Lot 32: EMANUEL DE WITTE

EMANUEL DE WITTE ALKMAAR CIRCA 1617 - 1691/2 AMSTERDAM THE INTERIOR OF A PROTESTANT CHURCH signed and dated centre right: E. De Witte 1675 oil on canvas 60.3 by 48.1 cm.; 23 3/4 by 19 in.

With Brian Koetser, London, where acquired by a private collector;
By descent until anonymously sold ('The Property of a Lady'), London, Sotheby's, 14 December 2000, lot 116, when bought by the present owner.

An autograph variant of this composition is in Weimar, Schloßmuseum.υ1 There are numerous differences in the detail between the two pictures, notably to the area to the right of the pillar which differs markedly. Manke read the date on the Weimar variant as 1687 and the present work thus pre-dates it.

A copy, also with differences, was sold in Amsterdam, Christie's, 13 December 1981, lot 69.

1. See I. Manke, Emmanuel de Witte, Amsterdam 1963, pp. 105-6, no. 116, reproduced plate 112.