View in the woods

The Rijksmuseum holds this 1675 woodland view by van der Heyden executed in the unusual technique of verre églomisé — painting on the reverse of glass. Verre églomisé was a rare and technically demanding medium that few Dutch painters employed for original works (as opposed to decorative objects), and its use here suggests either a special commission requiring the distinctive optical quality of backlit glass painting or an experimental interest in the medium's unusual surface characteristics. Van der Heyden's choice of a woodland view for this uncommon support is fitting — the translucent depth achievable in verre églomisé could convey forest light with a luminosity impossible in conventional oil on panel or canvas. The Rijksmuseum's preservation of this rare technical specimen ensures its accessibility to scholars of early modern painting technique.

Verre églomisé requires the artist to work in reverse — from the foreground backward — since the last paint applied is the first visible from the viewing side. This reversal of normal painting logic demanded meticulous planning and a confident first-touch technique that left little room for correction. The glass support gives the finished surface a jewel-like luminosity from transmitted light and a distinctively smooth, perfectly flat picture plane absent from panel and canvas alike.