Canal House Gable on the haarlemmerstraat Painting

Is there anything that more definitively epitomises Amsterdam than the canal house gables? They are featured in almost every piece of tourist tat, merchandise and memorabilia. The overuse of their image can result in a sort of artificial familiarity that creates a blindness to them and dissuades us from really looking up. In addition to this, Amsterdam has so much going on at street level that we are sometimes distracted from the treasures above. But when we do take the time to cast our gaze skyward we are rewarded with a seemingly endless parade of beautifully carved stone swags, scrolls and embellishments. This roof, on the junction of Haarlemmerstraat and Korte Prinsengracht, is a beautiful example of the exemplary quality of the masonry that exists on and around the canals. This delicate and fluid stonework has remained unpainted, which is in itself a bit of a rarity as most of the copings are painted cream or white. This unpainted state has allowed moss and lichens to take up residence on the surface of the stone providing these wonderful green and yellow hues that afford an almost organic appearance. But it is the crisp December morning light that reveals the sculptural quality of the stonework and punches out the hoisting hook.