Artwork
River Landscape with the Fort Saint-Jean and the Chateau Pierre-Scize in Lyon
River Landscape with the Fort Saint-Jean and the Chateau Pierre-Scize in Lyon is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Jan Asselijn. It dates from 1650 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The composition features the Fort Saint-Jean and the Chateau Pierre-Scize as prominent architectural elements within the scene.
Jan Asselijn's 1650 oil painting depicts a specific river landscape in Lyon, France. The composition features the Fort Saint-Jean and the Chateau Pierre-Scize as prominent architectural elements within the scene. In addition to these landmarks, the work includes figures of a man and a horse alongside a ferry operating on the river.
As a landscape painting, the piece focuses on rendering this identifiable geographic location and its daily activities rather than employing complex allegorical symbolism.
Technique & Style
The work is an oil painting on canvas, executed in 1650. It depicts a river scene with the Fort Saint-Jean, the Chateau Pierre-Scize in Lyon, a horse, a man, and a ferry. The composition emphasizes atmospheric perspective and precise rendering of architectural elements, reflecting the Dutch landscape tradition. The brushwork demonstrates careful handling of light and texture, contributing to a balanced formal composition.
History & Provenance
The work titled River Landscape with the Fort Saint-Jean and the Chateau Pierre-Scize in Lyon was painted by Jan Asselijn in 1650 using oil paint. It entered the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston as part of the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection before being transferred to the Yale University Art Gallery. The painting is classified as a landscape and was created during the mid‑17th century. Its provenance traces ownership from its initial execution through the two collecting institutions that now hold it.
The painting River Landscape with the Fort Saint-Jean and the Chateau Pierre-Scize in Lyon by Jan Asselijn is held within the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Physically, the work is located on display at the Yale University Art Gallery. Created in 1650, this oil-on-canvas landscape depicts a river scene featuring a man, a horse, and a ferry near Lyon.
No specific accession number or detailed exhibition history is provided in the available sources. The work remains part of the designated van Otterloo collection, bridging the institutions of Boston and Yale.
Overview
Jan Asselijn’s early‑mid‑17th‑century oil painting, titled River Landscape with the Fort Saint‑Jean and the Chateau Pierre‑Scize in Lyon, presents a panoramic view of the Rhône’s banks near Lyon. Executed around 1650, the work measures roughly a modest size and is part of the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
Context
Asselijn, a Dutch painter known for his Italianate scenes, often incorporated foreign topographies into his work. This Lyon landscape illustrates his interest in depicting distant locales, merging Dutch compositional conventions with a French urban setting, thereby offering viewers a hybrid vision of Northern European landscape tradition applied to a French riverine environment.
Artist & collection
