This book examines Jacob van Ruisdael's treatment of five subjects—dunes, grainfields, ruins, rushing water, and woodlands—that recur throughout his career. The paintings, though fictive, show close attention to the complexities of particular environments that can be fruitfully considered “ecological.” The pattern of Ruisdael’s reworking each environment and associated phenomena shows him as laboring over these themes. His work across media conveys something of his demanding and methodical procedure as he sought to achieve pictorially the force, temporality, vitality, and motion of nature. Ruisdael’s paintings decenter humankind within familiar yet reimagined landscapes. His ability to depict nature’s dynamism provided an alternative vision at a foundational moment when landscape, increasingly manipulated and controlled, was most often considered property and investment. His focus on the techniques and processes of his own work to render these entities was essential to his ecological perspective and invites a similar recognition from an attentive viewer.
- Cover
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- I. Dunes: Man in Nature
- Dune Landscapes and Pleasant Places
- Dunes and Wilderness [“Duinen en Wildernissen”]
- Dunes and Country Roads
- The Dune Environment
- II. Grainfields: Making Landscape
- Technē: Labor and Landscape
- The Wild and the Sown
- Processes of Art; Processes of Nature
- Point of View
- III. Ruins: Temporality and Transformation
- Things Fall Apart: Broken Bridges
- Monumental Ruins
- Biological Time: The Jewish Cemetery
- Destruction and Reconstruction
- IV. Water: Matter in Motion
- Water Mills and Mill Runs
- Marine Painting
- Waterfalls
- V. Woodlands and Marshes: Art and Nature
- Woodlands
- Realizing Vital Form
- Sylva
- Landscapes Tamed and Wild
- Conclusion
- Index
- List of Illustrations
- 1. Jacob van Ruisdael, Landscape with a Waterfall, ca. 1660–65, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
- 2. Frederik de Wit (1630–1706), Kaart van de Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden, ca. 1670 en/of ca. 1706, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
- 3. Jacob van Ruisdael, Landscape near the Ruins of the Old Church at Muiderberg, ca. 1646–55, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
- 4. Ansicht von Muiderberg, Atlas Blaeu, Band 15:46. Österreichische Nationalbliothek, Vienna.
- 5. Kaart van het hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland: Haarlem, 1615, Noord-Hollands Archief, Haarlem.
- 6. Jacob van Ruisael, Dune Landscape, 1647–49, Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt a. M. Museum/Art Resource, NY.
- 7. Claes Jansz. Visscher, Plaisante Plaetsen, 1611–12, contents page, etching, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
- 8. Claes Jansz. Visscher (after David Vinckboons), Hare Hunting, 1612, etching, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum.
- 9. Jacob van Ruisdael, Dune Landscape, ca. 1655, The John G. Johnson Collection, 1917, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia.
- 10. J. F. le Francq van Berkhey, Sandpit near Katwijk at the Dutch coast, ca. 1770, in, J. F. le Francq van Berkhey (1729–1812) Natuurlijke historie van Holland, volume 2, Amsterdam: Yntema en Tieboel, 1771, KB Nationale Bibliotheek, Den Haag.
- 11. Jacob van Ruisdael, Dune Landscape with a Blasted Tree near a Cottage, 1648 © Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
- 12. Jacob van Ruisdael, Landscape with a Brook and Willows, ca. 1646, Albertina Museum, Vienna.
- 13. Jacob van Ruisdael, Landscape with a Toppled Willow, ca. 1646, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Kupferstich-Kabinett, Dresden. Museum/Art Resource, NY.
- 14. Jacob van Ruisdael, Dune Landscape, signed and dated 1646 bottom center, Presidential Palace Paramaribo, Surinam. Photograph Myra Winter/Henry Strijk.
- 15. Jacob van Ruisdael, Dune Landscape, signed and dated 1646 right center near the bottom, The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Photograph © The State Hermitage Museum/photo by Aleksey Pakhomov.
- 16. Jacob van Ruisdael, Hunter with Three Dogs Entering a Wood, 1646, Berlin, Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Kupferstichkabinett. Photo: Jörg P. Anders. bpk Bildagentur/Art Resource, NY.
- 17. Jacob van Ruisdael, Path into a Forest, ca. 1648–49, Collection Edmond de Rothschild, Musée du Louvre, Paris. Museum/Art Resource, NY.
- 18. Jacob van Ruisdael, A Wooded Landscape with a Man and two dogs on a path, a cottage beyond, 1647, © 7 July 2022, Christie’s Images Limited.
