This panoramic landscape is so grand and visually compelling that one can almost imagine traveling down the winding road that leads to Rhenen, a medieval walled city on the Rhine River. Jan van Goyen situated the viewer on the Grebbeberg, a small hill to the east of the city—a perfect vantage from which to see Rhenen nestled in the undulating terrain on the north bank of the river as well as the vast sweep of the surrounding Dutch countryside. The Rhine flows past the twin-towered Rijnpoort, one of the city’s gates, and continues its meandering course toward the low-lying distant horizon. No less dramatic than the broad sweep of the land is the enormity of the overarching sky, which accounts for almost two-thirds of the painting’s composition. Large clouds funneling in from the left toward the majestic tower of the Cunerakerk at the city’s core not only enhance the visual impact of this architectural masterpiece but also the atmospheric character of the scene.
View of Rhenen has an understated dynamic energy that allows it to pulsate with life. The distant horizon of this expansive landscape is not flat but slopes gently to the left, receding to the point where the Rhine disappears into the distance. Late afternoon light passing through the billowing clouds creates patterns of light and shade throughout the sky and across the land, defining the topography and enlivening the scene. The artist brought depth to the composition by plunging the foreground into shadow and by bathing the water behind it in sunlight. With his vigorous brushstrokes, Van Goyen captured the windblown nature of the grasses and small shrubs that grow along this sandy, arid stretch of land. Finally, he populated the countryside with animals and humans, among them an elegant group of travelers, including two liveried pages preceding a horse-drawn coach and its equestrian escort, who are heading east toward Wageningen. Nearby, a group of men in a wooden skiff transport goods along a quiet inlet of the Rhine.
With its strategic location on one of Europe’s major waterways, Rhenen was a center for trade, an important military outpost, and a well-known pilgrimage site. It received its city rights in the mid-13th century and its protective walls in the 14th century. Throughout the Middle Ages, pilgrims streamed into Rhenen to venerate the relics of Saint Cunera, later housed in the massive Cunerakerk, which was constructed in the mid-15th century, its imposing late Gothic tower completed only in 1531. Around 1630 Rhenen gained added prominence after the King and Queen of Bohemia—Frederick V, the Elector Palatine (1596–1632), and Elizabeth Stuart (1596–1662), who lived as royal exiles in The Hague—built a lavish summer residence, the Koningshuys (Royal House), next to the Cunerakerk.
Nicknamed the “Winter King” due to the short duration of his reign, Frederick chose Rhenen because he was keen on the quality of the hunt available in the region, and because the vistas from the top of the Grebbeberg—the very location Van Goyen adopted for this painting—reminded him of his ancestral home along the Rhine in Heidelberg. The large bluestone-covered table he erected at the summit of the Grebbeberg, where he enjoyed the view of the river valley and surrounding countryside, became known as the Koningstafel (King’s Table). An 18th-century traveler’s pocket atlas specifically recommends visiting this “high mountain” near Rhenen, “which is frequently climbed to gaze at one of the finest views over the Rhine, as well as onto the Neder-Betuwe, and over the Rheensche Veenen.” One of the distant towns visible from the Grebbeberg was Lienden, and Van Goyen depicted its large stone church rising above the horizon at the far left of his painting. This church is specifically identified in a panoramic print that Steven van Lamsweerde (c. 1620–1686) made from the same location.
When Van Goyen made his way to Rhenen from his home in The Hague in the early 1640s, he traveled along the Rhine, a route that other Dutch artists, both before and after him, also followed. Van Goyen; Hercules Segers (c. 1589–c. 1638); Aelbert Cuyp (Dutch, 1620 - 1691), who depicted the Koningstafel in one of his views of the river near Rhenen (c. 1646–1648, private collection); Jacob van Ruisdael (Dutch, c. 1628/1629 - 1682); Lambert Doomer (Dutch, 1624 - 1700); Joris van der Haagen (Dutch, c. 1615 - 1669); and Salomon van Ruysdael (Dutch, c. 1602 - 1670) were all drawn to Rhenen because of the city’s pictorial beauty and historic importance. Judging from the number of drawings and paintings they created of Rhenen and its environs, a ready market existed for their works.
Van Goyen painted almost 30 views of the city. He depicted Rhenen from the east and from the west, from the water and from land, but none of the artist’s other compositions match this painting in scale and dramatic impact, including his smaller depiction of Rhenen from the Grebbeberg now in the Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge. Part of the appeal of the Gallery’s painting is the harmonious character of the scene, particularly in the muted tonalities of the broad landscape, which consists mostly of browns and ochers in the foreground and bluer hues in the distance. The off-center location of the tower of the Cunerakerk provides ample space in the composition for the meandering Rhine. Even though this arrangement may have been strictly intuitive, the placement of the tower accords with the golden mean, a compositional concept important for a number of Dutch artists.
It is not known whether Van Goyen traveled with other artists on his trip to Rhenen in the early 1640s, but he must have spent quite some time in and around the city. He carefully studied Rhenen’s character, and the drawings he then made formed the basis of paintings done in that decade. While specific drawings related to the Gallery’s View of Rhenen have not been identified, Van Goyen’s thorough knowledge of Rhenen’s architecture is evident throughout this work. Aside from the Cunerakerk and the Rhinepoort, Van Goyen depicted a number of other prominent structures that helped create its distinctive city profile. Among these are the Bergpoort, the eastern city gate; the adjacent Huis Trappenburch; the Binnenmolen (Inner Windmill), situated on the northern ramparts; and the Westmolen (West Windmill), located outside the western city walls, along the road to Utrecht. The double-peaked roofline of the Koningshuys, the imposing Renaissance-style palace that the painter and architect Bartholomeus van Bassen (c. 1590–1652) designed for the Winter King and Queen, is visible just to the right of the Cunerakerk.
The distinguished party of travelers in the painting undoubtedly reflects the presence of the court of Elizabeth Stuart in Rhenen. The coach, drawn by four white horses, has an aristocratic appearance, as do the matching liveries of the two pages and the coachman. Their attire, consisting of a distinctive red cape with gold piping, is identical to that worn by the royal couple’s staff in The Hague. Elizabeth continued to use her summer retreat and hunting lodge after her husband’s death and often entertained guests. She spent time in Rhenen in the 1640s and 1650s, and Van Goyen often depicted elegant carriages such as this traveling along area roads or being ferried across the Rhine. Such visual references to Elizabeth’s beloved summer retreat may relate to a buoyant market in The Hague for views of Rhenen, where personal and political connections to the Winter Queen, the sister of King Charles I of England, remained strong. None of Van Goyen’s other views of Rhenen, however, have the grandeur of this remarkable painting, which suggests that it may have been commissioned by a patron with close ties to Elizabeth Stuart.
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.
December 9, 2019
