The Church at Maarssen
Jan van der Heyden (Gorinchem 1637 – Amsterdam 1712)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1666 - 1674
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
349 x 413 mm (13 3/4 x 16 1/4 in)
Order this imageCollection
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
NT 1246495
Caption
Van der Heyden found fame and fortune in 17th-century Amsterdam as an inventor and city planner but is now better-known for his work as a pioneering townscape painter. Always meticulous in his attention to detail, in this instance he has captured every irregularity in the brickwork of the building on the left-hand side of the composition. This is one of a series of views of the Netherlandish village of Maarssen and its surroundings which he composed between 1666 and 1674 in connection with his dealings with the Huydecopers, a powerful Amsterdam family who owned much of this area. Curiously, van der Heyden kept the majority of these pictures, including this one. This may have been to signal his links with an influential patron, or perhaps to advertise the acuity of his eye and technical savvy which he brought to all aspects of his career. Van der Heyden did not always paint his own figures. In this example he probably called upon Adriaen van de Velde to supply the easy-going atmosphere of country life, introducing pigs basking in the sun and parishioners making their way to church in a leisurely fashion. The companion to this picture, called The Harlem Gate, Amsterdam, is in the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Church at Maarssen by Jan van der Heyden (Gorinchem 1637 – Amsterdam 1712) with figures probably by Adriaen van de Velde (Amsterdam 1636 - 1672), c.1666-74. A view of Maarssen which lies on the river Vecht, north of Utrecht, with the Romanesque church in the centre; a brick building adjoins it at the left; a road runs in front; on the road a peasant stands conversing with a woman and boy; in front of the cottage are pigs and two dogs. Monogram inscribed on fence at left: "VH". (Pentiments showing through animals.)
Provenance
Sold at the death of the artist's widow, 18 May 1712, series 3, lot 20, 'de kerk van Maarse [sic] onder andere met verkens gestoffeerd'; probably van Kretschmar sale, Amsterdam, 29 March 1757, lot 38; purchased by de Neufville, 1770, lot 38: 'Een Stukje met Gebouwen in een landschap, door Jan van der Heyden, hoog 13 1/4, breet 15 1/2 diumen'; J.G. Kamer (or Cramer) sale, Amsterdam, 13 November 1769, lot 46; purchased by A. and J. Hope en bloc with the collection of J. and P. Bisschop, Rotterdam; Philip Henry Hope by 1834; his nephew, Henry Thomas Hope of Deepdene (1808-1862), thence to his widow (d. 1867) and grandson, Francis Pelham-Clinton Hope, 8th Duke of Newcastle (1866-1941), who sold it to Colnaghi and Wertheimer, 1898; P.A.B. Widener (1834-1915), Philadelphia by 1900; his sale (anonymous), Amsterdam, 10 July 1923, lot 111; date of acquisition by Margaret Greville(1863-1942) not recorded. Bequeathed in 1942 by Margaret Helen Greville DBE (1863-1942) to the National Trust, along with the Polesden Lacey Estate in memory of her father William McEwan MP (1827-1913). [The probate inventory of January 1943 shows this item found on the record for Polesden Lacey pictures, drawings etc., stored in the cellar, page 160.]
Credit line
Polesden Lacey, The McEwan Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Recto: VH (signed, in monogram) Verso: in ink on stretcher bar: 15505/(7316), and on printed label: 15505; and on small circular label above: A/Hol/ (F)
Makers and roles
Jan van der Heyden (Gorinchem 1637 – Amsterdam 1712), artist probably Adriaen van de Velde (Amsterdam 1636 – Amsterdam 1672), artist
References
Smith 1829-42 John Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters, 8 vols and supplement, London, 1829-42, vol.V, no.100 Pictures by Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, French and English Masters (exh cat) British Institution, London, June 1854, no.3 (or 11) Waagen 1854-7: Gustav Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain, 3 vols. (translated by Lady Eastlake) with a supplementary volume: Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain, London, 1854-7, vol.II, p.123 Works by the Old Masters and Deceased Masters of the British School (exh cat), Royal Academy, London, 3 January - 12 March 1881, no.111 Pictures of the Dutch and Flemish Schools Lent to the South Kensington Museum by Lord Francis Pelham Clinton-Hope (exh cat) South Kensington Museum, London, 1891, no.21 Wertheimer 1898 A. Wertheimer, Catalogue of the Hope Collection of Pictures of the Dutch and Flemish Schools, London, 1898, no.21 Widener 1900, P.A.B. Widener, Catalogue of Paintings Forming the Collection of P.A.B. Widener: Ashbourne near Philadelphia, 2 vols, Paris, 1900, vol.II, no.211 Bredius 1912 A. Bredius, 'De Natalenschap van Jan van der Heyden's Weduwe', Oud Holland, XXX, 1912, p. 136 Hofstede de Groot 1913, Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, Pictures in the P.A.B. Widener Collection at Lynnewood Hall, Philadelphia, 1913, no.18 Hofstede de Groot 1907-28: C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 8 vols., London 1907-28, vol.VIII, no.100 Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century (exh cat) Arts Council travelling exhibition, 1945, no.10 Dutch Pictures 1450-1750 (exh cat) Royal Academy, London, 22 November 1952 - 1 March 1953, no.508 Dutch Painting of the Seventeenth Century (exh cat) Ferens Art Gallery, Kingston-upon-Hull, 6 June - 2 July 1961, no.44 Polesden Lacey, Surrey [The National Trust; St. John Gore] 1964, p.37, no.54 Wagner 1971 H. Wagner, Jan van der Heyden, Amsterdam-Haarlem, 1971, p.81, no.66 Schwartz 1983 Gary Schwartz, 'Jan van der Heyden and the Huydecopers of Maarsseveen', The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal, vol. 11, 1983, p.216 Chu 2017: John Chu, The Pictures at Polesden Lacey, National Trust, 2017, p.9