A Farm among Trees

Van der Heyden's farm-among-trees subjects represent one strand of his production that moved away from urban architecture toward a more intimate rural setting — thatched buildings embedded in dense foliage, seen at close range rather than across an urban square or river. This 1670 National Gallery panel, viewed alongside his city views in the same collection, demonstrates the breadth of his topographic interests. Farm buildings in Dutch Golden Age painting were associated with the simple virtues of agricultural life, a counterpoint to the commercial bustle of the city that the same collectors who commissioned Amsterdam views sometimes sought as visual relief. Van der Heyden's approach to farm subjects retained his architectural precision but applied it to vernacular thatched and timber construction rather than civic stone and brick.

Oil on panel, with van der Heyden bringing his architectural technique to bear on the more irregular forms of vernacular farm buildings. Thatch is rendered with directional brushwork that conveys the layered, textured quality of bundled straw, contrasting with the regular bond of brick surfaces in his town views. Surrounding trees are built in graduated greens and browns that give the foliage mass and depth, and the farm building is sited to create a sheltered, enclosed spatial feeling.