An Architectural Fantasy
- Artist: Dirck van Delen
- Date: 1634
- 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 "An Architectural Fantasy" painted in 1634 by Dirck van Delen. He specialised in painting buildings and imaginary architectural views, and the attention to such details is typical of his work. The figures were added by another artist, probably either Anthonie Palamedesz. or Jan Olis.
You'll notice the grand piazza with a view straight across it and down the arcade, continuing along an avenue of trees to open up an extraordinarily long vista. This illusion is maintained into the far distance, making you feel like you're actually there. Look at the foreground - at the reflections in the moat on the right, the splashing jets of the fountain and the shine on the marble columns.
The artist has gone to great trouble to make the details convincing. Greek and Roman art and architecture were very fashionable during this time, and Dirck van Delen likely drew inspiration from other painters working in the same genre, as well as handbooks on perspective and classical architectural forms.
Take a closer look at the figures strolling around the piazza. Dressed in expensive, fashionable clothes, they parade elegantly, stepping out from behind columns, doors and archways, and gazing down from the windows. They're an idealised society, populating an idealised city. And just one of them catches our eye: perhaps he's real, a portrait of a friend or the man who commissioned the painting.
See it in person
An Architectural Fantasy 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.
