GERRIT ADRIAENSZ. BERCKHEYDE | Cavaliers on horseback resting outside an inn with a courtyard beyond

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 13 December 2001, lot 147.

Gerrit Berckheyde was born in Haarlem as the sixth child of Cornelia and Adriaen Berckheyde. He likely trained under his elder brother Job, who was also an artist. The brothers travelled widely throughout the Rhineland in the 1650s by visiting Cologne and Heidelberg, where they were appointed as court painters to the Elector Palatine Karl-Ludwig. After a few years, they returned to Haarlem where they were to remain active for the rest of their lives; in 1660, Gerrit became a member of the Guild of Saint Luke. He was one of the earliest Dutch specialists in architectural townscapes, painting views of Haarlem, Amsterdam, and the Hague.