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This painting depicts the Haarlemmerhout, the oldest public park in the Netherlands, and there appears to be a wide range of Haarlem society visible in the work. The park was never locked and so was a source of refuge for the citizens to come and relax, and, as shown in Berckheyde's work, was common ground for farm animals. The park has changed appearance considerably over the years; in the eighteenth-century it was redesigned in keeping with the fashionable English style.
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