Gerrit Berckheyde likely received his artistic training from his brother Job Berckheyde. As youths, the two made an extensive journey together along the Rhine, working in Cologne and for the Elector Palatine in Heidelberg. In The Netherlands, Gerrit Berckheyde was associated mainly with Haarlem, entering the painter’s guild there in 1660. He is known primarily for his topographically accurate city scenes of Haarlem and Amsterdam and to a lesser degree for his landscapes. Berckheyde also painted a small number of works that seem to have been drawn, in part, from his imagination. These, like Riders Gathering in Front of a Walled Estate, frequently feature a group of riders in front of a castle or a villa. In this work, Berckheyde uses rich tones and mellow light to create a scene infused with a sense of peace and well-being.