Church Interior, Jan van Vucht; Anthonie Palamedesz.

Episode 115 Jul-2007, Ellen O’Neil Rife I’m David Cateforis with another Art Minute from the Spencer Museum of Art. A seventeenth-century painting in the Spencer collection depicts the interior of an imaginary church. It is the work of two Dutch artists, Jan van Vucht and Anthonie Palamedesz. The viewer gazes down the nave of a large Italianate-style structure lined with classical columns and capped by a dome at the crossing. In the apse, an altar and painted altarpiece make clear that this fictional building is meant to resemble a Catholic church. Dating to around 1630, this painting was made to appeal to the contemporary taste of art collectors in the Dutch Republic for depictions of the interiors of imaginary churches. It also shows the specialized nature of the Dutch art market. Van Vucht, who specialized in architectural views, painted the setting, while Palamedesz, a portrait and genre painter, added the figures. Interestingly, Van Vucht frequently worked with a dealer who determined the price he would pay for a painting based on the number of columns the artist included in the imaginary building. The Spencer’s van Vucht painting shows twenty columns, while other examples of his work include upwards of fifty. With thanks to Ellen O’Neil Rife for her text, from the Spencer Museum of Art, I’m David Cateforis.