Jacob de Wit

Apollo Surrounded by the Nine Muses

731 voorzijde
731 voorzijde
731 voorzijde

Jacob de Wit
Apollo Surrounded by the Nine Muses

1743 On view in Room 12

This ceiling painting comes from a house in Leiden (Rapenburg 48) and has been hanging here since 1912. Apollo, the classical god of the arts, is depicted on the oval centrepiece. He is surrounded by his nine muses, who stand for the various artistic disciplines. The four grisailles around the centrepiece represent the elegy, the comedy, the pastoral song and the epos.

In the eighteenth century, the Amsterdam artist Jacob de Wit was the leading expert in this type of illusionist tour de force.

Technical details
731 voorzijde

Jacob de Wit
Apollo Surrounded by the Nine Muses

1743 On view in Room 12

Upwards

Details

General information
Jacob de Wit (Amsterdam 1695 - 1754 Amsterdam)
Apollo Surrounded by the Nine Muses
1743
painting
731
Room 12
Material and technical details
oil
canvas
395 x 636 cm
Inscriptions
at left, on the lute: IDWit F. / 1743
IDW in ligature

Provenance

Made (together with inv. nos. 732-735) for Rapenburg 48 in Leiden, the residence of Diederik van Leyden van Vlaardingen; purchased, 1910; installed in the ceiling of the Potter Room, 1912