Description
The Mill is Rembrandt’s landscape from 1645–1648: on a high bulwark above still water stands a windmill, its sails catching the last light under a blue and steel-grey sky, while below a woman washes linen and a man in red rows a boat. The original, oil on canvas, is 87.6 cm high and 105.6 cm wide and belongs to the National Gallery of Art in Washington. We paint it by hand in oil on canvas in 8 landscape sizes, from 50 x 40 to 200 x 165 cm, or to your own measurement, and show it to you in a photograph before dispatch.
| Title: | The Mill |
| Other titles: | De molen · Landscape with a Windmill |
| Painter: | Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669) |
| Year painted: | 1645–1648, Amsterdam |
| Original size: | 87.6 cm x 105.6 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Baroque, Dutch Golden Age |
| Located at: | National Gallery of Art, Washington (acc. no. 1942.9.62) |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
The Mill – Rembrandt
What does The Mill show?
From the left a bulwark shored up with stones juts into the picture; on it stands a wooden windmill with four sails, turned to the right so that the sails catch the light. Silvery water winds round the bulwark, and on the far side lies a dark bank with trees and two cows by the water.
A woman leads a child by the hand down the path to the water, a barefoot man leans against the wall, a woman in orange washes linen at the edge, and in the lower right a man in a red jacket and cap rows a boat. Dark clouds pile up above, with blue sky shining beyond.
Why is The Mill so famous?
Because in the nineteenth century it was thought one of Rembrandt’s greatest works. According to the National Gallery, admirers praised the dark silhouette of the mill against a stormy sky and linked it to his hard years, unaware that the golden tone and the gloom came from darkened varnish.
The restoration of 1977–1979 removed the old varnish and brought back the blue sky. The gallery now reads the mill as a guardian protecting the land and its people; Rembrandt may have been thinking of his father’s mill on the ramparts of Leiden.
Is The Mill really by Rembrandt?
The National Gallery lists it as Rembrandt. Wikipedia notes that the attribution was long regarded as doubtful and is still not accepted by every expert.
Look closely and you will see the play of light on the sails: according to Wikipedia each of the four sails is painted in a different balance of light and dark. That observation comes from the Wikipedia article on The Mill.
Where is the original, and how did it reach America?
In the National Gallery of Art in Washington, accession number 1942.9.62, part of the Widener Collection. Before that it was in the famous collection of the Dukes of Orléans in Paris, then with the Marquesses of Lansdowne at Bowood.
In April 1911 it was bought by Peter A. B. Widener of Philadelphia, and his son Joseph E. Widener gave it to the gallery in 1942. Wikipedia gives £100,000 as the price of the 1911 sale.
The Mill or another Rembrandt?
The Mill suits a living room, an office or a country house, for anyone who loves water, sky and calm. Rembrandt’s other landscape in our range is the wilder Stormy Landscape, and water and sky in a storm come with The Storm on the Sea of Galilee.
For a lone traveller in a landscape there is The Polish Rider, and for quiet thought Aristotle with a Bust of Homer. Landscapes, portraits and the other famous Rembrandt paintings we offer are on the Rembrandt page.
How does our painter paint your Mill?
This Rembrandt reproduction follows the original after its restoration, with a blue sky rather than the old yellow varnish. In oil on canvas the painter first lays in the sky and water in broad layers, then the dark bulwark and the mill.
Last come the small figures, the cows on the bank and the light on the sails. An oil painting reproduction like this has a depth of sky that a paper print does not reach.
Which size is right for your room?
In short: 50 x 40 or 63 x 51 cm for a shelf, a hallway or a narrow wall, 70 x 58 or 90 x 72 cm above a chest of drawers or a desk, 110 x 94 and 145 x 115 cm above a sofa, and 155 x 135 and 200 x 165 cm for large walls.
There are 8 landscape sizes (width x height): 50 x 40, 63 x 51, 70 x 58, 90 x 72, 110 x 94, 145 x 115, 155 x 135 and 200 x 165 cm. The original measures 105.6 x 87.6 cm, so 110 x 94 cm is almost its size. As a painting for the living room above a 2 m sofa, 145 x 115 cm is right.
The horizon sits about a third of the way up, so hang it a little higher, with its centre around 155 cm from the floor.
Can I choose another size or a frame?
Yes. The original is roughly 6 : 5 in proportion; in that ratio the bulwark, the mill and the boat in the corner all stay. Send us the size you want for The Mill and we will quote a price and a delivery date.
We send The Mill rolled, on a stretcher bar or framed; every canvas painting is stretched and framed by our workshop in Slovenia. You compare frames for The Mill in the 3D application, which is only for that; seeing it on your own wall is a separate service. Dark wood stresses the bulwark, a gold frame the light on the sails.
When will the painting be with me?
We paint The Mill to order and dispatch it within 15 to 45 working days; the parcel with The Mill travels customs-free to every EU country. A photograph of the finished Mill reaches you before dispatch; whatever you would like different, we correct, and our returns policy applies to every order.
For a new home in the country, a lover of Holland or someone who should choose the size, there is the wall art voucher.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original Mill?
In the National Gallery of Art in Washington, accession number 1942.9.62.
When was it painted?
The National Gallery dates it to 1645–1648.
Why was it thought a dark painting?
Because of darkened varnish; the 1977–1979 restoration removed it and revealed the blue sky.
Is The Mill certainly by Rembrandt?
The gallery lists it as Rembrandt, but according to Wikipedia not every expert accepts it.
Is your Mill a print?
No, our Mill is a hand-painted copy, painted with a brush in oil on canvas.
How big is the original?
It is 87.6 cm high and 105.6 cm wide. Our sizes run from 50 x 40 to 200 x 165 cm.
Which size goes above a sofa?
Above a sofa about 2 m wide choose 145 x 115 cm, above a smaller one 110 x 94 cm.
Who likes it as a gift?
People who love landscape, water and calm, and those moving to the country.
- Subject: a windmill on a bulwark above the water, under a cloudy and blue sky, with small figures and a boat below.
- Original: 1645–1648, oil on canvas, 87.6 x 105.6 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington.
- Ours: painted by hand in oil on canvas, in 8 landscape sizes from 50 x 40 to 200 x 165 cm or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: the 1977–1979 restoration revealed a blue sky beneath the old varnish.
