Jacob de Wit

Jacob de Wit
Amsterdam 1695 – 1754
Five angel heads
Oil on canvas
53.5 x 74 cm
Signed lower right

Jacob de Wit was one of the most important painters of the Dutch Rococo period and his elegant ceiling and wall paintings had a decisive influence on the Amsterdam cityscape of the 18th century. He became famous above all for his grisaille technique and his cheerful depictions of putti, angels and mythological scenes. His works are characterized by lightness, dynamism and a fine use of light. Works by Jacob de Wit can be found in the collection of the Städel Museum in Frankfurt am Main, among others.
The present painting with five angel heads is a typical example of de Wit’s playful yet sophisticated compositional style. The angel heads float in delicate chiaroscuro in an atmospherically modeled cloudscape. Three of them have brown hair, while the two central angels with blond hair, particularly light skin and white wings are emphasized by the targeted incidence of light. The two look at each other – one in profile, the other almost frontally, but with an upturned gaze – and form the visual center of the composition.
The variation in viewing directions and perspectives is particularly appealing: One angel is shown almost backwards, another raises his head diagonally upwards, a third appears in three-quarter profile. This variety of perspectives indicates that this is a study – possibly as preparatory work for a larger ceiling painting – but its artistic quality and painterly execution also make it a convincing work in its own right.
Jacob de Wit succeeds here in uniting grace and dynamism, lighting and spatial effect in a delicate, almost floating harmony – a small Rococo masterpiece that translates the lightness of heavenly spheres into painting.