River Landscape with the Pellecussen Gate near Utrecht

Jan van Goyen · 1648

This river landscape illustrates the ambivalence of 17th-century Dutch realism, in which artists often depicted actual buildings and sites in otherwise imaginary compositions. The Pellecussen Gate shown here was a medieval tower guarding the towpath along the River Vecht between Utrecht and the village of Oud Zuilens, north of the city. But Jan van Goyen places it in an invented river town. In fact, van Goyen depicted the distinctive tower at least 12 times between 1640 and 1655, always in completely fanciful settings.