Roelof van Vries, 'A View of a Village', about 1660-5
| Full title | A View of a Village |
|---|---|
| Artist | Roelof van Vries |
| Artist dates | 1630/1 - after 1681 |
| Date made | about 1660-5 |
| Medium and support | oil on wood |
| Dimensions | 64.8 × 49 cm |
| Acquisition credit | Bequeathed by Lt-Col. J.H. Ollney, 1837 |
| Inventory number | NG134 |
| Location | Not on display |
| Collection | Main Collection |
Two figures stand and sit in the shadows at the edge of a wood and contemplate an ancient church almost shrouded in trees. Light filters down a pathway between them, giving an eerie feeling to the image. The picture has lost some of its colour and vibrancy, but even so it brings the imagination into play: the atmosphere; the figures in silhouette so we have no idea what they look like; the dark doorways of the church, hardly encouraging entry.
Small enigmatic figures dwarfed by the old buildings they contemplate make a common theme in van Vries’s paintings – why is this person here, will he go in through the door, what might happen next? The images seem to invite you to make your own interpretation of the scene, not just once but many times.
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