A holiday afternoon on the Zwaenhals, near Rotterdam

We are grateful to Marjke C. de Kinkelder of the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie,The Hague, for her research into the topography of the present work. She identifies the church tower on the horizon to the right as that of the Laurenskerk in Rotterdam. The view shown is from the north/north-east looking towards Rotterdam and the Rubroedsemolen (the wooden mill to the left of the church tower) in the vicinity of the Delftse Poort. The manor house on Zwanseiland, the island in the foreground, was called "Crooswijck" and is known from contemporary maps of Rotterdam. The two swans which feature so prominently on the waterway constitute a visual reference to the name of the house and were invariably included in the views of this area.

Although Pieter Bout was a native of Brussels he painted a number of views in the Rotterdam area. He was influenced by Rotterdam artists such as Egbert van der Poel (1621-1664) and Hendrick de Meijer (c. 1620-1683/91). The present painting, with its warmth of light, also shows the Italianate influence which was so prevalent in Dutch painting of the mid-seventeenth century.