Landscape with a Waterfall
Jacob van Ruisdael·1655
Historical Context
Landscape with a Waterfall from around 1655 at the Ashmolean Museum shows Ruisdael's northern waterfall scenes during their period of peak production. These imaginary cascades brought dramatic natural energy to his landscape repertoire. 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 Sublime ...
Technical Analysis
The waterfall cascades through a rocky landscape with Ruisdael's characteristic handling of white water and dark stone. The atmospheric rendering of mist and spray demonstrates his mastery of natural phenomena.
