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Jan van Kessel , Dutch, 1641-1680

Title

The Dam at Amsterdam

Date1669

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions

68 x 83.1 cm

Signedlower right: J v Kessel 1669

Credit LinePurchased, 1930

Object numberNGI.933

DescriptionThe square depicted here has been the heart of Amsterdam since the first dam was laid across the Amstel about 1270 Flanked by the former weigh house and the Nieuwe Kerk (begun in 1490 and still used to solemnise royal investitures), the square is here dominated by the recently completed Town Hall (1648-c.1665) designed by Jacob van Campen. The building's small central entrance was designed to prevent a mob attack. On the pediment above is an allegory of Amsterdam being paid tribute by the sea, and statues of Prudence, Peace and Justice, all of which are schematically recorded. The building now serves as a royal palace. The adjacent houses and shops seen here are long gone. Van Kessel depicts figures drawn from a wide range of social backgrounds and nationalities. The inclusion of sleighs used to move goods relates to city ordinances restricting carts and wagons.

A friend of Meindert Hobbema, Van Kessel may have been a pupil of Jacob van Ruisdael. He specialised in city and panoramic views.
ProvenanceChristie's, 11 July 1930, Rt. Hon. Lord North, Wroxten Abbey, Banbury sale, lot 72, bt. Buttery; purchased, Mr Horace Buttery, London, 1930 Exhibition HistoryThe Architecture of Ireland in Drawings and Paintings, 1975

Dutch Paintings of Golden Age from the Collection of the National Gallery of Ireland, Charles W. Bowers Memorial Museum, Santa Ana, California; Midland Arts Council, Midland, Michigan; Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina; Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, Florida; IBM Gallery, New York, 1987

Label TextThis painting depicts Dam Square in Amsterdam, with the recently completed town Hall in the left background. The Dutch considered this building the most ambitious edifice constructed in the Netherlands until then, the Eighth Wonder of the World. It soon became a favourite subject of artists who specialised in painting townscapes. The figures in the foreground, painted by Johannes Lingelbach, represent different social backgrounds and geographical origins. The Amsterdam painter Van Kessel was little-known, but a gifted follower, and possibly a pupil, of Jacob van Ruisdael.