The roofs of Dordrecht, seen from the south, are visible on the skyline. In the centre are the Grote Kerk (Great Church) & the Vuilpoort (one of the town's water gates, demolished in 1864). These buildings also appear in three landscapes by Aelbert Cuyp in the National Gallery's Collection (' The Large Dort', ' The Small Dort' & ' The Maas at Dordrecht in a Storm'). On the right is the Groothoofdspoort (a watergate which still survives), also shown in ' Scene on the Ice outside Dordrecht' by Calraet & 'A View across a River near Dordrecht '' (?)' by Bakhuizen. This picture once bore a false signature of Aelbert Cuyp but is probably by Willem van Drielenburgh; the remains of the signature support this attribution. Although van Drielenburgh is not recorded in Dordrecht before 1668, the painting was probably painted earlier, about 1655-60. ...

The picture probably dates from the 1660s when Ruisdael was living in Amsterdam. It was first recorded in an Amsterdam collection in the 19th century. Ruisdael painted many waterfalls from the late 1650s onwards; they were inspired by the work of the Amst ...

The town has not been identified, the two figures in classical dress in the lower right-hand corner may be Aeneas & Sibyl. This picture was formerly attributed to Cornelis van Poelenburgh, but van Lint painted a number of Italian views of this type to wh ...

Moucheron conjures up an idyllic vision of the Roman Campagna, based no doubt on drawings made during his visit to Italy. There are strong similarities with ' Shepherd & Shepherdess amidst Ruins' (Dresden) by de Moucheron's master, Jan Asselijn (died 1652). It probably dates from about 1660, shortly after Moucheron's return to Amsterdam. ...

Potter's style in this work is very close to that of Karel Dujardin as seen, for example, in a painting of 1656 in the National Gallery, ' Farm Animals with a Boy & Herdswoman'. Although Dujardin was the older artist, Potter may well have been the origin ...

Isack van Ostade is best known for his winter scenes of peasants on the ice (see 'A Winter Scene' also in the National Gallery's Collection). He also painted a few delicate landscapes, of which this is a rare, dated example. Sadly he died young
- before t
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In the story of the Judgement of Paris, which derives from Homer's ' Iliad' (XXIV, 25-30), Paris, was asked at the wedding of Peleus & Thetis to determine who was the fairest of the goddesses Venus, Minerva & Juno. Paris decided in favour of Venus, as ...

The story is told in the Book of Tobit (6: 1-3). Tobias was sent by his blind father Tobit to collect a debt. He was escorted by the Archangel Raphael & when a fish attacked him as the crossed the river Tigris, Raphael told the boy to kill it & remove ...

Wijnants shows the dune landscape close to his native city of Haarlem. The figures are not by Wijnants but are probably the work of his collaborator, Adriaen van de Velde. ...

One of the predella panels for the high altarpiece of S. Giusto alle Mura, just outside Florence, probably painted in 1479. In answer to the prayers of Saints Justus & Clement the granaries of Volterra, then besieged by Vandals, were miraculously repleni ...