Forest landscape with pond

Ruisdael's 1658 Forest Landscape with Pond combines two of his favourite motifs — the dense northern forest and the still reflective water surface — in a work of quiet melancholy. Forest ponds and marshy inlets provided him with opportunities to explore reflection, stillness, and the mood of a landscape sealed from the outside world. The painting dates from the period just before and after his probable move to Amsterdam around 1657, when his work was becoming known to the city's major collectors. The reflective pond acts both as a compositional device and as a metaphor for contemplation.

The pond surface mirrors the overhanging trees with only slight distortion, darkening the lower third of the composition and providing tonal contrast with the lighter sky. Ruisdael builds the foliage in layers of overlapping strokes, from dark underpainting through to pale, broken highlights on the uppermost leaves.