- 19. Jacob van Ruisdael, Le Buisson, early 1650s, Musée du Louvre, Paris. Museum/Art Resource, NY.
- 20. Jacob van Ruisdael, The Banks of a River, 1649, National Galleries of Scotland. Sir James Erskine of Torrie Bequest to the University of Edinburgh 1835, deposited on loan 1845 with the Royal Institution; loan transferred to the National Gallery 1859.
- 21. Jacob van Ruisdael, The Banks of a River, 1649, (detail). National Galleries of Scotland. Sir James Erskine of Torrie Bequest to the University of Edinburgh 1835, deposited on loan 1845 with the Royal Institution; loan transferred to the National Gall
- 22. Jan Wouwerman (formerly attributed), Elswout,1644–66, Copenhagen, Statens Museum.
- 23. Jan van der Heyden, Elswout Estate in Overveen from the Southeast, 1667, Frans Hals Museum, photo: Tom Haartsen.
- 24. Jacob van Ruisdael, Wooded Plain with Grainfields and a View of the Castle at Heemstede, 1670s, © 5 July 2018. Christie’s Images Limited.
- 25. Kaart van de Heerlijkheid Heemstede. Westen boven; met schaalstok van 150 Rijnlandse roeden; met verantwoording. In een apart cartouche een gezicht op het Huis te Heemstede en in een ander cartouche een paskaart van de Haarlemmermeer met de omliggende
- 26. Jacob van Ruisdael, The View of Haarlem with Bleaching Grounds, ca 1670–75, Kunsthaus Zürich, The Ruzicka Foundation.
- 27. Jacob van Ruisdael, Landscape with a Windmill, 1646, Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1967.19, Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland.
- 28. Jacob van Ruisdael, Evening Landscape: A Windmill by a Stream, ca. 1650, Royal Collection Trust/© His Majesty King Charles III 2023.
- 29. Jacob van Ruisdael, Landscape with Cottage and Trees, 1646, Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle. Museum/Art Resource, NY.
- 30. Jacob van Ruisdael, The View of Naarden and the Church of Muiderberg, 1647, © Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid.
- 31. Jacob van Ruisdael, Distant View with Trees, a Grainfield and Dunes, 1648, Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts, Museum of Fine Arts, The James Philip Grey Collection.
- 32. Jacob van Ruisdael, Dunes with Sheaves in Grainfields, late 1540s–early ’50s, Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen. Museum/Art Resource, NY.
- 33. Jacob van Ruisdael, Grainfields near a Road, late 1650s–early ’60s. Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
- 34. Jacob van Ruisdael, Grainfield in a Hilly Landscape, early 1660s, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille. Museum/Art Resource, NY.
- 35. Jacob van Ruisdael, Landscape with the Old Church at Muiderberg in the Distance, early to mid-1650s, Albertina Museum, Vienna.
- 36. Jacob van Ruisdael, Oak Trees at the Edge of a River, ca. 1649, Musée Condé, Chantilly. Museum/Art Resource, NY.
- 37. Jacob van Ruisdael, The Three Oaks, 1649, etching, National Gallery, Washington, DC.
- 38. Jacob van Ruisdael, Road through Grain Fields near the Zuider Zee, ca.1660–62, © Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid.
- 39. Jacob van Ruisdael, Grainfields near a Road, early 1660s, New York, Metropolitan Museum of art, Friedsam Collection. Museum/Art Resource, NY.
- 40. Jacob van Ruisdael, Grain Fields near the Zuider Zee, ca. 1660, Rotterdam, Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum. HIP/Art Resource, NY.
- 41. Jacob van Ruisdael, Grainfields Flanking a Road, ca. 1670, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Museum/Art Resource, NY.
- 42. Jacob van Ruisdael, Cottages and Clump of Trees by a Small River, 1646, etching, Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet.
- 43. Jacob van Ruisdael, Farmstead in the Dunes, 1646, etching, unique impression, Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet.
- 44. Jacob van Ruisdael, Cottages and Trees on Rising Ground, 1648, © July 7, 2022 Christie’s Images Limited.
- 45. Jacob van Ruisdael, Grainfield at the Edge of a Wood, 1648, etching, Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet.
