The Ruins of Brederode Castle

This 1671 Ruins of Brederode Castle at the National Gallery depicts one of the Netherlands' most evocative medieval ruins. Castle Brederode near Haarlem had been destroyed during the Dutch Revolt against Spain in the sixteenth century, and its ruined towers provided one of the rare examples of romantic historical ruin in the otherwise flat Netherlands. The subject gave Hobbema an opportunity to paint the ancient stone architecture that was largely absent from his usual farmhouse and watermill subjects, and the ruin's associations with Dutch struggle against Spanish tyranny gave it patriotic resonance. The National Gallery's possession of this unusual Hobbema subject diversifies his presence in the collection beyond his typical woodland compositions.

The ruined castle is set within Hobbema's characteristic woodland composition, the crumbling masonry providing an unusual architectural element amid the carefully rendered trees and vegetation.