Artwork Page for Landscape with a Church by a Torrent

Details / Information for Landscape with a Church by a Torrent

Landscape with a Church by a Torrent

c. 1670

Jacob van Ruisdael

(Dutch, 1628/29–1682)
Culture
Netherlands
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
Framed: 100.3 x 83.8 x 10.8 cm (39 1/2 x 33 x 4 1/4 in.); Unframed: 71 x 55.2 cm (27 15/16 x 21 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Jane Taft Ingalls 1962.256
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

It is not known if Ruisdael considered his paintings to be social or moral commentary, for no documents from his lifetime indicate how the artist or his patrons interpreted the works. But in this painting dangerous rapids block access to the chapel, and severed logs litter the middleground, hinting at life’s transience and the challenge to reach salvation.
A vertically oriented oil painting depicts a landscape with a tan timber-framed building on a grassy hill to our right. In the lower third, white foam streaks across dark brown rocks in thick, broken brushstrokes. Tall, leafy trees on the left contrast with the building's slender spire. Heavy gray and white clouds fill the upper sky above distant hills, casting the rugged scene in a muted, shadowy light.

Landscape with a Church by a Torrent

c. 1670

Jacob van Ruisdael

(Dutch, 1628/29–1682)
Netherlands

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