General Van der Heyden was one of the first Dutch painters to dedicate most of his output to cityscapes and other depictions of groups of buildings. Recent scholarship suggests his approach transcended pure topographical documentation, incorporating systematic autobiographical elements and sophisticated compositional planning that positioned him as an innovative artistic strategist rather than merely a documentarian. In addition, he also painted approximately 40 pure landscapes, of which two on glass. At the end of his career he painted still lifes in indoor settings. Van der Heyden often painted country estates. Several views exist of a country estate owned by
Joan Huydecoper II, the Amsterdam
burgomaster. The inclusion of these discordant elements undermining the country idyll set van der Heyden apart from his contemporary
Gerrit Berckheyde. Various of his compositions include out-of-place statuary, stray farm animals or even urban shepherdesses, which add a feeling of anomaly and contradiction. These elements contribute to the feeling of modernity typical for his works. Only one painting known as the
Triumph of Mordecai (
Staatliches Museum Schwerin), depicts a
history scene. It is probably an early work, which, as behoves an architectural painter, gives much prominence to the buildings in the composition. Despite the apparently naturalistic style, which was so detailed that every single brick was visible, the artist did not strive for topographical accuracy in his city views. Even in his depictions of recognizable sites he regularly adapted and rearranged the architecture and setting to fit his overall compositional goals. Topographical accuracy was clearly not his primary objective. Rather he strove to present an idealized vision of the world around him. Despite the attention to detail, Jan van der Heyden's primary aim was to achieve an overall harmony in his compositions. It is possible that van der Heyden achieved the details in his paintings with the aid of a magnifying glass or even a
camera obscura, lenses and mirrors.
Still lifes Jan van der Heyden painted still lifes in the beginning and at the end of his career. Nine of his still lifes survive. One of his earliest dated still lifes is a
Still life with a bible (signed and dated 1664,
Mauritshuis). This and other early still lifes typically depict a bible and other objects on a table with a carpet. These fortifications had been built during the
Eighty Years War with Spain and had played an important role in achieving the first victories against the Spanish troops. They thus referenced the founding myths of the nation. Van der Heyden may also have selected this map as a reference to the recent hostilities with France. The same map is also included in two of his later still lifes. In the lower right of the painting is a large Protestant Bible opened to the end of
Het Boeck der Psalmen (
Book of Psalms) at the chapter entitled PROVERBIA / Spreuken / SALOMONIS (
Solomon's Proverbs). It is likely that the artist intended to reference the messages in Solomon's Proverbs about wisdom, self-discipline and justice as well as the vanitas message, as one of the Proverbs states that only righteousness can deliver from death. Van der Heyden stopped painting still lifes around 1670 only to return to the subject in the last two years of his life. The motifs, designs and themes in his later still lifes are the same as those of his early still lifes but their execution is very different, much drier. Van der Heyden painted his still life masterpiece
Room Corner with Curiosities at the age of seventy-five in 1712, the year he died. Now in the
Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest the composition reprises the themes of his earlier still lifes with special attention given to the vanitas symbolism. The Bible in the foreground is opened at the well-known line from
Ecclesiastes: 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity'. This message may have resonated particularly with the artist who was nearing the end of his life. The objects present in the composition point to the various aspects of worldly culture, not just wealth but also noble intellectual aspirations. The atlas is again opened on the page showing the fortifications of Bergen-op-Zoom. Other exotic objects reference all the routes plowed by the Dutch merchant fleets: a Turkish carpet, Chinese silk and porcelain, Japanese weapons and a stuffed armadillo from South America. Classical culture, the cradle of European civilization, is represented in the picture above the fireplace, which depicts the tragedy of
Dido, and the German cabinet, which is decorated with an image of
Minerva. Terrestrial and celestial globes introduce a universal dimension into the mix of symbols. ==Museums with Jan van der Heyden's works==