(b. 1638, Haarlem, d. 1698, Amsterdam)

Dam Square, Amsterdam - Oil on oak, 41 x 55,5 cm Gemäldegalerie, Dresden

Gerrit Berckheyde is at his best in his speciality: paintings of a major building, squares, a row of houses or other segments of a city. He is usually robust and above the average in pictorial sensitiveness. But he can be repetitive: there exist more than a dozen autograph versions of the view of Haarlem's main square, with slight variations in the point of view and field of vision.

The demand for views of Amsterdam (but not for the interiors of its churches), was far greater than for portrayals of Haarlem, and Gerrit did his share to satisfy it. He never settled in the metropolis; following studio practice of the time, he made the easy trip from Haarlem to Amsterdam where he sketched preparatory drawings and returned to his studio to work them up into finished paintings. His earliest view of the new town hall on the Dam bears an autograph inscription stating it was painted at Haarlem in 1668 (Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp). During the following three decades Gerrit virtually made a career of depicting the town hall, a symbol of Amsterdam's pride, prestige, and prosperity, from various viewpoints and in different lighting conditions. He also painted five different versions of its side and rear façade flanking a canal that had a flower market on its bank.

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Author: BERCKHEYDE, Gerrit Adriaensz. Title: Dam Square, Amsterdam Time-line: 1651-1700 School: Dutch Form: painting