Artwork
Landscape with Millstone near a Cask
Landscape with Millstone near a Cask is an ink print by the Baroque artist Allart van Everdingen. It dates from 1650 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created circa 1650 by Dutch artist Allart van Everdingen, this etching presents a modest rural tableau. Executed in the black‑and‑white medium of printmaking, the work measures the artist’s interest in everyday landscape scenes that were a staple of 17th‑century Dutch visual culture.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on a solitary figure seated before a small wooden shelter, with a large millstone positioned near a cask. Trees, rocks, and a gentle horizon frame the scene, suggesting a moment of quiet labor or rest in an agrarian setting. The tranquil atmosphere invites contemplation of the simple rhythms of country life.
Technique & Style
Van Everdingen employed traditional etching methods, incising fine lines into a copper plate before printing on paper. The image relies on a restrained palette of grays, using delicate hatching and cross‑hatching to model light and shadow. This approach creates depth, emphasizing the central figure and the weight of the millstone while preserving a soft, atmospheric quality.
History & Provenance
The print belongs to the artist’s broader output of etchings and mezzotints produced during his active period in the Dutch Golden Age. While specific ownership records are scarce, the work has been catalogued among van Everdingen’s surviving prints and appears in several museum collections dedicated to 17th‑century Dutch graphic art.
Artist & collection
Artist
Allaert van Everdingen (Dutch pronunciation: ; bapt. 18 June 1621 – 8 November 1675 (buried)), was a Dutch Golden Age painter and printmaker in etching and mezzotint.
