Emanuel de Witte

Relined and paint surface has been somewhat pressed as a result. under a dull and uneven old varnish. the paint surface is generally thin and abrasion is most noticeable in areas of the upper architecture and in the lower parts of the columns. however, composition overall still reads well. ultraviolet light reveals scattered retouches evenly distributed throughout the composition with a larger one in the architecture upper center. In a carved and gilt wood frame.
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The present painting repeats many of the compositional elements, most notably the grave diggers in the foreground, found in another painting sold, New York, Christie's, June 29, 1973, lot 32, for $42,000. Both that picture, and the present canvas combine elements from both the Oude and the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam.

De Witte is rightly acknowledged as one of the greatest architectural painters of the 17th century in Holland. His explorations of the effects of light advanced the art of architectural painting in Holland where previously the depiction of perspective and depth had been the principal concern. De Witte felt free to ignore the stringent requirements of linear perspective if they obstructed his creativity. Few details are known of his life, there being little documentary material to draw on, but he was certainly in Alkmaar and joined the guild there in 1636. Six years later he joined the Delft guild of St. Luke and subsequently was married with two daughters. Late in 1691 De Witte suddenly disappeared and eleven weeks later his body was discovered in a frozen canal, a rope tied around his neck; it was thus generally assumed that he committed suicide. De Witte's legacy lived on through his pupil van Streeck but he never reached the pinnacle of achievement attained by his master.