Mountainous landscape with a waterfall, in the background on the right Bentheim castle
Jacob van Ruisdael·1660
Historical Context
Mountainous Landscape with a Waterfall and Bentheim Castle from around 1660 combines the Bentheim motif with the dramatic waterfall genre. Ruisdael freely rearranged topography for pictorial effect, placing the castle amid imaginary mountains. Working from prints by Allart van Everdingen who had visited Scandinavia, Ruisdael constructed convincing cascades using fluid, energetic paint handling for the white water and dense impasto for mossy rocks. These proto-Romantic subjects prefigure the S...
Technical Analysis
The composition dramatically elevates Bentheim Castle above a powerful waterfall. Ruisdael's manipulation of scale and terrain creates a heroic landscape of considerable pictorial power.
