A Landscape with a Waterfall and a Castle on a Hill
- Artist: Jacob van Ruisdael
- Date: probably 1660-70
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is "A Landscape with a Waterfall and a Castle on a Hill" by Jacob van Ruisdael. Painted in the Dutch Golden Age, it's a classic example of 17th-century landscape art. Right in the centre of the picture, a river emerges black and mirror-like from a fold in the hills, transforming into a seething cauldron as it tips over a rock ledge.
Notice how van Ruisdael seems to be contrasting the immense energy of the tumbling water with the upright strength of the three towering pines. In this craggy wildness, he's implying that there are far greater forces at work than human impact on the environment. If you look carefully, you can make out the faint outline of a church tower on the left and the grey turret of what seems to be a ruined castle on the right.
Despite its apparent realism, this landscape was not observed from life. It's likely from the 1660s, when van Ruisdael composed many such scenes inspired by other artists who had visited Scandinavia. He did spend time observing water surging through sluices in Amsterdam and painted several watermills, including one at Singraven on the border between Holland and Germany.
One of the challenges of landscape painting is depicting fast-flowing water convincingly. Van Ruisdael's techniques here are particularly effective, using short, varied brushstrokes to evoke the turbulent water. The way he's stippled the paint with the end of his brush gives a great effect of foam hitting rock in the centre foreground.
See it in person
A Landscape with a Waterfall and a Castle on a Hill 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.
