The Keizersfracht and the Westerkerk in Amsterdam

Jan van der Heyden
Oil on panel, 54 x 63 cm.
Eijik and Rose-Marie de Mol van Otterloo Collection, Florida
The Keizersfracht and the Westerkerk in Amsterdam, Jan van der Heyden

Jan Janz van HEYDEN
Gorinchem 1637-Amsterdam 1712

Jan van der Heyden was born at Gorinchem in 1637, van der Heyden had moved with his family to Amsterdam by 1650. He was said to have been the pupil of a glass-painter. His preferred subject was architecture or townscape and many of his works were topographical, but he was also capable of architectural fantasies. As can be seen from his works, although he lived in Amsterdam all his life, he travelled in the southern Netherlands and Germany. In addition to painting, he organized Amsterdam's street-lighting and fire-fighting in Amsterdam. He died in Amsterdam on 28 March
1712.

from:
The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer, John Nash, London, 1972