River scene

Mood and space are key in this typically Dutch river landscape conceived by Jan van Goyen in shades of brown. The church is probably based on the Church of St Lawrence in Alkmaar. For the rest, this appears to be an imaginary landscape; Van Goyen often mixed fantasy and reality. He was diligent in sketching from nature, and numerous drawings and sketches have survived. He painted landscapes in his studio, taking these studies from nature as his starting point. There are hundreds of surviving paintings by him, usually coast and river views in brown tones, but he was not just prolific – his work was also of a high standard.