Village on a River

This small sheet by Jan Jansz. den Uyl shows the Amsterdam artist recording a scene that he probably encountered during a walk outside the city. Once back in his studio, he embellished the view with watercolors in blue, green, gray, and ochre. In the 1620s, when this was made, sketching landscape scenes on-site was still relatively new in the Netherlands. The drawing does not relate to any known work by Den Uyl, who was a noted still life painter, and he probably made it for his own pleasure.