Image: public domain, courtesy of Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
The Threatened Swan
A swan bravely spreads its wings to defend its nest from a dog. In 1800 it became the very first painting bought by the national gallery that later grew into the Rijksmuseum.
🎧 Audio guide available in the 3D museum
Did you know?
- The swan is almost life-size: the canvas is about 1.4 metres high and 1.7 metres wide.
- Look for the small words added later: under the swan, on one egg (Holland) and above the dog.
- Later viewers saw the swan as Johan de Witt, a Dutch statesman, guarding his country from its enemies.
- Asselijn died in 1652, long before anyone saw a political message in his swan.
- Look for the artist's initials, JA, which he used as his signature.
- Asselijn spent years in Rome, where fellow painters nicknamed him Little Crab; he is best known for sunny Italian landscapes.
About the artist
Jan Asselijn (c. 1610–1652) was a Dutch Golden Age painter who traveled in France and Italy and then settled in Amsterdam.
He is known for sunny Italian landscapes and, above all, The Threatened Swan, in which a swan fiercely defends its nest against a dog.
In 1800 that brave swan became the very first painting bought for the new national art gallery, the beginning of today's Rijksmuseum.
More works
Woman Holding a BalanceJohannes Vermeer, c. 1664
Self-PortraitRembrandt van Rijn, 1659
Girl with the Red HatJohannes Vermeer, c. 1669
Young Woman with a Water PitcherJohannes Vermeer, c. 1662
Aristotle with a Bust of HomerRembrandt, 1653
The MilkmaidJohannes Vermeer, c. 1660
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