# Landscape with a Church by a Torrent

- By: Jacob van Ruisdael (Dutch, 1628/29–1682)
- Date: c. 1670
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: Framed: 100.3 x 83.8 x 10.8 cm (39 1/2 x 33 x 4 1/4 in.); Unframed: 71 x 55.2 cm (27 15/16 x 21 3/4 in.)
- Culture: Netherlands
- Credit line: Bequest of Jane Taft Ingalls
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1962.256)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1962.256/1962.256_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

It is not known if Ruisdael considered his paintings to be social or moral commentary, for no documents from his lifetime indicate how the artist or his patrons interpreted the works. But in this painting dangerous rapids block access to the chapel, and severed logs litter the middleground, hinting at life’s transience and the challenge to reach salvation.