Jacob de Wit

De Wit was a master of grisaille, a technique of monochrome painting in shades of white and grey to create the illusion of a marble sculpture in low relief. He often painted groups of children symbolizing the seasons or elements. He was even identified with this type of painting in such a way that the genre bears the name ‘witje’ (Dutch for white, a play on his surname).

With their illusionism, sweep and colour, De Wit’s ceiling paintings are utterly convincing. The viewer is transported into the world of the gods, who float in the sky and repose on clouds. De Wit painted these ceilings using a specially equipment.

It was customary to attune the painted light to the natural light in the room for which the picture was intended. De Wit did this with great ingenuity. Depending on the distance to the light source, he allowed the contours of the shadows to flow softly or delineated them sharply.

The paintings De Wit made for above a door or chimney often feature chubby nude boys, or putti in Latin. They are busy with attributes associated with, for example, a season or an element. De Wit painted such themes so often that he could mine an established cache of motifs.

De Wit’s interior paintings were not independent pictures, but had a fixed place in the interior. They were intended for large compartments reserved in the panelling and were part of a decorative ensemble to which all the arts contributed.

The famous Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) was an important example for De Wit. In Antwerp he studied the ceiling paintings from Rubens' workshop in the Jesuit Church. De Wit had his copies after this cycle engraved by one of his pupils.

As a Catholic, De Wit initially received many commissions from Catholic patrons. He made altarpieces for clandestine Catholic churches and his first orders for decorating houses came from fellow believers. Other clients soon also found their way to De Wit.

One of the largest paintings in the Netherlands is credited to De Wit. Moses Choosing the Seventy Elders measures over 5 by 12.5 metres and covers an entire wall in what was then the Town Hall, now the Royal Palace, on Dam Square. De Wit made numerous preliminary studies for this prestigious commission, including this oil sketch.

De Wit did extremely well with his art. Together with the portraitist Jan Maurits Quinkhard, he was Amsterdam’s highest paid painter. In 1742, his annual income was valued at 4000 guilders and he lived in style on Keizersgracht.

On the design drawings and oil sketches that De Wit made preparatory to his paintings, he often noted information about his client, the year of production and the destination. These inscriptions now form an important source for research.