Oil painting, 'River Scene: City and Cathedral', Jan Meerhoud, mid 17th century

A view of a city with a prominent cathedral (probably Gorinchem) seen from the river and sailing boats under an ominous cloudy sky.

Bequeathed by Rev. Alexander Dyce

Bequeathed by Rev. Alexander Dyce, 1869
South Kensington Museum Art Handbooks. The Dyce and Forster Collections. With Engravings and Facsimiles. Published for the Committee of Council on Education by Chapman and Hall, Limited, 193, Piccadilly, London. 1880. Chapter I. Biographical Sketch of Mr. Dyce. pp. 1-12, including 'Portrait of Mr. Dyce' illustrated opposite p.1.

Science and Art Department of the Committee of Council on Education, South Kensington Museum.A Catalogue of the Paintings, Miniatures, Drawings... Bequeathed by The Reverend Alexander Dyce. London, 1874. A 'Note' on page v comments, 'This catalogue refers to the Art portion of the Collection bequeathed to the South Kensington Museum by the Reverend Alexander Dyce, the well-known Shakespearian scholar, who died May 15, 1869'. The Catalogue. Paintings, Miniatures, &c. by Samuel Redgrave notes of the 'Oil Paintings', 'The strength of Mr. Dyce's valuable bequest to Department of Science and Art does not lie in [this] portion ... which is in its nature of a very miscellaneous character. The collection was made apparently as objects offered themselves, and without any special design.' Dyce's main interest was in literary subjects, and this is reflected in many of the paintings he bequeathed to the V&A.

Historical significance: Originally catalogued as 'Painter unknown, Dutch School' (Dyce Collection catalogue, 1874), the attribution to Meerhout was made in 1907 upon comparison with a signed picture by this artist then in the collection of Arthur Kay (sold American Art Association, New York, 1-3 Dec. 1927, lot 245, repr.). The attribution is a reasonable one; comparison may also be made with a similar composition in the Leicester Art Gallery, View of Gorkum (Gorinchem): D.45 could conceivably be a different view of the same city (Leicester Museums & Art Gallery, Collection of paintings, 1958, p. 37, pl. 2G).

Jan Meerhoud (1610?-1677) was born in Gorinchem and probably died in Amsterdam. Little is known about his life and very few of his paintings survive. He may have been a student of the nocturne painter, Aert van der Neer. His output is chiefly of riverscapes by day or moonlight. He represented his native city of Gorichem several times from different viewspoints. Meerhout has a particular way of depicting the water as if stirred by the wind, and reflecting an ominous sky. His interest in atmospheric effects and his earthy monochrome palette suggests the influence of Jan van Goyen, as may be seen in his River landscape, Instituut Collectie Nederland, (NK 1856), Amsterdam.

Townscape, long a popular theme in prints, arose as a distinct category of painting, expressive of civic pride, in the Netherlands during the 17th century. Van Goyen, Van Ruisdael, Cuyp and Johannes Vermeer all painted views of their native towns

Jan Meerhoud (1610?-1677) was born in Gorinchem and probably died in Amsterdam. Nothing is known about his life and very few paintings survived. He is considered to belong to the school of the famous nocturne landscape painter, Aert van der Neer.

This painting is a good example of his little known output that chiefly includes riverscapes by day or moonlight. He apparently represented several times his native city of Gorinchem focusing on the pictorial rendering of atmospheric effects.

DYCE.45