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Interior of a Church
Emanuel de Witte, c. 1680
The spacious church in this painting is largely imaginary. But Emanuel de Witte's exact description of the architecture makes it seem like a real place. According to the Cleveland Museum of Art, he included some features of the Oude Kerk, the Old Church, in Amsterdam to add to that sense of familiarity.
The setting is typical of the Dutch Republic. In the late 1500s, militant Protestants took over Catholic churches in the Netherlands and stripped them of decoration and images. The plain, whitewashed interiors that resulted became a favourite subject for painters, who liked the play of light and shadow over bare walls and the challenge of showing deep space.
This painting dates from around 1680 and is about 62 by 54 centimetres without its frame.
From the museum record
| Artist | Emanuel de Witte |
|---|---|
| Date | c. 1680 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Size | Unframed: 62 x 54 cm |
| Museum | The Cleveland Museum of Art |
| Credit line | Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund |
| Accession number | 1971.1 |
| Licence | Open Access (CC0) |
Source: The Cleveland Museum of Art collection record. Facts such as dates, sizes and credit lines come from that record. The write-up above was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the museum record and standard references. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