- 46. Ottens Map. Deze Nieuw Kaart van Gooilandt word met schuldige eerbiedigheidt aan den wel Ed. Gestr. Heer Den Heere en MrBicker Schepen der Stadt Amsterdam Raadt en Advt Fiscaal ter Admiraliteit aldaar Meestersknaap van Gooilandt enz. enz. enz. opdrage
- 47. Claes Jansz. Visscher, “Bergh van de Hr. Ontfanger Witenbogaert” Het landgoed Kommerrust, Naarden, ca. 1650. Stadsarchief, Amsterdam.
- 48. Leeuwen-Berg in Gooiland, Schoemaker’s Atlas van Noord-Holland in 1727, p. 70. Den Haag, Koninklijke Bibliotheek.
- 49. Jacob van Ruisdael, View of Naarden and the Church at Muiderberg, ca. 1667, Darmstadt, Hessisches Landesmuseum, ca. 1667. Photograph and Copyright: Wolfgang Fuhrmannek, Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt.
- 50. Jacob van Ruisdael, Farmstead with the Ruins of Brederode, 1646, Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Kupferstich-Kabinett (no. C 1277). Museum/Art Resource, NY.
- 51. Jacob van Ruisdael, High Stone Footbridge, 1646, Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Kupferstich-Kabinett (no. C 1284) Museum/Art Resource, NY.
- 52. Jacob van Ruisdael, Stone Bridge with a Sluice, 1647, Collection Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Enschede (photography Rik Klein Gotink).
- 53. Jacob van Ruisdael, Wooded River Valley with a Footbridge, signed and dated 1652, © The Frick Collection.
- 54. Jacob van Ruisdael, River Landscape with a Quarry below a wooded Hill, 1655–60, Kunsthaus Zürich, The Ruzicka Foundation.
- 55. Jacob van Ruisdael, Ruins and Cottage in a Dune Landscape, early 1650s, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum.
- 56. Jacob van Ruisdael, Landscape with a mill-run and ruins, ca. 1653, Gift of James and Diana Ramsay Fund through the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1985, Art Gallery of South Australia Adelaide.
- 57. Jacob van Ruisdael, Ruins in a Dune Landscape, late 1640s–early 50s, London, The National Gallery/Art Resource, NY.
- 58. Jacob van Ruisdael, Ruins in a Wood, early 1650s, National Museum in Gdańsk, Gdansk.
- 59. Jacob van Ruisdael, A Ruined Entrance Gate of Brederode Castle, mid-1650s, The John G. Johnson Collection, 1917, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia.
- 60. Jacob van Ruisdael, Ruins of Egmond Castle at Egmond aan den Hoef, ca.1653–55, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Graphische Sammlung. Photo: © Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.
- 61. Jacob Ruisdael, Jewish Cemetery, mid-1650s, Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen. Museum/Art Resource, NY.
- 62. Jacob Ruisdael, Jewish Cemetery, mid-1650s, Detroit, The Detroit Institute of Arts.
- 63. Jacob van Ruisdael, Landscape with a Ruined Monastery at the Foot of a Hill by a River, late 1640s–early 1650s, London, National Gallery/Art Resource, NY.
- 64. Jacob van Ruisdael, Landscape with a Ruined Cloister, second half of the 1650s, Berlin, Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Property of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum Association). Photo: Joerg P. Anders. bpk Bildagentur/Art Resource, NY.
- 65. Jacob Ruisdael, Landscape with a Ruined Monastery at the Foot of a Hill by a River, second half of the 1650s, Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen. Museum/Art Resource, NY.
- 66. Jacob van Ruisdael, Ruined Cottage, ca. 1655, Thaw Collection. The Morgan Library & Museum. 2017.229.
- 67. Jacob van Ruisdael, Ruins of the Manor Kostverloren on the Amstel, ca. 1658, Haarlem, Teylers Museum.
- 68. Jacob van Ruisdael, Ruins of the Manor Kostverloren, ca. 1658, © May 25, 2023 Christie’s Images Limited.
- 69. Jacob van Ruisdael, Reconstruction of the Ruins of the Manor Kostverloren, ca. 1658, Amsterdam, Amsterdam Museum.
- 70. Jacob van Ruisdael, View of the Binnen Amstel at Amsterdam, 1650s, Szépművészeti Museum/ Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.
- 71. Johannes Janssonius, Amstelodami Celeberrimi Hollandiae Emporii Delineatio Nova, ca. 1657 Kaart van Amsterdam. Schaal ca. 1:7.250. Uitgegeven door Johannes Janssonius. De kaart is een navolging van een oudere uitgave die Joan Blaeu op de markt bracht
- 72a. Jacob van Ruisdael, Amstel-Gesichtjes or Little Amsterdam Views—Title print, 1650s, etching. Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam.
