Dutch Panorama Landscape with a Distant View of Haarlem

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Artist: Philips Koninck (Dutch, 1619–1688)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 150 × 203 cm
Museum: SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
Rights: Public Domain Mark

Here it is, then, the natural-looking, grand landscape spreading itself before our eyes. Our gaze is allowed to wander all the way out to the horizon, where we discover the city of Haarlem. We are clearly looking at flat, carefully tilled Dutch agricultural land here; land that man has taken from nature and cultivated. The term "landscape" (landschap) is originally Dutch and was first introduced as a painters' term.

It harks back to the time where the mainly Protestant part of The Netherlands claimed their independence in the 16th century; the first pure depictions of landscapes emerge around 1620. Landscape painting served a specific purpose for a people who were constantly threatened by flood and by inner and outer conflict. It conveyed a message that nature could be controlled, and that in spite of all differences there is still something the Dutch all have in common: The reclaimed land.