Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings Signed and dated (lower right): E.De.Witte A[nno] 165[?]
Gallery Label De Witte's earliest architectural views, like this one, borrow compositional ideas from his fellow Delft artist Gerard Houckgeest (ca. 1600–1661) but treat the Gothic church interior less in terms of solid forms than of space, light, and mood. In stressing these intangible qualities De Witte suggests a spiritual environment and also anticipates the optical approach of Johannes Vermeer.
Provenance Samuel Sandars, London (by 1879); his daughter, Mrs. Thornton-Lawes, London (until 1931; sale, Christie's, London, June 12, 1931, no. 46, for £399 to Partridge); Dr. C. J. K. van Aalst, Hoevelaken, the Netherlands (by 1939; cat., 1939, p. 318, pl. 75); his grandson (until 1982; sold to Cramer Oude Kunst); [Cramer Oude Kunst, The Hague, from 1982]; [Galerie Hoogsteder, The Hague, until 1983; sold to Hornstein]; Mr. and Mrs. Michal Hornstein, Montreal (1983–2001; sold through Otto Naumann to MMA)
Exhibition History London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Winter Exhibition," January 6–March 15, 1879, no. 89.
London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Winter Exhibition," 1908, no. 48.
The Hague. Mauritshuis. "Terugzien in bewondering/A Collectors' Choice," February 19–March 9, 1982, no. 97.
Delft. Prinsenhof. "Delft Masters, Vermeer's Contemporaries," March 1–June 2, 1996, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 18, 2007–January 6, 2008, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Vermeer's Masterpiece 'The Milkmaid'," September 9–November 29, 2009, no. 12.
References Hans Jantzen. Das Niederländische Architekturbild . Leipzig, 1910, p. 175, no. 614.Dutch and Flemish Old Masters in the Collection of Dr. C. J. K. van Aalst, Huis-te-Hoevelaken, Holland . Verona, 1939, p. 318, pl. 75 [see Refs. Manke 1963 and Liedtke 2001, and Exh. The Hague 1982].in Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler . 36, Leipzig, 1947, p. 124.Emanuel de Witte, 1617–1692 . Amsterdam, 1963, pp. 16, 31, 40, 82, no. 18, fig. 21.Jahrbuch der Hamburger Kunstsammlungen 20 (1975), p. 54 n. 29.Architectural Painting in Delft: Gerard Houckgeest, Hendrick van Vliet, Emanuel de Witte . Doornspijk, The Netherlands, 1982, p. 83, 115, no. 244, fig. 75.in Delft Masters, Vermeer's Contemporaries . Exh. cat., Prinsenhof, Delft. Zwolle, The Netherlands, 1996, pp. 61, 86 n. 26, p. 224, fig. 45 (color).A View of Delft: Vermeer and his Contemporaries . Zwolle, The Netherlands, 2000, p. 126, fig. 159, colorpl. 10.Vermeer and the Delft School . Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2001, pp. 32, 83, 105, 137, 255, 258, 272, 342, 370, 432–34, 568 n. 59, no. 91, ill. (color).Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 60 (Fall 2002), p. 21, ill. (color).Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art . New York, 2007, vol. 2, pp. 922, 964–70, no. 222, colorpl. 222, figs. 273–75 (overall, x-radiograph, and color detail).Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 65 (Summer 2007), pp. 64–65, 71, figs. 79 (color), 82 (color, MMA Vermeer gallery photograph).Vermeer: The Complete Paintings . Antwerp, 2008, p. 99, figs. 13 a–b (color, overall and detail).Vermeer and the Delft Style . Exh. cat., Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. [Tokyo], 2008, p. 27, fig. 10."The Milkmaid" by Johannes Vermeer . Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2009, pp. 20, 35, no. 12, colorpl. 12.New York Times (September 11, 2009), p. C29.
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