Norwegian Landscape with Waterfall

During his lifetime, Ruisdael already had an excellent reputation as a landscape painter, as well as having graduated Doctor of Medicine.

Since he had never visited Scandinavia, he probably adopted the motif from a colleague. The lofty fortress towering into the clouds recurs frequently in Ruisdael's paintings. The rushing water, carrying with it whole oak-trunks, may be seen as a symbol of the transience of earthly life.