View Over a Wide Landscape with a Church Tower
1653
Jan van Goyen, a master of the Dutch Golden Age, loved capturing the flat, expansive skies of the Netherlands, and this 1653 sketch is a perfect example. Tiny travelers and horses trudge along a hill on the left, looking down at a distant town dominated by a tall church spire. Van Goyen was famous for his quick, atmospheric sketches, often drawing scenes like this on the spot while traveling. By letting the vast, cloudy sky take up most of the page, he emphasizes just how small the people are compared to the massive Dutch landscape.
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