The Baroque style spread throughout Europe throughout the 16th century, but its specific stylistic traits were different depending on the region that they influenced.  While most artists throughout Europe continued to use Christian subject matter in their paintings, the Dutch artists adopted the Baroque style but began using common, everyday subject matter due to the religious conversion of the Netherlands to Calvinism.
 At this time, Luther’s teachings had taken hold throughout Germany and Scandinavia, influencing many people to leave the Catholic Church and change their ideas about God, the Bible, and religion.  Though Luther’s teachings didn’t extend far beyond Germany, John Calvin adopted some of Luther’s doctrines with some differences.  Luther was against saints and relics but allowed religious paintings, so long as they were not an object of worship.  Calvin held that any artistic depiction of religious themes was sacrilegious, and it was Calvin’s doctrine that spread to the Netherlands.  These beliefs led to several clashes with the Spanish, who ruled the Netherlands at the time and promoted Catholicism.  Eventually, these religious clashes resulted in Dutch independence from Spanish rule.

With no royalty or Catholic priests to patronize the arts, artists adapted their paintings to appeal to the middle class, since they were no the principal patrons of the arts.  Paintings were done small so that they could fit over a table or a bed in a small home.  Because of the low income of the middle class, artists also began to create paintings that are easily reproduced so that several identical paintings could be sold to different people at a low price.  Subject matter also appealed to the middle class as well as the Calvinist Protestants; images of ordinary families became common, as did still-life paintings and landscapes.

Many artists even began to specialize in specific types of paintings.  For example, Judith Leyster specialized in portraits, and even painted several self-portraits in order to advertise her skills.  Similarly, Jacob van Ruisdael specialized in landscapes, Pieter Claesz in still life paintings, Rachel Ruysch in flower paintings, and so on.  Some artists, however, continued to paint religious subject matter, such as Hendrick ter Brugghen and Rembrandt van Rijn, though even their paintings were small enough to be sold to the common people.  These artists walked a fine line, ensuring that their art was not used as an object of worship in any churches, selling their paintings only to the middle class to be placed in homes.

Stylistically, the Dutch Baroque style is similar to the painting style used by other artists during the Baroque period.  Artists continued to strive for realism in their paintings, and also wanted to create motion and excitement in order to draw the viewer into the experience of the painting.  Baroque artists used diagonal lines and foreshortening to draw viewers into the painting, but Dutch artists also used the subject matter to involve the viewer.  It was easier for the Dutch to get pulled into the painting because it looked like a normal house with people they likely would identify.  Dutch artists also used a technique called alla prima, painting directly onto the canvas without a preliminary sketch.  This helped them achieve a spontaneous feel to their paintings, creating a livelier, more realistic painting.
 In many ways, the Dutch Baroque style came to define Dutch art for centuries, becoming much more influential in its region than perhaps any other style of Baroque art.  While Dutch artists continued to change their style along with the rest of Europe, the middle class remained their main audience and everyday life remained their principal inspiration.  This emphasis on the middle class continued until modern art styles, such as De Stijl and Cubism, began to shift this emphasis once again to the upper class and to abstract style.