Castle Nijenrode

By 1665 the banks of the river Vecht, near Breukelen just south of Amsterdam, were filling up with the summer houses of city merchants who had made their money in trade. Nijenrode was not one of them. It was an old medieval castle ringed by moats, and that is what van der Heyden chose to paint here, its brick tower reflected in still water. He had a name for topographical accuracy, yet he rarely copied a place exactly. In his views of Nijenrode he shifted buildings around and even changed their materials to build the picture he wanted, so a scene that looks precisely observed is partly invented. The castle outlived the painter. Today, restored, it still stands on the Vecht as Nyenrode, home to a Dutch business university.