Philips Koninck, (Dutch, 1619–1688), Panorama of Holland, circa 1655–60, oil on canvas, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Kat. 821 A.

Audio Description

This painting, entitled Panorama of Holland was made around 1655–60 by the Dutch artist Philips Koninck, who lived form 1619 to 1688. It is oil on canvas and belongs to the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, where its catalogue number is 821 A.

This five and a half foot wide painting shows a panorama of a flat landscape, taken from the viewpoint of a low hill. The foreground, an open high level ground, is brightly lit by the sun. Stands of trees occupy the middleground, from which the rooftops of buildings emerge. At the center, a road winds into the distance. Tiny figures on horseback and grazing livestock populate these zones of the painting. The landscape includes waterways in the background as it extends to the horizon. The cloudy sky takes up nearly half of the composition. The painting’s palette is dominated by yellow and brown hues.

Label Copy

This painting, entitled Panorama of Holland was made around 1655–60 by the Dutch artist Philips Koninck, who lived from 1619 to 1688. It is oil on canvas and belongs to the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, where its catalogue number is 821 A.

During the seventeenth century, Dutch artists invented the genre of naturalistic landscape, recording their modest land—its fields, dunes, forests, and rivers—in paintings and prints. Here, Philips Koninck offers an expansive view of the Dutch countryside. His panoramas, with their loose brushwork and palette of yellow and brown hues, are noteworthy for their vastness and majestic beauty, making these works some of the most creative among Dutch landscapes.

Panorama of Holland was exhibited in every venue of the U.S. exhibition tour. Other examples of Dutch landscape painting among the “202,” such as Jacob van Ruisdael’s Landscape with a View of Haarlem and Hercules Seghers’s View of Rhenen, also made the full tour, offering American visitors a broad view of this tradition.

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