Landscape with a Square Tower

Landscape with a square Tower is a wonderful example of Rembrandt's skill in combining both real and imaginary motifs in his landscapes. Whilst the smaller buildings at left are of a type commonly found around Amsterdam, the topography is similar to the hilly landscape between Amersfoort and Rhenen. In 1649, Rembrandt travelled with Hendrickje Stoffels to Bredevoort (near Winterswijk), close to the eastern border with Germany, to visit Hendrickje's parents. The route they took can be reconstructed from his drawings, and here we see elements of the landscape they encountered. Dutch artists often included ruins in their landscapes to convey a moral message about the inevitable passage of time and the fragility of man's endeavours, but here the past and present co-exist peacefully, and therefore it need not be interpreted strictly according to this convention.
Cynthia Schneider speculated whether the imaginary element, such as the ruined tower in the present etching, signaled a waning interest in strict landscape, and a desire to move beyond the realistic vocabulary with which Rembrandt had described the Dutch landscape through most of the 1640s. (Schneider, 1990, p. 141.) He continued to produce both real and imaginary views for two more years, before ceasing altogether in 1652. The only landscapes produced after this time were backdrops for figures in outdoor settings. (See: Schneider, 1990, no. 36, p. 152-153).