Grainfields 1664 - 1669

Jacob van Ruisdael’s painting, Grainfields, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is characterized by its dramatic sky, rendered in muted blues and grays. The clouds dominate the composition, their massive forms creating a sense of both awe and foreboding. Ruisdael's handling of light and shadow, particularly in the contrast between the illuminated fields and the darkened foreground, structures the view. The use of atmospheric perspective blurs the distinction between the earthly and the celestial as Ruisdael invites us to consider landscape painting as a reflection on human existence. The painting’s subdued palette and dynamic composition evoke the sublime, a concept prevalent in Romanticism, that speaks to art’s capacity to evoke feelings of awe, terror and transcendence. The windmill in the distance, a symbol of human endeavor, is dwarfed by the natural world, thus suggesting the tension between humanity and nature.