>
<div>
<pre><code><span>library</span><span>(</span><span>ggplot2</span><span>)</span><span>
</span><span>ggplot</span><span>(</span><span>diamonds</span><span>,</span><span> </span><span>aes</span><span>(</span><span>color</span><span>,</span><span> </span><span>fill</span><span> </span><span>=</span><span> </span><span>clarity</span><span>))</span><span> </span><span>+</span><span>
</span><span>geom_bar</span><span>()</span><span> </span><span>+</span><span>
</span><span>scale_fill_dutchmasters</span><span>(</span><span>palette</span><span> </span><span>=</span><span> </span><span>&quot;milkmaid&quot;</span><span>)</span><span>
</span></code></pre>
</div>
</div>
<p><img alt="plot of chunk unnamed-chunk-2" src="https://i0.wp.com/edwinth.github.io/figure/source/2017-12-13-dutch-masters/unnamed-chunk-2-1.png?w=456&ssl=1" data-recalc-dims="1"></p>
<p>Or maybe the dark “staalmeesters” colors?</p>
<div>
<div>
<pre><code><span>ggplot</span><span>(</span><span>diamonds</span><span>,</span><span> </span><span>aes</span><span>(</span><span>color</span><span>,</span><span> </span><span>fill</span><span> </span><span>=</span><span> </span><span>clarity</span><span>))</span><span> </span><span>+</span><span>
</span><span>geom_bar</span><span>()</span><span> </span><span>+</span><span>
</span><span>scale_fill_dutchmasters</span><span>(</span><span>palette</span><span> </span><span>=</span><span> </span><span>&quot;staalmeesters&quot;</span><span>)</span><span>
</span></code></pre>
</div>
</div>
<p><img alt="plot of chunk unnamed-chunk-3" src="https://i2.wp.com/edwinth.github.io/figure/source/2017-12-13-dutch-masters/unnamed-chunk-3-1.png?w=456&ssl=1" data-recalc-dims="1"></p>
<p>I leave the other four palettes for you to explore. In the future I will<br>
certainly add more paintings, as the well of the Dutch masters seems bottomless.</p>
<p>A big thanks to the <code>ochRe</code> team, for inspiration and groundwork. I hope that<br>
this package motivates you to further explore the wonderful art of the Dutch<br>
Golden Age.</p>
	<p>
<div>
<div>To <strong>leave a comment</strong> for the author, please follow the link and comment on their blog: <strong><a href="https://edwinth.github.io/blog/dutch-masters/"> That’s so Random</a></strong>.</div>
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