Fitzwilliam Museum

Jacob van Ruisdael

Haarlem 1628/9-1682 Amsterdam

Landscape with Windmills near

Haarlem c. 1650-52

Ruisdael's low vantage point makes this unremarkable rural scene dramatic and ominous. Precise details, such as the delicate leaves and the wisp of the smoke curling from the chimney, suggest he painted this after careful observation. This painting is only loosely based on reality however - Ruisdael used artistic license to exaggerate the theatrically of the Dutch country-side.

John Constable

East Bergholt 1776-1837 Hampstead

Landscape with Windmills near Haarlem, after Jacob van Ruisdael

1830

Constable made this copy of Ruisdael's landscape near the end of his career.

Copying Old Master paintings was common for art students, but more unusual for established artists like him.

He wanted this work to encourage his students to study landscape painting Emphasising the drama of Ruisdael' original, Constable demonstrated that landscape could stir the spirit and imagination just as much as paintings telling historical or religious stories.