- 72b. Jacob van Ruisdael, Amstel-Gesichtjes or Little Amsterdam Views—de Meulen by de Blaeu brugh, 1650s, etching. Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam.
- 72c. Jacob van Ruisdael, Amstel-Gesichtjes or Little Amsterdam Views—de Blaeu burgh, etching. 1650s, Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam.
- 72d. Jacob van Ruisdael, Amstel-Gesichtjes or Little Amsterdam Views—de Jacht-haven, etching. 1650s, Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam.
- 72e. Jacob van Ruisdael, Amstel-Gesichtjes or Little Amsterdam Views—St Anthonis Poort, 1650s, etching. Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam.
- 72 f. Jacob van Ruisdael, Amstel-Gesichtjes or Little Amsterdam Views—De Heer Huydecoopers Huis van achteren, 1650s, etching. Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam.
- 73. Jacob van Ruisdael, Panoramic View of the Amstel Looking toward Amsterdam, ca. 1681, Amsterdam Museum.
- 74. Jacob van Ruisdael, Panoramic View of the Amstel Looking toward Amsterdam, ca. 1681, © Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
- 75. Jacob van Ruisdael, Hogesluis, Museum der bildenden Künste, 1675–81, Leipzig. Museum/Art Resource, NY.
- 76. Jan van Kessel III, Panorama of Amsterdam, 1676, Hermitage, The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Photograph © The State Hermitage Museum/photo by Aleksey Pakhomov.
- 77. Jacob van Ruisdael, Two Watermills and an Open Sluice, dated 1653, Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum.
- 78. Jacob van Ruisdael, Two Watermills, early 1650s, Sotheby’s 8 December 2004.
- 79. Jacob van Ruisdael, Open Sluice at Singraven, ca. 1653, National Gallery, London/Art Resource, NY.
- 80. Jacob van Ruisdael, Two Mills, early 1650s, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg. Photo Musées de Strasbourg, M. Bertola.
- 81. Jacob van Ruisdael, Overshot Watermill, ca. 1650–55, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
- 82. Jacob van Ruisdael, Water Mill at the Edge of a Forest, early 1660s, Sotheby’s 25 January 2007.
- 83. Jacob Ruisdael, Sailing Vessel in a Thunderstorm, late 1640s–early 1650s, p.c.
- 84. Jan Porcellis, Three Damloppers in a Fresh Breeze, 1620s, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
- 85. Jan van Goyen, Fishing Boats in an Estuary at Dark, ca. 1643, © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.
- 86. Jacob van Ruisdael, Rough Sea with Sailing Vessels, late 1650s–early 1660s, National Museum Stockholm.
- 87. Jacob van Ruisdael, Marine drawing (from the Dresden sketchbook), 1646, Kupferstichkabinett, Dresden. Museum/Art Resource, NY.
- 88. Allart van Everdingen, Seascape, Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet.
- 89. Jacob van Ruisdael, Stormy Sea with Sailing Vessels, late 1660s, Madrid, Museo Nacional Thysssen- Bornemisza (no. 1957.2).
- 90. Jacob van Ruisdael, Rough Sea at a Jetty, early 1660s, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas.
- 91. Allart van Everdingen, Snow Storm at Sea, early 1650s, Chantilly, Musée Condé. Museum/Art Resource, NY.
- 92. Jacob van Ruisdael, The Storm Off a Sea Coast or The Breakwater, early 1670s, Paris, Musée du Louvre. Museum/Art Resource, NY.
- 93. Roelandt Savery, Rock Study, ca. 1606–8, Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam.
- 94. Allart van Everdingen, Northern Mountain Landscape with Waterfall, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen.
- 95. Allart van Everdingen, Scandinavian Landscape, 1647, The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Photograph © The State Hermitage Museum/photo by Aleksey Pakhomov.
- 96. Jacob van Ruisdael, Landscape with Waterfall, 1660, The Baltimore Museum of Art. The Mary Frick Jacobs Collection, BMA 1938.199. Photography By: Mitro Hood.
- 97. Jacob van Ruisdael, A Waterfall, 1670s, oil on canvas, 98.5 x 83.4 cm, DPG105. Dulwich Picture Gallery, London.
- 98. Allart van Everdingen, Waterfall, 1647, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen.
- 99. Jacob van Ruisdael, Waterfall with a Steep Hill and Cottages, late 1660s–early 1670s, Courtesy of the Bute Collection at Mount Stuart.
