A Landscape with a Carriage and Horsemen at a Pool
- Artist: Salomon van Ruysdael
- Date: 1659
- Medium: oil on wood
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is "A Landscape with a Carriage and Horsemen at a Pool" painted by Salomon van Ruysdael. We catch a glimpse of the patience needed to make such a journey. The women sit serenely side saddle while the carriage driver slumps over the reins. One man stares down at his horse as it drinks – his hand is on his hip, as if he’s perhaps a little less patient than others.
Salomon van Ruysdael seems to have painted an atmosphere as well as a view. He used restrained, muted colours, establishing a mood that might evoke memories of twilight on journeys taken into the countryside for a seventeenth-century Dutch collector. The sun has vanished over a distant hill, leaving a cool, limpid light and the figures and animals close to us almost in silhouette.
But despite this peaceful atmosphere, we can almost hear the sounds around us: the rustle of leaves in a sudden breeze, the jingle of a harness, the swish of hooves in the water. A dog is patiently waiting as its master adjusts the harness on the white horse. The clothes suggest prosperous middle-class people – they're not the flamboyant costumes of aristocratic riders.
This painting showcases Van Ruysdael's mastery of light and colour, achieved with an oak panel that allows for fluid brushstrokes and great detail. He depicts the subtle change from pale gold to blue in the sky, the sudden glitter of tack heads around the wheels and the curved hood of the carriage. Painted in 1659, it's a remarkable example of his skill and artistry.
See it in person
A Landscape with a Carriage and Horsemen at a Pool hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
