The painting is catalogue number 10 in the 1911 catalogue raisonné by art historian Hofstede de Groot. He wrote "The river fills much of the right-hand side of the picture. In the centre is a road with several figures; on the river are a raft of timber and a small vessel, from which a gun is being fired. On the left are three windmills, houses, and a bleaching-ground. The town, with its many churches and public buildings, extends in the background. One may distinguish the Westerkerk, the town-hall, the Zuiderkerk, and Oude Kerk, as well as the great synagogue. The blockhouses are not shown."[2] The painting is catalogue number 3 in Seymour Slive's 2001 catalogue raisonné of Ruisdael.[1] It is object number 74 in the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum.[3]
Its dimensions are 52.1 cm x 66.1 cm. It is signed in the lower left.[1] Based on the presence of certain buildings Slive estimated that the undated painting was made between 1671 and 1681.[1] Ruisdael lived in Amsterdam at that time.
The drawing that served as a preliminary study for this painting, and a similar one that is in the Philips-de Jongh Collection, is at Leipzig.[1]
Slive, Seymour (2001). Jacob van Ruisdael: a Complete Catalogue of his Paintings, Drawings, and Etchings. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. ISBN978-0-300-08972-1.