Skip to main content

Main image

The Interior of the Grote Kerk at Haarlem:
Catalogue entry

Catalogue contents

About the catalogue

Entry details

Full title
The Interior of the Grote Kerk at Haarlem
Artist
Pieter Saenredam
Inventory number
NG2531
Author
Neil MacLaren and Christopher Brown
Extracted from
The Dutch School, 1600-1900 (London, 1991)

Catalogue entry

, 1991

Extracted from:
Neil MacLaren; revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, The Dutch School 1600–1900 (London: National Gallery Publications Limited, 1991).

Plate 335

Vol. 2, p. 345, Plate 335

Pieter Saenredam, The Interior of the Grote Kerk at Haarlem (No. 2531) © The National Gallery, London

The church is seen from the north side of the choir, a little to the east of the north transept. In the distance are, on the left, parts of the south side of the choir and the south transept; on the right, part of the south aisle on the wall of which, between the pew and a column, there can be seen part of a painting of the exterior of the church (see below).

Oil on oak, 59.5 × 81.7 cm (23 7⁄16 × 32⅛).

Cleaned in 1975–6. Slight wearing throughout, especially in the darks.

Discussion

For the Grote Kerk (St Bavo) see Berckheyde No. 1451 of this catalogue. Saenredam’s view shows the interior more or less in the state in which it remains today; he has, however, taken some liberties with the architecture for reasons of composition (see below). The picture of the exterior hanging in the south aisle is still in the church (see Berckheyde No. 1451).

The picture bears no date1 but the preliminary drawing of this view (Fig. 100 99 ) is inscribed by the artist: ‘29 May 1636, this drawing finished by me … in the Grote [page 1.409]Kerk at Haarlem, from the life’,2 and the cartoon from which the design was transferred to the panel is inscribed: ‘This composition was drawn in the Grote Kerk at Haarlem and finished on 21 November 1636 and finished painting, the same size, at the beginning of May, 1637.’3

Vol. 1, p. 657, Figure 99 (Right)

Pieter Saenredam, preparatory study for The Interior of the Grote Kerk at Haarlem (No. 2531). Pen, 461 × 383 mm. Haarlem, Municipal Archives. Photo: Haarlem, Municipal Archives 1100 – Beeldcollectie van de gemeente Haarlem – invt number – 45235.

The right half of the cartoon is missing but the surviving part agrees closely (except for the figures) with the corresponding portion of the National Gallery picture; its height is within 1.25 cm. of the latter and the reverse has been blackened for transfer. Since Saenredam did not make replicas of his paintings there can be no doubt the picture referred to in the second inscription quoted is the National Gallery panel, and that it was begun after 21 November 1636 and finished early in May 1637.

The drawing and the cartoon agree in detail with the drawing of 29 May 1636 mentioned above but the proportions of parts of the architecture have been altered; in particular the columns in the foreground have been made to appear much wider and taller, and the arches borne by them have been suppressed.

DRAWINGS: See above.

PROVENANCE: At one time in the collection of Arthur Kay, Glasgow.4 In the sale of pictures belonging to Revon (Château de Dampierre), F. E. Lintz (The Hague) and others, Amsterdam, 27 April 1909 (lot 143).5 In the collection of George Salting, London (died December 1909) ; Salting Bequest, 1910.

EXHIBITIONS: Utrecht, Centraal Museum, ‘Pieter Jansz. Saenredam’, 1961 , No. 43; London 1976, No. 100.

REFERENCES:

General: Swillens, op. cit. , No. 143; Utrecht, Cat. Rais., op. cit. , No. 43. Schwartz and Bok, op. cit. , cat. no. 43.

In text:

1. Swillens, loc. cit. , erroneously states that the picture is signed. (Back to text.)

2. Drawing in the Haarlem municipal archives; inscribed: ‘A° 1636 den 29 Maij / dese voleijndt met teijckenenn / van mij P. Saenredam / inde groote kerck / binnen haerlem naer / het leven.’ 46.1 × 38.3 cm. Swillens, op. cit. , No. 98 and fig. 82; Utrecht, Cat. Rais., op. cit. , No. 44. (Back to text.)

3. Drawing in the Haarlem municipal archives; inscribed: ‘deese ordonnanty Is / geteijckent inde groote / kerck binnen haerlem / ende / geijndicht met teijckenen / Int Iaer 1636 den 21en novem. / & geijndicht met schilderen / int begin vande maent / maij 1637. dus groot.’ (Transcription made by Dr G. H. Kurtz, former municipal archivist of Haarlem; it differs very slightly from that in Swillens, op. cit. , and in Utrecht, Cat. Rais., op. cit. , No. 45.) (Back to text.)

