A Sermon in the Oude Kerk, Delft

1651 · National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

interior

This painting is one of De Witte's finest works of his Delft years. It can be compared with the panel of 1651 in the Wallace Collection, London, which shows the same pulpit from another position in the southern aisle of the Oude Kerk. In composition the picture bears a surprising resemblance to the artist's early panel in Winterthur, considering that the two paintings depict dissimilar spaces in different churches.

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About the Artist

Emanuel de Witte

1617 – 1692

Dutch painter, active in his native Alkmaar, then in Rotterdam (by 1639), Delft (by 1641), and Amsterdam (by 1652). His range was wide, including history paintings, genre scenes (notably of markets) and portraits, but after he settled in Amsterdam he concentrated on architectural paintings (primarily church interiors, both real and imaginary ). His paintings are very different in spirit from the sober views of most Dutch architectural specialists, making powerful use of the dramatic play of light and shadow in the lofty interiors. His life was unhappy (he was constantly in debt) and when his body was found in an Amsterdam canal it was suspected that he had committed suicide.

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