Saenredam, Pieter Jansz (pē`tər yäns sän`rədäm), 1597–1665, Dutch painter. Born in Assendelft, he spent most of his life in Haarlem. Saenredam was a painter of structures and was sometimes called an architectural portraitist. Specializing in the interiors and exteriors of Dutch gothic churches, he is known for his austere, meticulously executed work. The geometry of buildings serves as the focus of his works, in which tiny figures move through great, spacious halls filled with diffused light (e.g., Interior of St. Janskerk, 1645; Centraal Mus., Utrecht). While his output as a painter was small, Saenredam was also a superb draftsman, and many of his architectural drawings have survived.

Saenredam, Pieter Jansz(oon)

(born June 9, 1597, Assendelft, Neth.—buried May 31, 1665, Haarlem) Dutch painter. Son of an engraver, he became a friend of the architect Jacob van Campen (1595–1657), which may have influenced him to specialize in architectural painting. A pioneer of the “church portrait,” he was the first Dutch artist to abandon the Mannerist tradition of fanciful invention in architectural painting in favour of a new realism in rendering specific buildings. His paintings of church interiors show a scrupulous precision and convey a majestic spaciousness and serenity.