4. A. Kay, Treasure Trove in Art, 1939, p. 65. (Back to text.)

5. Reproduced in the sale catalogue. (Back to text.)

List of references cited

Davies 1959
DaviesMartinNational Gallery Catalogues: The British School, revised edn, London 1959
Davies and Gould 1970
DaviesMartinrevised by Cecil GouldNational Gallery Catalogues: French School Early 19th Century, Impressionists, Post‐Impressionists, etc.London 1970
Kay 1939
KayA.Treasure Trove in Art, 1939
Schwartz and Bok 1989
SchwartzG. and M.J. BokPieter Saenredam: De schilder in zijn tijd, 1989
Swillens 1935
SwillensP.T.A.Pieter Janszoon Saenredam, 1935

List of exhibitions cited

London, National Gallery, Art in Seventeenth–Century Holland, 1976
Utrecht 1961
Utrecht, Centraal Museum, Pieter Jansz. Saenredam, 1961
Utrecht 1965
Utrecht, Centraal Museum, Nederlandse 17e Eeuwse Italianiserende Landschapschilders, 1965

Explanatory Notes on the Catalogue

SEQUENCE The paintings are arranged alphabetically according to the name of the artist or school.

ATTRIBUTION A picture catalogued under the name of the artist is considered to be by him. ‘Attributed to’ qualifies the attribution. ‘Ascribed to’ indicates a greater degree of doubt. ‘Workshop of’ or ‘Follower of’ are self‐explanatory. ‘Style of’ indicates that the painting is an imitation or copy painted after the artist’s lifetime. A list of attributions which have been changed from the first edition of this catalogue (published in 1960) is given on pages 510–13.

INVENTORY NUMBER The National Gallery inventory number is to be found to the left of the picture title.

MEASUREMENTS These are given in centimetres, followed by inches in brackets. Height precedes width.

RIGHT and LEFT These indicate the viewer’s right and left, unless the context clearly implies the contrary.

BIOGRAPHIES MacLaren’s biographical notes on painters have been expanded and brought up to date when there is no accessible and reliable modern literature. Where such literature exists, these notes have been kept to a minimum.

REFERENCES The bibliographical references, though selective, include publications which appeared before mid‐1989. References to books and articles which appeared subsequently and which the author considered to be of importance are referred to within square brackets but could not be taken into account in the catalogue entries themselves.

LISTS AND INDEXES At the back of this volume are lists of paintings acquired since the last edition of this catalogue and changed attributions. There are also indexes to religious subjects, profane subjects, topography, previous owners, years of acquisition and inventory number.

ILLUSTRATIONS The plates of the paintings included in the catalogue are in the second volume, together with all the signatures which could be reproduced. The comparative plates are included in Volume 1.

[page 1.xiv]

VAN ‘van’ has been used in lower case throughout in accordance with The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors. The ‘van’ has been omitted for certain artists as is customary, e.g. ‘Jacob van Ruisdael’, but ‘Ruisdael’.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES op. cit. ’ may refer back to books and articles referred to under the artist’s biography (rather than in the particular catalogue entry).

CHRISTIE’S AND SOTHEBY’S Unless another location is mentioned, the sales referred to took place in London.

CLEANING The cleaning of paintings which took place before 1945 is not referred to, unless the circumstances were exceptional.

CONDITION All the paintings have been examined during the preparation of this catalogue. In many cases the condition is described, sometimes in considerable detail. If the condition is not described, the painting can be presumed to be in good condition.

PROVENANCE AND EXHIBITIONS There are separate headings for provenance and exhibitions in individual catalogue entries. In certain cases, when nineteenth‐century paintings were included in dealers’ exhibitions for example, these two sections have been conflated , .

VAN GOGH The National Gallery’s four paintings by Van Gogh (Inv. nos. 3861, 3862, 3863 and 4169) are not catalogued in this volume but in The French School by Cecil Gould.

CORNELIUS JOHNSON The one painting (Inv. no. 6280) in the National Gallery by Johnson, who was born in London of Dutch parents but moved to the Netherlands after the outbreak of the Civil War, is not included in this catalogue but in The British School by Martin Davies.

Explanatory note

This volume contains the illustrations for the catalogue of the Dutch School published in Volume 1.

The pictures and their attributions are discussed in detail in the catalogue; in this volume only the title, the artist (or attribution) and the inventory number are given.

At the end of the volume are plates of all the signatures that could be reproduced. In the interest of clarity some of these have been enlarged.

About this version

Version 2, generated from files NM_CB_1991__16.xml dated 17/02/2025 and database__16.xml dated 16/02/2025 using stylesheet 16_teiToHtml_externalDb.xsl dated 03/01/2025. Entries for NG212, NG221, NG830, NG871, NG990, NG1674, NG1675, NG2531, NG4503, NG6350, NG6442, NG6444 and NG64835 proofread following mark-up and corrected.

Cite this entry

Permalink (this version)
https://data.ng.ac.uk/0DEV-000B-0000-0000
Permalink (latest version)
https://data.ng.ac.uk/0DCR-000B-0000-0000
Chicago style
MacLaren, Neil and Christopher Brown. “2531 The Interior of the Grote Kerk at Haarlem”. 1991, online version 2, February 17, 2025. https://data.ng.ac.uk/0DEV-000B-0000-0000.
Harvard style
MacLaren, Neil and Brown, Christopher (1991) 2531 The Interior of the Grote Kerk at Haarlem. Online version 2, London: National Gallery, 2025. Available at: https://data.ng.ac.uk/0DEV-000B-0000-0000 (Accessed: 28 March 2025).
MHRA style
MacLaren, Neil and Christopher Brown, 2531 The Interior of the Grote Kerk at Haarlem (National Gallery, 1991; online version 2, 2025) <https://data.ng.ac.uk/0DEV-000B-0000-0000> [accessed: 28 March 2025]