Aelbert Cuyp, 'Ubbergen Castle', about 1655

Ubbergen Castle

Aelbert Cuyp

Not on display

About the work

Overview

The ruins of this castle seem to have been absorbed by the landscape. Aelbert Cuyp has employed the same palette of colours and the same camouflage patterns to depict the crumbling walls as he used for the autumnal woods and the hillside behind. The reflections in the still waters of the lake add to the impression that the stone towers and tumbledown ramparts are merging into their surroundings.

The scene may have had some resonance to a contemporary audience who were likely to have recognised the castle. It is the castle of Ubbergen, near Nijmegen in the Dutch Province of Gelderland. The fourteenth-century building was ruined in 1582 during the Spanish occupation of the Netherlands and as such was seen as a symbol of national independence. This painting isn’t dated but was probably made in 1655, less than a decade after the Treaty of Münster (1648), when the Dutch finally won independence from Spain.

In-depth

One dissenting note suggests that there is still force and significance in the castle. The right-hand tower is intact, and the spire on its conical roof breaks through the line of the horizon and the wispy grey cloud above. It is a moment of strength and confidence, a reminder of the castle’s former glory.

This may have had some resonance to a contemporary audience who were likely to have recognised the castle. It is the castle of Ubbergen, near Nijmegen in the Dutch Province of Gelderland. The fourteenth-century building was ruined in 1582 during the Spanish occupation of the Netherlands and as such was seen as a symbol of national independence. This painting isn’t dated but was probably made in 1655, less than a decade after the Treaty of Münster (1648), when the Dutch finally won independence from Spain (an event depicted by Gerard ter Borch in The Swearing of the Oath of Ratification of the Treaty of Münster). The castle no longer exists – it was finally pulled down in 1712 and replaced with a house.

The red coat of the shepherd and the mounted gentleman beside him catch our eye, and we might think that Cuyp is inviting us to imagine the conversation between the two. Maybe they are discussing the castle’s role in their national history, while the sheep and – in the distance – the cattle which graze peacefully on the shore of the lake seem to suggest more peaceful, plentiful times.

The cloud formations against the bright blue-gold of the sky seem to form a plume, emerging like smoke from a volcano – though this is probably accidental. The nearest live volcano to Dordrecht, where Cuyp lived and worked, is Mount Vesuvius, hundreds of miles to the south, and he never went there. However, he was heavily influenced by Dutch artists who did travel to Italy, usually to train and work in Rome. They returned to Holland with a penchant for using lighter, warmer colours and for painting sunny Mediterranean skies; Cuyp responded to this new Italianate style by developing the characteristic light of his own. Typically, it is reminiscent of the golden light of a late summer afternoon, though perhaps here there is a more autumnal feel than usual.

Key facts

Details

Full title: Ubbergen Castle
Artist: Aelbert Cuyp
Artist dates: 1620 - 1691
Date made: about 1655
Medium and support: oil on wood
Dimensions: 32.1 × 54.5 cm
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1871
Inventory number: NG824
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection
Previous owners: Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Bt
Frame: 18th-century French Frame

Provenance

Said to have been bought in Hoorn from an old clothes man for about 15 pence. D[e] P[reuil] sale, Paris, 25–29 November 1811 (lot 70), bought by Lebrun (6,000 francs); L[apeyrière] sale, Paris, 14 sqq. April 1817 (lot 25), bought by Perignon (8,000 francs). Brought to England by Lafontaine and, according to Smith, bought in at a sale at Phillips’s, London, in 1822 for 440 gns. It was sold by Lafontaine to Sir Robert Peel, Bart., by whom it was exhibited at the BI in 1822. Purchased with the Peel collection, 1871.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Bibliography

1830

J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters: In Which is Included a Short Biographical Notice of the Artists, with a Copious Description of Their Principal Pictures […], vol. 2, London 1830
1844

A.M. Jameson, Companion to the Most Celebrated Private Galleries of Art in London: Containing Accurate Catalogues, Arranged Alphabetically, for Immediate Reference, Each Preceded by an Historical & Critical Introduction […], London 1844
1854

G.F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being and Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss. […], vol. 2, trans. E. Eastlake, London 1854
1907

C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
1960

Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
1973

K. Roberts, 'Review of the Aelbert Cuyp in British Collections Exhibition at National Gallery,1973', The Burlington Magazine, CXV, 1973, pp. 132-5
1975

