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The Lake of Zurich by Jan Hackaert

Jan Hackaert · 1660-01-01

Jan Hackaert painted The Lake of Zurich in 1660, at the height of the Dutch Golden Age. His countrymen were famous for painting ships and sea; Hackaert turned inland instead. The painting is now at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Look at the light breaking across the mountain slopes and settling on still water. The clouds are in motion, light chasing shadow, while the lake catches the mountain glow. Travelers cross the valley floor on foot. The reflection in the water has held in oil paint for over three centuries.

Hackaert was born in Amsterdam in 1628 and traveled into Switzerland, part of the 17th-century European fascination with Alpine scenery. His quiet treatment reflects Dutch landscape traditions applied to a subject still new to his viewers: real mountains.

The painting is an eyewitness to a Lake Zurich before industry, when travelers crossed the valley on foot and a painter could capture an afternoon of moving light over still water.

Details

But here, the weather makes the drama.
But here, the weather makes the drama.
Sunlight breaks across the mountain slopes.
Sunlight breaks across the mountain slopes.
Below, Lake Zurich catches the light.
Below, Lake Zurich catches the light.
Travelers cross the valley floor on foot.
Travelers cross the valley floor on foot.
Oil paint holds this quiet, three centuries later.
Oil paint holds this quiet, three centuries later.
Transcript

1660. The Dutch Golden Age is at its height. But here, the weather makes the drama. Sunlight breaks across the mountain slopes. Below, Lake Zurich catches the light. Travelers cross the valley floor on foot. Oil paint holds this quiet, three centuries later.