Cleveland Museum of Art

Interior of a Church

Date

c. 1680

Medium

oil on canvas

Culture

Netherlands

Department

European Painting and Sculpture

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Although this spacious church interior is largely imaginary, Emanuel de Witte’s precise description of architectural forms convinces us that he depicted an actual place. To create a sense of familiarity, he included some specific architectural features from the Oude Kerk (Old Church) in Amsterdam. In the late 1500s, militant Protestant sects occupied Catholic churches in the Netherlands and stripped them of rich decorations and “idolatrous” images. The resulting spare, whitewashed interiors became a favorite subject of Dutch artists, who were intrigued by the interplay of light and shadow over the unadorned walls, and by the challenge of depicting perspectival space. In the 1600s, Dutch churches functioned as public gathering places—even dogs were allowed!

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