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A View in Cologne

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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This is one of at least four versions that Jan van der Heyden made of this scene of Cologne and its half-built medieval cathedral. It is an alluring view. He has captured the lengthy shadows and raking light of a bright morning in a city street populated with people from all walks of life. Most of the architecture is broadly accurate. Building work on the cathedral had ground to a halt 100 years earlier, and the strange contraption on top of the tower on the right is the original medieval crane. The shadowy stump just behind the line of trees is the north-west tower. While the layout of the building is correct, many details, such as the window traceries, are not. And some other buildings – notably the two in the right foreground – appear to be entirely made up.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

A View in Cologne

Date

about 1660-5

Medium

Oil on oak

Measurements

H 33.1 x W 42.9 cm

Accession number

NG866

Acquisition method

Bought, 1871

Work type

Painting

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Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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