Jupiter and Mnemosyne

Details

Jacob de Wit (Amsterdam 1695-1754)
Jupiter and Mnemosyne
signed and dated 'Jdwit 1733'
black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, watercolour and bodycolour, brown ink framing lines, watermark Strasburg lily
17 3/8 x 12 1/8 in. (447 x 308 mm.)

Provenance

Hendrik van Maarseveen; Amsterdam, 28 October 1793, lot B4, as Mercury and Herse (360 fl. with the following lot in the present sale, to Yver for Goll van Franckenstein).
J. Goll van Franckenstein (L. 2987), with his number 'N 3785.', but not in his sale in 1833.
Baron Isendoorn à Blois (L. 2610); Amsterdam, 19 August 1879, lot 203 (probably to Langerhuizen).
P. Langerhuizen; Amsterdam, 29 April 1919, lot 689 (390 fl. with the following lot in the present sale, to Gebr. Douwes).
W.J.R. Dreesmann, on loan to the Amsterdam Historical Museum, 1950-60.

Literature

A. Staring, Jacob de Wit, 1695-1754, Amsterdam, 1958, no. 93.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

This drawing and the following lot are developments of a pair of compositions painted by de Wit in 1727 for a wall decoration, commissioned in 1727 by Jan Baptist de Surmont, Lord of Vlooswijk, and now in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, All the paintings in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam: a completely illustrated catalogue, Amsterdam, 1976, no. A3885-6. De Wit's design for the arrangement of the pictures on the wall, with an explanatory inscription, was sold in these Rooms, 25 June 1968, lot 91.
De Wit revisited the compositions in 1733 for Jonas Witsen, as indicated by an inscription on a preliminary drawing for Jupiter and Callisto formerly in the Rudolf Collection, sold Christie's, Amsterdam, 12 November 1990, lot 178.
We are grateful to Dr Hans-Ulrich Beck for his kind help in tracing the provenance of this lot.

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