View of Haarlem and the Haarlemmer Meer  1646

Van Goyen recorded this small but extraordinary panoramic view from the belltower of the church of St. Bavo in Haarlem, but he arbitrarily placed the same building on the horizon like a signpost suggesting the general locale. Beyond the imaginary foregound, the river Spaarne meanders toward the Haarlemmer Meer (Haarlem Lake), an inland body of fresh water that was filled i...