View of Leiden

In the oeuvre of van Goyen a good number of city views occur, and they are set into the wide context of the Dutch countryside, like this beautiful view of Leiden. In this ‘capriccio’ (the artist placed Leiden’s famous St Pancras Church alongside an imaginary wide, winding river) we see how the horizontal begins to dominate over the diagonals at this time. The subdued colouristic touches of yellows, greens, and browns become more luminous, and the sky brightens up.