  About the Artwork
  
  
  The large size, majestic composition, and mysterious atmosphere of this haunting landscape rank this painting among the most famous compositions of the great Dutch artist Jacob van Ruisdael. Using the cemetery of the Jewish Portuguese community at Oudekerk near Amsterdam as a point of departure, Ruisdael's painting goes beyond mere description. The artist has created an allegorical landscape in which the abandoned tombs, ruined church, storm clouds, and rainbow allude to the transience of all earthly things. This type of subject matter is often seen in still-life paintings, where the “vanitas” theme is represented by a skull, book, flower, or candle. It is unusual to find such symbolic meaning in landscape painting.
  
  
  Title
  The Jewish Cemetery
  
  
  Artwork Date
  1654 or 1655
  
  Artist
  Jacob Isaaksz van Ruisdael
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  1628 or 1629-1682
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  Dutch
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Oil on canvas
  
  
  Dimensions
  Unframed: 56 × 74 1/2 inches (142.2 × 189.2 cm)
  Framed: 67 3/4 × 85 1/8 × 5 1/2 inches (172.1 × 216.2 × 14 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  European Painting
  
  
  Credit
  Gift of Julius H. Haass in memory of his brother Dr. Ernest W. Haass
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  26.3
  
  
  Copyright
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