Dam Square in Amsterdam

On the left in the middle ground, the Amsterdam municipal weighing house is depicted. Beneath the porch roof lie bundles of goods to be weighed on the large scales that hang in the gateway. On the right, a view opens up of the Damrak, the city’s inland harbour, a busy scene filled with sailing boats, its far bank on the right densely built-up with a row of gabled houses and storehouses. Beyond it, the tower of the Oude Kerk rises into the evening sky. The square is populated with strollers and groups of elegant ladies and gentlemen in conversation, as well as greengrocers and fishmongers offering their wares for sale. Ruisdael was familiar with the place that he portrayed. After moving from Haarlem to Amsterdam in 1657, he lived near Dam Square, and from 1670 on the square itself, where he took up residence on the south side. From there he must have had approximately the view that is captured in the painting.
Ruisdael painted further versions of views of the Damrak, but in none of these works does the staffage of figures presented here play such a prominent part as in the Berlin painting. As he collaborated in other works with artists who added human figures to his landscapes and views of cities, it may be assumed that this applies especially to the painting in Berlin.
Although Ruisdael’s depiction may appear convincing, this is not a topographically exact reproduction of a city scene. Compared to a drawing, now in Brussels, that he made of the Damrak, in this painting Ruisdael changed the proportions. To give priority to the weighing house in the composition, he reduced the height of the houses on the left and the church tower on the right. Whereas the weighing
house is in the shade and the houses are in the light on the drawing, in the painting the artist opted for a reversal of light and dark. From the shady areas of the architectural surroundings, the square structure of the weighing house emerges in a cool blue-grey – an appropriate ground for the opulently decorated coat of arms of Amsterdam, which shines sumptuously in the subdued luminosity of twilight. Ruisdael, who was primarily a landscape artist, turned to city views relatively late, probably in connection with his growing preference for large-scale forms. They are in no way inferior to his expressive depictions of nature. Just as Ruisdael made the varied appearance of trees beneath a clouded sky visible in his landscapes, his views of cities are not confined to purely topographical representations. They too are conceived “uyt den gheest” (from the spirit) and elevated to poetic paintings of mood. Katja Kleinert und Jan Kelch | 200 Masterpieces of European Painting - Gemäldegalerie Berlin, 2019