Moonlit Landscape with a View of the New Amstel River and Castle Kostverloren

A silver moon glows high in the clouded sky, spreading pale light over the New Amstel River in this nighttime scene by Aert van der Neer, painted around 1650. Dark trees crowd the banks and lean toward the still water, while small boats rest quietly at the shore. Off in the distance stands the ruined Castle Kostverloren, a real estate near Amsterdam that once served as a grand country home. Scattered stars dot the upper corners of the sky, tiny points of light in all that darkness.

Van der Neer built his reputation on scenes like this, moonlit nights and frozen winters that most painters shied away from. He understood how light works after dark, catching the way the moon shimmers on water or a faraway fire warms the shadows. Success on the market escaped him, though, and he even ran a wine business to help pay the bills. Time has been kinder to his reputation than his own era was, and paintings like this one are now valued for their peaceful, dreamlike stillness.