Note: Your tags will not be submitted until you login Create account?
Exit
View of the Westerkerk, Amsterdam

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

What things, ideas or objects can you see in this artwork?

i

Things are objects or ideas portrayed in the artwork. For example: apple, dog, smile, celebration, etc.

What do we mean by ‘things’?
Can you find what you’re tagging from this list? If so, please select it.
There are records to display, please narrow your criteria
Add as many tags as you want Need help?

Things you’ve added

You can click a tag below to remove it.

Things added by others

Review approved things

The ‘things’ below have been verified, but you can still challenge and report them if you think they are incorrect or inappropriate.

Can you name any people depicted in this artwork?

i

People are the names of figures depicted in the artwork. For example: Queen Victoria, Charles Darwin, Florence Nightingale, etc.

What do we mean by ‘people’?
Can you find what you’re tagging from this list? If so, please select it.
There are records to display, please narrow your criteria
Add as many tags as you want Need help?

People you’ve added

You can click a tag below to remove it.

People added by others

Can you name any places depicted in this artwork?

i

Places are geographical locations and venues depicted in the artwork. For example: Glasgow, London Bridge, Belgium, etc.

What do we mean by ‘places’?
Can you find what you’re tagging from this list? If so, please select it.
There are records to display, please narrow your criteria
Add as many tags as you want Need help?

Places you’ve added

You can click a tag below to remove it.

Places added by others

Can you name any events depicted in this artwork?

i

Events are occasions or historical moments shown in the artwork. For Example: WW1, Diamond Jubilee, Birthday Party, Battle of Hastings, etc.

What do we mean by ‘events’?
Can you find what you’re tagging from this list? If so, please select it.
There are records to display, please narrow your criteria
Add as many tags as you want Need help?

Events you’ve added

You can click a tag below to remove it.

Events added by others

How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Buy a print or image licence

You can purchase this reproduction

If you have any products in your basket we recommend that you complete your purchase from Art UK before you leave our site to avoid losing your purchases.

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

This is one of the best seventeenth-century examples of what today we might think of as a high-resolution image. The detail and brushwork are so fine that no matter how closely you look at, or zoom in on, the picture, it never quite seems to pixelate. Yet the painter has made a very strange mistake.

Look carefully at the figures and you will see that they do not have reflections. Take the two little girls, and the dog peeing against the post. We can see the image of the post reflecting back from the surface of the canal, but not the dog or the girls. Figures such as these were normally added after the rest of the painting was complete, so it seems that van der Heyden simply forgot to make the adjustment. He certainly considered the painting finished because it was delivered to his clients, the governors of the Westerkerk in Amsterdam – the church in the middle of the painting.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

View of the Westerkerk, Amsterdam

Date

probably 1660

Medium

Oil on oak

Measurements

H 90.7 x W 114.5 cm

Accession number

NG6526

Acquisition method

Bought, 1990

Work type

Painting

Tags

See a tag that’s incorrect or offensive? Challenge it and notify Art UK.

Help improve Art UK. Tag artworks and verify existing tags by joining the Tagger community.

Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

This venue is open to the public. Not all artworks are on display. If you want to see a particular artwork, please contact the venue.
View venue