HEYDEN, JAN VAN DER (1637-1712), the Dutch painter, was born at Gorcum in 1637, and died at Amsterdam on March 28, 1712. He was an architectural landscape painter. According to Houbraken he was first apprenticed to a glass painter. There is no evidence to show who was his master. What dis tinguishes his work is the careful and detailed draughtsmanship. It is said of him that he painted every brick in his buildings and the mortar in the joints. The compositions are pleasing—the clear atmosphere, the play of the sunlight, the colour of the vari ous buildings, the green of the foliage, contribute to a fine colour scheme, the scenes enlivened by accessory figures. In 1690 he published his Brandspiritenboek (Fire engine book) for which he etched a number of plates. His work may be seen in most Euro pean galleries and is also found in numerous private collec tions. Besides his architectural pieces and landscapes he left a small number of studies of still life and some charming studies in chalk.
See Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue of Dutch Painters (1927) ; C. G.'t Hooft edited a volume of reproductions of Van der Heyden's views of Amsterdam in 1912, on the second centenary of the painter's death.