Final answer:
In the 17th century Dutch Republic, the major patrons of artists like Vermeer and Rembrandt were wealthy merchants and professionals, reflecting a shift away from traditional Church and Royal Court funding to a burgeoning middle class eager to display their status through art ownership.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the 17th century, the Netherlands experienced an unprecedented economic and cultural prosperity known as the Dutch Golden Age. During this time, the country's major patrons of such artists as Vermeer and Rembrandt were neither the Catholic Church nor the Royal Court, both of which were major sources of artistic funding in other parts of Europe. Instead, in the Protestant Dutch Republic, the artistic climate changed radically after the Reformation. With the decline of traditional religious and royal patronage, an increasingly prosperous middle class and wealthy merchants and professionals began to express their status and national pride by commissioning and purchasing art.
This new demand led to the creation of smaller scale paintings, suitable for private homes. Art now included religious subjects for private contemplation, as well as portraits reflecting the individuals' likenesses. Notably, art in the Dutch Republic depicted realism and the lifestyles of ordinary people, contrasting with the religious and regal depictions commonly found in other parts of Europe.
Therefore, the correct answer to the question is that major patrons of artists like Vermeer and Rembrandt in the Netherlands during the 1600s were wealthy merchants and professionals (option c).