A View of Deventer seen from the North-West, Salomon van Ruysdael
Three small boats head up river, towards the rising sun. Their taut, curved sails are outlined against a cool, luminous sky as they lean with the wind. Moving clouds reveal a patch of intense blue that is reflected silvery grey on the translucent water below. Cattle wade up to their knees by the far bank, with a single white animal picked out in the growing light. Close to us, the corks of the drag net held by a fisherman in a rowing boat midstream bob on the water.
Van Ruysdael was one of a group of Dutch artists who, in the early seventeenth century, pioneered the painting of naturalistic scenes with vast skies; like them, he restricted his palette to a range of greens, greys and blues. They depicted what they saw but, at the same time, captured the essence of the Dutch landscape.
Discover more Old Masters in the following collections:
Germany
Germany
Germany
Germany
Netherlands
Netherlands
Netherlands
Germany
Netherlands
Germany
Netherlands
Germany