View of Bloemendaal, with Haarlem in the distance

One of a number of panoramic views drawn by Waterloo along the coast of Holland in about 1630-40. In the entry to the 1994 catalogue Mr Wim Post kindly supplied details of the topography. The view appears to be taken from the dunes above the village of Bloemendaal, looking south-west over the bleaching fields towards Haarlem. The drawing can be tentatively dated to before 1636, as the spire of the church at Bloemendaal, built in that year, is not visible. The buildings to the left can be identified as the Huis Aelbertsberg, also called the Huis te Bloemendaal. The distinctive silhouette of the Saint Bavo or Grote Kerk in Haarlem are not shown on the horizon as it is situated slightly further to the east. A view very similar to the present drawing is in the Albertina, Vienna (M. Bisanz-Prakken, Die Landschaft im Jahrhundert Rembrandts, Niederländische Zeichnungen des 17. Jahrhunderts aus Graphischen Sammlung Albertina, exhib. cat., Vienna, 1993, pp. 120-1, no. 66). Another panoramic view of Haarlem by Waterloo from a similar viewpoint but looking east to include the Grote Kerk was sold at Christie's, Amsterdam, 9 November 1998, lot 75.
The dunes at Bloemendaal were a favourite vantage point for Dutch artists as the relative elevation allowed a variation from the normal landscape and increased the possibilities for making panoramic views. Other drawings of the same view by Jacob van Ruisdael are in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, and the Museum Bredius, The Hague (S. Slive, Jacob van Ruisdael, a complete catalogue of his paintings, drawings and etchings, New Haven and London, 2001, nos. D5 and D65-67), while a view by the 18th Century artist Cornelis van Noorde was sold at Christie's, Amsterdam, 13 November 1995, lot 222.