The Oude Waag in Amsterdam Seen from the North-East
1834
Medium
Graphite, gray, blue-gray and brown wash
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 1/2 × 7 3/16 in. (11.4 × 18.2 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Karen B. Cohen Fund, 2014
Accession Number
2014.485.4
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1834, Danish artist Martinus Rørbye captured the majestic Oude Waag, Amsterdam's historic Old Weigh House, in this intimate drawing viewed from the northeast. Rørbye, a key figure in Denmark's Golden Age of painting, was traveling through the Netherlands that year, sketching architectural gems amid the city's canals and bridges. The Oude Waag, a 15th-century Gothic structure once central to the city's bustling trade as a weighing station for goods, stands as a symbol of Amsterdam's mercantile golden age. Rendered on a modest 4½ × 7⅜-inch sheet, the work employs graphite for precise outline...