A View of Arnhem

A View of Arnhem from 1646 at the Gemäldegalerie Berlin depicts the eastern Dutch city from across the Rhine. Van Goyen's topographic views of Dutch cities combine recognizable landmarks with his characteristic atmospheric treatment of sky and water. Van Goyen's panoramic views exploit the extreme horizontality of the Dutch landscape, placing the horizon very low and devoting most of the canvas to sky. This compositional strategy, developed in the 1630s, became standard for subsequent Dutch l...

The city profile is rendered with topographic accuracy within Van Goyen's tonal palette, the broad river and expansive sky dominating the composition with atmospheric luminosity.