WITTE, Emanuel de
(b. 1617, Alkmaar, d. 1692, Amsterdam)

Interior of the Oude Kerk, Delft (detail)

1650-52
Oil on panel
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The two dogs draw attention to the grown men, one obviously aged; between them and the innocent youths, a lifetime may be measured. The irreverent dog spotlighted by the column is meant to be amusing (sextons routinely chased them out of churches throughout the Netherlands.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.