Church Service in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam (after a painting by Emanuel de Witte)

Sometimes a drawing is acquired not so much for its artistic qualities, but for its documentary value for another work of art in the collection. Such is the case with this drawing, a signed copy after a painting by Emanuel de Witte, which was bought for the museum in 1894 with the bequest of J.J. van Vollenhoven (inv. 1990). The painting, dated 1656 and acquired for the museum in 1894 with the bequest J.J. van Vollenhoven (inv. 1990), depicts a church interior with a worship service. The drawing sheds new light on its provenance because of the inscriptions on the reverse, indicating that the painting was then in the collection of Jan Snellen in Rotterdam, who we know for the group portrait of Schouman acquired by our museum in 2004. Stolker must have known his fellow townsman from the cultural milieu and they both belonged to the Remonstrant religious community. The legator and his wife (and niece) M.C. Snellen van Vollenhoven were great-grandchildren of Jan Snellen. The painting therefore remained in the family for a long time. It is about four centimetres less high than the copy drawing, so it may have been shortened later, or Stolker may have deviated from his example because he thought a higher format did more justice to the spatial effect of the architecture. That the painting was cleaned of some details during an early restoration becomes clear when comparing it to the drawing. In the foreground there is a prominent display of dog excrement, which in those days could also be found freely defecating in churches. The drawings of children at the foot of the column in the lower right-hand corner, which are less visible in the painting, also stand out. [text: Albert Elen]