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拍品专文
Except for its brief appearance on the art market in 2006, when this picture was heralded as an important rediscovery, Berckheyde’s view of the Grote Markt in Haarlem has been hidden from view in private collections for nearly 170 years. In this sun-drenched vista of the great market-place in the center of the city, the transept of the Grote Kerk (Great Church), dedicated to St Bavo, towers above the fish-market stalls and rises beyond the picture's borders, casting a long shadow over the square below. Gerrit Berckheyde’s lyrical townscapes were not only inspired by the generation of painters that came before him, including Pieter Saenredam and Jan van der Heyden, but also by Samuel Ampzing's poetic descriptions of the city published in Beschryvinge ende lof der stadt Haerlem in Holland in 1628. Taken together with Ampzing's laudatory prose, this view of the city’s civic and commercial center goes beyond the detailed draftsmanship and topographical accuracy for which Berckheyde is best known. The painting emphasizes Haarlem's religious, political and commercial functions, as Ampzing notes in his description of the square, ‘So striking, so spacious, one stands to look around, [here] the city’s authority is established the proud palace, the great vast church, and the markets of fish and meat…’ (ibid., p. 40). He describes the town hall, the seat of the city's government, and likens it to the human soul, ‘How can a country exist where all the morals, where all the discipline of laws is trampled upon, like the soul, the body and bond of life, so is justice the moral of a nation’ (op. cit., p. 48). Haarlem’s town hall, depicted here at the far end of the square, underwent considerable alterations in the 17th century: a wing was added along the right side of the building in the 1620s, windows and entryways were further remodeled in 1630, and the distinctive façade was redesigned by the architect Lieven de Key. Berckheyde's view is populated with the city's merchants manning their stalls and burghers pacing the square, providing visual proof of Haarlem's bustling commerce.
Berckheyde painted many views of Amsterdam and The Hague in the course of his career, however, it is the views of his native Haarlem for which he is best remembered. He joined the painter’s guild there in 1660 and began producing views of the city’s landmarks, drawing inspiration from the illustrations in Ampzing’s book. Berckheyde's interior of St Bavo’s in the National Gallery, London (fig. 1), for instance, takes the same central viewpoint as a drawing by Saenredam, which was engraved by Jan van de Velde for Ampzing's publication (fig. 2). For the present painting, Berckheyde takes a unique and more familiar approach to the city. This viewpoint on the eastern side of the square was just 100 meters from Berckheyde's home on the Jansstraat, which ran north opposite the fish-market depicted at right. His drawings of the square must have been among his most prized possessions, and it appears he reused them throughout his three decades-long career. This particular viewpoint is captured in a pen and brush drawing, now in the Noord-Hollands Archief, Haarlem, which is dated to 1670. He may have used this drawing to produce the present work, as well as two other compositions that are very similar, except for minor differences in the staffage and buildings: one is now in the Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem (dated 1692) and the other, which includes more of the townhouses along the north side of the square, is in the North Carolina Museum of Art (GL.60.17.69; fig. 3). All three paintings can be dated to the last two decades of Berckheyde’s career, when he experimented with new compositional schemes (see C. Lawrence, Gerrit Berckheyde, Doornspijk, 1991, pp. 37-38).
Berckheyde painted many views of Amsterdam and The Hague in the course of his career, however, it is the views of his native Haarlem for which he is best remembered. He joined the painter’s guild there in 1660 and began producing views of the city’s landmarks, drawing inspiration from the illustrations in Ampzing’s book. Berckheyde's interior of St Bavo’s in the National Gallery, London (fig. 1), for instance, takes the same central viewpoint as a drawing by Saenredam, which was engraved by Jan van de Velde for Ampzing's publication (fig. 2). For the present painting, Berckheyde takes a unique and more familiar approach to the city. This viewpoint on the eastern side of the square was just 100 meters from Berckheyde's home on the Jansstraat, which ran north opposite the fish-market depicted at right. His drawings of the square must have been among his most prized possessions, and it appears he reused them throughout his three decades-long career. This particular viewpoint is captured in a pen and brush drawing, now in the Noord-Hollands Archief, Haarlem, which is dated to 1670. He may have used this drawing to produce the present work, as well as two other compositions that are very similar, except for minor differences in the staffage and buildings: one is now in the Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem (dated 1692) and the other, which includes more of the townhouses along the north side of the square, is in the North Carolina Museum of Art (GL.60.17.69; fig. 3). All three paintings can be dated to the last two decades of Berckheyde’s career, when he experimented with new compositional schemes (see C. Lawrence, Gerrit Berckheyde, Doornspijk, 1991, pp. 37-38).