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The Blauwpoort in Leiden in the winter by Abraham Beerstraaten

Abraham Beerstraaten · 1659-01-01

The Blauwpoort in Leiden in the winter, painted by Abraham Beerstraaten in 1659, hangs in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Beerstraaten was about sixteen when he painted it, and dead by twenty-three.

Look for the skaters covering the frozen canal, the barrel-hauler keeping commerce moving across the ice, and the Blauwpoort gate that anchors the scene. Then find the signature: a name that, for centuries, left scholars unsure whether this was painted by Abraham, his father Jan, or his brother Anthonie.

Beerstraaten traveled Holland with his father, both painting winter townscapes during the Little Ice Age. After Abraham's early death, another painter, Abraham Storck, inherited his unfinished canvases. The family's similar styles have confounded attribution for over three hundred years.

A winter scene by a teenage painter, mistaken for his family's work, now sitting in one of the world's great museums. Not bad for a life cut short at twenty-three.

Details

Skaters fill the frozen canal. The whole town is outside.
Skaters fill the frozen canal. The whole town is outside.
The Blauwpoort gate. He traveled Holland painting winter towns with his father.
The Blauwpoort gate. He traveled Holland painting winter towns with his father.
The atmospheric sky with its strong contrasts of light and shadow creates a mood of cold and impending weather.
The atmospheric sky with its strong contrasts of light and shadow creates a mood of cold and impending weather.
The varied architectural styles and textures of the houses reveal Dutch urban life and building practices of the era.
The varied architectural styles and textures of the houses reveal Dutch urban life and building practices of the era.
Transcript

He was about sixteen when he painted this Leiden winter. Skaters fill the frozen canal. The whole town is outside. The Blauwpoort gate. He traveled Holland painting winter towns with his father. He signed it. For centuries, nobody could tell which Beerstraaten it was. He died at twenty-three. Today it hangs in the Rijksmuseum.