Jacob van Ruisdael - A Panoramic View of Amsterdam [c.1665-70]

Jacob van Ruisdael - A Panoramic View of Amsterdam [c.1665-70], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Ruisdael took this view from scaffolding surrounding the tower of Amsterdam's new Town Hall (now Royal Palace) on Dam Square. Sunlight picks out buildings fronting the Damrak and at right, the massive tower of the Oude Kerk. But more than documenting landmarks, the artist gives a vivid impression of the vast city that was then northern Europe's busiest port.

Jacob van Ruisdael was one of the most famous landscape painters of 17th-century Holland, and the foremost exponent of the classical phase of Dutch landscape painting. He was able to create a poetic and sometimes brooding or tragic mood in his landscapes. Ruisdael was born in Haarlem, the son of a little known painter, Isaack Jacobsz. van Ruisdael, who was also a dealer and frame-maker. Around 1650 he travelled to the hilly area around Bentheim across the German border. By 1657 Ruisdael had settled in Amsterdam and in his later years is said to have also practised as a physician there. He was buried in Haarlem.

[Oil on canvas, 41.3 x 40 cm]