S. Reiss, Aelbert Cuyp, London 1975
1990

C. Brown, 'Aelbert Cuyp's "River Landscape with Horsemen and Peasants"', National Art Collections Fund Review, 1990, pp. 86-90
1991

Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
1992

P. Marijnissen, De zichtbaere werelt: Schilderkunst uit de Gouden Eeuw in Hollands oudste stad, Zwolle 1992
1993

A. Chong, Aelbert Cuyp and the Meanings of Landscape, Ann Arbor 1993
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

Images

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(Showing 6 of 11 works)

A Herdsman with Five Cows by a River

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This small, evocative painting shows the work of Aelbert Cuyp at the peak of his maturity as an artist. It’s a picture full of light and reflections, transforming a simple view of a river at evening time into visual harmony.Light puffy clouds lit by the evening sun drift overhead, leaving patches...

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A Hilly Landscape with Figures

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The scarlet coat of the horseman catches our attention and we instinctively follow the direction of his whip, which he points away into the distance. And the concept of distance – just as much as the animals and figures in the foreground – is at the heart of this painting. Aelbert Cuyp has constr...

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A Landscape with Horseman, Herders and Cattle

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We're looking at a landscape in the Low Countries, probably the flatlands between Nijmegen and Cleves in the eastern part of the Netherlands, which Cuyp had visited in the early 1650s. But the golden light, and that implied heat, is more reminiscent of southern Europe than the north. It was a com...

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A River Scene with Distant Windmills

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Aelbert Cuyp made this painting when he was aged about 20 or 21 and it shows his early grasp of how to create a sense of distance and evoke the atmosphere of a cloudy day in the Low Countries.At the time, Cuyp was much influenced by the landscape painter Jan van Goyen. Both artists used a very re...

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Peasants and Cattle by the River Merwede

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It is the animals which take centre stage in this picture. On a grassy riverside knoll, four cows and a magnificent jet black horse are spotlit by the warm afternoon sun. Aelbert Cuyp was a brilliant painter of these beasts, especially cattle. He knew exactly how to convey their languor and ponde...

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Portrait of Cornelis van Someren

Aelbert Cuyp

Aelbert Cuyp is famous for his landscapes but he also painted a small number of portraits, of which this is a rare example. For some time it was believed that the sitter might be Cuyp’s father, Jacob, a portraitist who taught his son to paint. However, it is now believed to depict Cornelis van So...

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River Landscape with Horseman and Peasants

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Clear, soft light illuminates a peaceful landscape, giving a sense that everything is in its place and all’s well with the world. But the rider’s attention is caught by a young lad who seems to point anxiously towards something likely to disturb the tranquillity. Crouched in the bushes on the lef...

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The Large Dort

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Cows often feature in pastoral landscapes, but it is rare for them to be given quite such heroic status as the four monumental brown beasts which dominate the foreground of this large canvas. They relegate the shepherd to the hill and the milkmaid, who funnels the results of her labour into a bra...

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The Maas at Dordrecht in a Storm

Aelbert Cuyp

Aelbert Cuyp is best known for landscapes which evoke a strong sense of peace, plenty and prosperity. This picture, which is probably an early work, is very different. It is defined by the lightning which flashes across the sky above Cuyp’s home town of Dordrecht. It captures an instant – the mom...

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The Small Dort

Aelbert Cuyp

This painting is very similar to but roughly half the size of another landscape by Aelbert Cuyp, also in the National Gallery’s collection: A Distant View of Dordrecht, with a Milkmaid and Four Cows, and Other Figures. We don't know which was painted first but presumably one of Cuyp’s customers s...

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A Herdsman with Seven Cows by a River

Imitator of Aelbert Cuyp

This peaceful rural idyll is possibly a copy of an unknown painting by the great Dutch landscape painter Aelbert Cuyp. It may even be a pastiche imitating his style by Jacob van Strij, who painted such pictures.The vast sky and the distant windmill, water and trees are typical of Cuyp’s view of t...

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You've viewed 6 of 11 works

Aelbert Cuyp, 'Ubbergen Castle', about 1655

About the work

Overview

In-depth

Key facts

Details

Provenance

Additional information

Source

Bibliography

About this record

Images

More works by Aelbert Cuyp