View of Omval

View of Omval (a village which, in Rembrandt’s day, was some six kilometres from Amsterdam) is one of a series of small Dutch landscape views created in the 1640s. The artist portrays a fertile piece of land, a polder, drained between 1625 and 1629, that became a popular recreational area for Amsterdam’s wealthy inhabitants, who built summer residences there. Seen in the background are houses, outhouses and windmills on the opposite river bank, rendered in supple lines. In contrast to this luminous section, an old, twisted willow tree is shown in the left foreground. A couple of young lovers is almost completely obscured in its deep shade. A solitary figure of a man wearing a broad−rimmed hat and a dagger at his side stands with his back to the viewer. Rembrandt effectively experimented with the combination of various printmaking methods. The soft, “interrupted” lines of the etching define the horizon, while the clear, sharp lines of the copper engraving model the old tree, with the velvety softness of the drypoint technique deepening its dark shades. The landscape is perceived here as a section of a natural setting where people live and relax, far from the hustle and bustle of civilization.