Terms and conditions of use
The watermill
(c. 1660)
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
63.3 × 68.7 cm (image) 64.7 × 70.8 cm (canvas)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1922
© Public Domain
Gallery location
17th Century & Flemish Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Jacob van Ruisdael is often regarded as the finest Dutch landscape artist of the seventeenth century and one of the most influential Dutch artists internationally at that time. Unlike many artists, he did not specialise in a particular landscape type but painted a wide variety of subjects – including seascapes, townscapes and winter scenes – with equal passion and virtuosity. Instead of painting idyllic landscapes, Ruisdael charged his subjects with strong spiritual and moralising content.
Artwork Details
Inscription
inscribed in black paint l.l.: JvR (monogram)
Accession Number
1249-3
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Dame Carol Colburn-Grigor CBE through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
Labour, Industry and Machinery Landscapes Structures
Subjects (specific)
clouds ponds (water) trees water mills
Frame
Reproduction, 2005, based on a Dutch frame from 1652
Frame
The former frame on Ruisdael The watermill, c.1653, acquired 1922, had been cut down from a larger format on all sides, reducing the ‘frieze’ section and creating an imbalance through the dominance of the, now oversized, corner ornament.
A note in the Felton correspondence states: ‘the compo. frame has been replaced by a carved wood frame’, suggesting the frame that came with the painting to Melbourne was a revision of the framing at the time of acquisition.
The proposal to reframe the Ruisdael came in 2005 at the time the painting was cleaned.
The frame design comes from 1652, a year before the painting.
The frame was made from coachwood (pink sycamore), stained to an ebonised finish.
The frame was fitted to the painting in 2005.
Frame Details
Framemaker
Reproduction - crafted by the NGV
Date
2005
Materials
ebonised coachwood