Herengracht, Amsterdam (c. 1661): Art, History and Details

Herengracht, Amsterdam (c. 1661) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Jan Wijnants (Dutch, 1635–1684).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This painting is the first depiction of Amsterdam in which a canal is given prominence. Flanked by picturesque, tree-lined avenues and exquisite mansions, the Herengracht (Gentleman's Canal) was one of Amsterdam's most important waterways. The precision with which Jan Wijnants portrayed the topography of the city enables the viewer to witness the development of this location. To the left of the canal, Wijnants depicted a lumber yard, on which, in 1662, the architect Philip Vingoboons built four houses for the merchant Jacob Cromhout. Furthermore, soon after Wijanants completed this painting the canal was expanded.

Object facts

• Title: Herengracht, Amsterdam
• Date: c. 1661
• Creator attribution: Jan Wijnants (Dutch, 1635–1684)
• Culture: Netherlands
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 87 x 101 x 9.2 cm (34 1/4 x 39 3/4 x 3 5/8 in.); Unframed: 67.2 x 81.6 cm (26 7/16 x 32 1/8 in.)
• Collection: P - Netherlandish-Dutch
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1964.419

Collection credit

Gift of Harry D. Kendrick

Further reading listed by the museum

• Sotheby's (Firm). Highly Important Old Master Paintings. July 3, 1963.
• Mary Suzor, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, March 25, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.
• Sotheby's (Firm). Highly Important Old Master Paintings. July 3, 1963.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.