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Document Details : Title: Van schoorsteenstuk tot museumobject Subtitle: Een schouw met een 18de-eeuwse schildering van Jacob de Wit in het Rijksmuseum Author(s): DE FOUW, Josephina Journal: Tijdschrift voor Interieurgeschiedenis en Design Volume: 43 Date: 2021 Pages: 1-22 DOI: 10.2143/GBI.43.0.3289230 Abstract : The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has in its collection a chimney piece that features an allegory of autumn, painted in grisaille by Jacob de Wit (1695-1754). It is unusual that not just the painting, but also the chimney piece itself has been preserved. This rococo fireplace originally came from Keizersgracht 293 in Amsterdam. When this property along the Amsterdam canal belt was demolished in 1958, the fireplace with its grisaille painting was acquired by the Rijksmuseum. Research into De Wit has so far paid little attention to this chimney piece. The present article offers the first extensive report on the investigation into the commissioner and the original context of the fireplace. This research has revealed more about the Amsterdam merchant Matthijs Ooster, who had the salon in the annex of his home on Keizersgracht rebuilt in the rococo style in 1746. Photographs of the interior and archival documents have been used to try and reconstruct this once resplendent salon. Although much of the evidence has disappeared, the existence of a ceiling painting has been discovered. Successive owners after Ooster have each put their own stamp on the interior. At the end of the 18th century Jurriaan Andriessen (1742-1819) decorated the garden room with landscape paintings, and not long afterwards a suite of rooms in the empire style was created on the first floor. Although Keizersgracht 293 was a historic monument, this could not prevent the demolition of the property in 1958. Close scrutiny of the background to the acquisition of the fireplace reveals a picture of the post-war handling of historic interiors and at the same time reminds us to continue guarding our heritage. It is indeed fortunate that the fireplace with De Wit’s painting was saved, but with its transition from a private to a public setting it acquired a different meaning and function. In the salon at Keizersgracht 293 the fireplace was an integral part of a historic interior that continued to be adapted to changing tastes, whereas in the Rijksmuseum it was displayed in a room dedicated to the rococo style period. This was how the general public could become acquainted with the work of De Wit, who was one of the most important and innovative artists of the 18th century, and with the history of the Dutch interior. |
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