Jacob van Ruisdael, 'Ruins in a Dune Landscape', probably 1650-5
About the work
Overview
The mood in this painting is sombre, even sinister. It’s twilight, with the sky cloudy but – unusual in Jacob van Ruisdael’s landscapes – unmoving. The white walls of the ruins on the steep bank on the right almost give the impression that light is shining from them. The distant sand dunes look lonely and deserted, with the sea little more than a grey shadow.
It’s only after a moment’s careful looking that you can make out the two shadowy figures by the pool at the foot of the bank. Behind them, a pale sheep moves away across the grass; closer to us, the reeds seem to rustle as a ripple runs across the water.
Van Ruisdael, perhaps the greatest Dutch landscape painter of the seventeenth century, here creates a quieter, more atmospheric mood than in his often turbulent, dramatic scenes.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Ruins in a Dune Landscape
- Artist
- Jacob van Ruisdael
- Artist dates
- 1628/9? - 1682
- Date made
- probably 1650-5
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 43.2 × 58.5 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1865
- Inventory number
- NG746
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
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
-
1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
-
1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
-
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.