A Square before a Church
- Artist: Jan van der Heyden
- Date: 1678
- Medium: oil on wood
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is "A Square before a Church" painted by Jan van der Heyden in 1678. Notice how the artist has delineated many of the leaves of the trees individually, creating an incredibly fine level of detail. Look closely at the grey roof of the church and you can see that he's used very fine lines of black paint to suggest the patterns made by the tiles.
The architecture of this imaginary church is typical of mid-sixteenth-century Gothic style from northern Germany. The simpler brick building on the left, however, seems more Dutch in character. This painting is a great example of van der Heyden's inventive streak - he often combined elements of different buildings to create an entirely fictional scene that still looks real.
As you can see, this painting is quite small, only 21.8 by 28.9 cm. But despite its size, it's full of intricate details and imaginative touches. Van der Heyden was a true Renaissance man - he not only painted but also invented and engineered, creating innovative solutions for the city of Amsterdam. And that ingenuity comes through in his art.
See it in person
A Square before a Church 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.
