Apollo triumphant with Diana and putti in attendance

The present composition is a typical work of the well-known Amsterdam painter and a fine example of his late style. The shape shows that it was originally painted as a dessus-de-porte. Drs Guus van den Hout has kindly suggested that the present lot might be part of a large ensemble; a series depicting classical gods and godesses as small children. He pointed out that De Wit painted a similar scene of Neptune as a child in 1752 which was commissioned by the Amsterdam Bourgomaster Pieter van der Poll, to decorate his house on the Herengracht 440. This dessus-de-porte of Neptune and the present composition bear the same date and depict comparable scenes, which suggests that they may have been part of the same interior decoration ordered by Pieter van der Poll.

We are grateful to Drs Guus van den Hout for his help in cataloguing this lot.