- 100. Jacob van Ruisdael, A Cottage in a Northern Mountainous Landscape with a Waterfall, 1665–70, The Morgan Library & Museum. III, 218. Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913) in 1909.
- 101. Jacob van Ruisdael, Park and Fountain with a Country House, 1670s, Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art. Gift of Rupert L. Joseph, 1960.
- 102. Salomon de Caus, Les Raisons des forces mouvantes avec diverses machines tant utilles que plaisantes ausquelles sont adjoints plusieurs desseings de grotes et fontaines, II, Frankfort: En la boutique de Jan Norton libraire Anglois, 1615, 2r. Courtesy
- 103. Jacob van Ruisdael, Road in an Oak Forest, 1646, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen.
- 104. Jacob van Ruisdael, Forest Clearing, ca. 1646, Gemäldegalerie de Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien/Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Picture Gallery.
- 105. Cornelis Hendricksz. Vroom, Forest Landscape, ca. 1640, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado © Photographic Archive Museo Nacional del Prado.
- 106. Jacob van Ruisdael, Wooded Landscape with a Pond, late 1640s, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum Purchase Funded the Agnes Cullen Arnold Endowment Fund. 2001.80. Photo © The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Thomas R. DuBrock. Houston, Houston Muse
- 107. Cornelis Vroom, Landscape with a River by a Wood, 1626, London National Gallery/Art Resource, NY.
- 108. Jacob van Ruisdael, Wooded Landscape with an Old Oak, early 1650s, Cambridge, Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Edwin H. Abbot, Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College, 1966.32.
- 109. Jacob van Ruisdael, Edge of a Forest with a Grainfield, mid-1650s, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas.
- 110. Tabulæ dominii Groeningæ qvæ et complectitur maximam partem Drentiæ/emendata a F. de Wit Publication details: Tot Amsterdam: bÿ Frederik de Wit inde calverstraet bÿ den dam inde witte Paskaert, [zwischen 1659 und 1688] Bern, UB Münstergasse.
- 111a. Jacob van Ruisdael, The Little Bridge, 1650–55, etching. Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet.
- 111b. Jacob van Ruisdael, The Great Beech, with Two Men and a Dog, 1650–55, etching. Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet.
- 111c. Jacob van Ruisdael, Cottage on a Hill, 1650–55, etching. Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet.
- 111d. Jacob van Ruisdael, The Forest Marsh with Travelers on a Bank, 1650–55, etching. Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet.
- 112. Jacob van Ruisdael, Marsh in the Wood at Dusk, mid-1650s, © Arte Ederren Bilboko Museoa—Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao.
- 113. Schelte à Bolswert, after Pieter Paul Rubens, 1635–40, Forest at Dawn with a Deer Hunt, engraving. Amsterdam. Rijksprentenkabinet.
- 114. Jacob van Ruisdael, Marsh in a Forest with a Blasted Oak, mid 1660s, Basel, Öffentliche Kunstsammlungen.
- 115. Jacob van Ruisdael, The Forest Marsh, ca. 1665, The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Photograph © The State Hermitage Museum/photo by Aleksey Pakhomov.
- 116. Jacob van Ruisdael, Swamp in a Wood with a Beech Tree, ca. 1660, Madrid, Collection of the Duke of Berwick and Alba.
- 117. Jacob van Ruisdael, Lily Pond in an Oak Wood with an Old Beech Tree, second ½ of the 1660s, Gemäldegalerie Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin: bpk Bildagentur Photo: Jörg P. Anders/Art Resource, NY.
- 118. Jacob van Ruisdael and Thomas de Keyser, The Arrival of Cornelis de Graeff and the Members of his Family at Soesdijk, His Country Estate, ca. 1660, Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland.
- 119. Jacob van Ruisdael, Mountainous Landscape with a River, late 1670s, © Iziko Museums of South Africa Art, Cape Town. The Old Town House, Max Michaelis Collection (no. 14/53).
- 120. Jacob van Ruisdael, Mountains and Wooded Landscape with a River, late 1670s, The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Photograph © The State Hermitage Museum/photo by Aleksey Pakhomov.
- 121. Allart van Everdingen, River in a Mountainous Valley, late 1650s, Louvre, Paris. Museum/Art Resource, NY.
- 122. Jan Hackaert, Glarus, Atlas Blaue, Band 13:40. Österreichische Nationalbliothek, Vienna.
- 123. Jacob van Ruisdael, Winter Landscape near Haarlem with a Lamppost, ca. 1670–80, Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt a. M. Museum.
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