Interior with a Woman at the Virginals

1665 · Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam

interior

Restraint is a quality that permeates de Witte's genre pictures. In his richly furnished domestic Interior with a Woman at the Virginals the man in the curtained bed with his clothing and his sword draped over a nearby chair are not the first things noticed when we confront its palpable space, strong sunlight, and sonorous colour harmonies. If Mondrian saw the painting it is not hard to imagine that he would have nodded his head in approval at the banded pattern made by the light on the interior's marble floor.

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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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