Het Valkhof van Verschuier

The history of the Valkhof goes back to Charlemagne. During his years as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, he is said to have built a palace near Nijmegen. After it was destroyed in the eleventh century, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa had the castle rebuilt a century later. Then it came into the hands of the rulers of Gelre. They converted it into the Valkhof as we know it from seventeenth-century paintings. During the French invasion in 1794, the Valkhof was badly damaged, leaving only the demolition hammer. The paintings of Lieve Verschuier (Rotterdam, 1627 - Rotterdam, 1687) are characterized by spherical faces and strong contrasts between light and dark; techniques that he probably learned during his time as a student in Rome. Verschuier mainly focused on maritime performances. It is therefore not surprising that half of this painting is occupied by ships in the Nijmegen harbor. This work can be seen until September 23, 2018 in Gelderland Grensland, an exhibition at CODA Museum Apeldoorn that brings together landscape painting from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. An excellent opportunity to travel through the province of Gelderland on the basis of masterpieces from four centuries of art history! www.coda-apeldoorn.nl/gg Image: Lieve Pietersz. Verschuier, View of Nijmegen from the east, 1665-1675, oil on canvas, collection Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen