In the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, Amsterdam was the richest city in Europe. The Dutch Masters dominated the European art scene, and the speculative market in tulip futures expanded wantonly.By virtue of the Dutch East India Co.’s spice trade, the Netherlands was an economic superpower. Pepper was king. Even today, Netherlanders use the word peperduur — “as expensive as pepper” — to indicate high cost.Cornelis Sandvoort (Christoph Waltz), the pepper merchant at the center of the …