Antique Print: Georg Christoph Kilian (1709-1781) - Jacob de Witt

Georg Christoph Kilian (1709-1781) Antique Print: 70x55cm print - with frame 85x75cm FROM A PAINTING BY: Jacob de Wit: 1708-1754 Rococo artist and decorator of interiors on doors and ceilings, Jacob de Wit was born in Amsterdam in 1695. He lived on the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam and, even today, many of his buildings retain his paintings on doors or ceiling. Since many of the families living in Amsterdam owned country villas, de Wit also painted Haarlem. He was probably a pupil of Albert van Spires in Amsterdam and Jacob van Hal in Antwerp, where in 1714 he became a member of the Guild of Saint Luke. In Antwerp he made a series of watercolor sketches reproducing the works of Rubens in the church of San Carlo, which became a historical document after the church was struck by lightning in 1718. A Catholic or religious painter, he was the greatest artist of optical illusionism in Amsterdam. In the Rijksmuseum it is possible to see a piece of his ceiling showing Apollo dancing on the clouds with Minerva and the nine muses. The painted figures appear to be hanging in the sky. His style reveals clear influences from Rubens and Van Dijck, but also from Gerard de Lairesse. His pupil Jan Punt later engraved his sketches and published them in 1751. His students include Jan de Groot, Dionys van Nijmegen, Jan Punt, Pieter Tanjé and the brothers Frans and Jacob Xavery. The Weert municipal museum contains 19 of his paintings: in addition to a profane ceiling, you can see two mural paintings and various paintings with religious subjects. Jacob de Wit died in Amsterdam in 1754.