Jacob de Wit

Jacob de Wit (baptized December 19, 1695, Amsterdam, Netherlands—died November 12, 1754, Amsterdam) was a Dutch painter and draftsman who worked primarily in Amsterdam and was known for his Rococo-style ceiling paintings and masterful grisaille works, some of which could still be viewed in the 21st century in their original locations.

De Wit began his art studies at age 9 as an apprentice to Amsterdam painter Albert van Spiers, with whom he stayed until age 13. He continued his studies in Antwerp with the financial support of his uncle, an art dealer. De Wit attended the Royal Academy in Antwerp from 1711 to 1713 and in that time honed his drawing skills and began his lifelong study of Peter Paul Rubens, whose works could be found in religious and public buildings throughout that city. Rubens remained the single most influential artist for de Wit. De Wit made copies of many of Rubens’s works, notably Rubens’s ceiling paintings in the Jesuit church in Antwerp (now St. Carolus Borromeus Church). His original set of copies was destroyed by fire in 1718, though de Wit made a second, more-finished set that was later reproduced as engravings. Over his lifetime, he amassed a large art collection, including numerous works by Rubens, some by Anthony van Dyck, and others by Dutch and Flemish contemporaries and Old Masters. In 1713 de Wit joined the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke.

About 1715 de Wit returned to Amsterdam, where he forged an important relationship with Father Aegidius de Glabbais, a Roman Catholic priest of the schuilkerk (hidden church) of Moses and Aaron. In 1716 and over the next few years, he painted several works, including an altarpiece for the Moses and Aaron schuilkerk, an altarpiece titled Baptism of Christ for Het Hart schuilkerk (now Museum Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder), and a portrait of Father de Glabbais in 1718.

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From the 1720s onward, de Wit enjoyed a steady stream of commissions, public and private. He created many ceiling and wall paintings into which he incorporated grisaille, gray and white paintings that give the illusion of three-dimensionality, or bas-relief. He called his grisailles “witjes”—a play on the Dutch word for “white” and his surname. Notable interiors include the Amsterdam Town Hall (now the Royal Palace), which he decorated with the monumental painting Moses Choosing the Seventy Elders (1737) and some 13 grisaille paintings of subjects from the Hebrew Bible. In 1738 he decorated the Alderman’s Hall of the Old Town Hall of The Hague with a ceiling painting framed by allegorical putti (Freedom, Industry, Temperance, and Fortitude) done in grisaille in the four corners. Other important works by de Wit were interior paintings for private residences, such as his series of five paintings of the story of Jephthah at the Amsterdam address Herengracht 168, a residence that in the 21st century was a theatre museum. Other private commissions include Flora and Zephyr (1743) and Apollo and the Four Seasons (1750), both created for homes along the Herengracht canal in Amsterdam. Drawings and oil studies for his interiors as well as canvases no longer in situ are found in collections throughout Europe and North America.