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Gerrit Berckheyde, 'The Market Place and the Grote Kerk at Haarlem', 1674

About the work

Overview

Gerrit Berckheyde has placed us among the citizens and the most important buildings of his native Haarlem, and a visitor to the market square today would find a view similar to the one in this painting of 1674. The Grote Kerk (Great Church), which is dedicated to Saint Bavo, dominates the composition and is bathed in strong sunlight. To the right of the square, the town’s meat market with its decorated stepped gable stands out among the neighbouring buildings. As a butcher’s son, Berckheyde would have been quite familiar with this mercantile institution. The colonnaded portico of Haarlem’s town hall takes up the right side of the townscape, and Berckheyde placed his signature on the base of the corner column.

This painting emphasises Haarlem’s religious, political and commercial functions, and the city’s inhabitants gathered on the square literally live their lives between these institutions, adding a layer of subtle symbolism.

Key facts

Details

Full title
The Market Place and the Grote Kerk at Haarlem
Artist dates
1638 - 1698
Date made
1674
Medium and support
oil on canvas
Dimensions
51.8 × 67 cm
Inscription summary
Signed; Dated
Acquisition credit
Bought, 1894
Inventory number
NG1420
Location
Room 16
Collection
Main Collection
Frame
18th-century English Frame

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.

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