Gezicht op een stad aan een rivier Possibly 1613 - 1622

Rombout van den Houte rendered this city view on paper with pen and brush, using primarily grey and brown ink. Immediately, one’s attention is drawn to the dynamic arrangement of forms that direct the eye across the landscape. The composition is structured by the contrast between the densely worked foreground—marked by architectural elements and steep cliffs—and the lighter, more diffuse rendering of the distant city and sky. This juxtaposition creates a spatial tension, pulling the viewer between the detailed immediacy of the riverbank and the dreamlike panorama beyond. The calculated use of hatching and stippling generates a textural richness, which complicates the otherwise serene vista. The artist’s strategic deployment of light and shadow suggests an engagement with broader artistic conventions but destabilizes any singular interpretation. This drawing offers a complex interplay of observation and artistic intervention.