View of Haarlem with bleaching grounds
Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/9-1682) nephew of the landscape painter Salomon van Ruysdael, was the most important Dutch landscape painter of the 17th century. As of 1670 he immortalised his place of birth in approximately fifteen `Haerlempjes', the contemporary appellation for views of the city of Haarlem.
In this `Haerlempje', Van Ruisdael painted the town from the northwest, seen from the dunes. Haarlem, with the imposing silhouette and smaller bell tower of the Church of St Bavo, is visible on the low horizon. The sky with its majestic cloud formations fills about two-thirds of the representation. Van Ruisdael created a dramatic sense of depth by means of three sunlit zones. The first consists of the brilliantly lit long strips of linen in the foreground, the second is the middle ground with the dazzling sails of the mills, and the third is the striking townscape on the horizon.
In this painting the artist focuses attention on an important activity in 17th-century Haarlem, namely the textile industry. Processing fabric involved numerous steps. Fabric was successively washed, rinsed, dried and spread out to dry in the bleaching grounds for eight days. Finally, the linen was soaked in lactic acid, washed again and hung or laid out to dry.

View of Haarlem with bleaching grounds is on display at the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague.

Source: Mauritshuis Museum, The Hague