View of Egmond aan Zee
circa 1648
Jacob van Ruisdael gives us a masterclass in Dutch moodiness with this view of Egmond aan Zee. The star of the show is that lonely, skeletal tower of the Great Church—a ruin left behind after storms and the sea destroyed the original building in the 16th century. Ruisdael, a heavyweight of the Dutch Golden Age, didn't just paint reality; he pumped up the drama by exaggerating the sandy dunes to make the landscape feel wild and untamed. Those tiny figures trudging along the path are there to remind you just how small humans are compared to nature's power.
- Technique
- Oil painting
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