The Interior of the Old Church at Delft

1657

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Hendrick (Cornelisz.) van Vliet

The Interior of the Old Church at Delft

1657

Physical Qualities Oil on canvas, 39 1/2 x 33 in. (100.3 x 83.8 cm.)

Credit Line Bequest of Ellen Howard Bayard

Object Number 1939.185

Hendrick Van Vliet was one of several artists working in the Dutch city of Delft who painted detailed views of actual church interiors. Here, the soaring architecture of this Prostestant (Calvinist) church nearly overshadows figures engaged in conversation or wandering through the building. An open tomb on the floor in the foreground, which may reference humankind's mortality, is juxtaposed with a scene of children playing and dogs. This painting was acquired in the early 19th century by Robert Gilmor, Jr. (1774-1848) of Baltimore in the beginning of the nineteenth century. One of the first art collectors in America, Gilmor amassed a large collection, from ancient artifacts to contemporary paintings, drawings, and prints. Ellen Howard Bayard, who donated the work to the Museum in 1939, was a Gilmor descendant.

The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1939; from Ellen Howard Bayard; formerly The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1939; from Ellen Howard Bayard, Baltimore; from Robert Gilmor(?), Baltimore.

The Peale Museum, Baltimore, "First Annual Exhibition of Painting," 1822, ill. no. 30.
The Peale Museum, Baltimore, "Second Annual Exhibition of Painting," 1823.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A Century of Baltimore Collecting 1940-1940," 1940.
The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, "Dutch 17th Century Painting," 10 Nov.-- 30 Dec. 1951.
The Peale Museum, Baltimore, "25th Anniversary Exhibition," 13 Feb.-- 15 Apr. 1956.

"American-Commercial Daily," (adv.), October 11, 1822.

J. H. B. Latrobe, 'Remarks of an Old Brush,' 2nd Annual Exhibition, Peale Museum, "Federal Gazette and Baltimore Daily Adv., October 30, 1823.

"Catalog of Paintings in Possession of R. Gilmor," July 1823.

Dunlap, "History of the Arts of Design in the United States," III, Boston, 1918, p. 273 (list of the painting in the Robert Gilmor Collection c. 1847).

Baltimore Museum of Art. A Century of Baltimore Collecting, 1840-1949: An Exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art, June 6 – September 1, 1941. Baltimore, MD, 1941, page 24.

'Object of the Week,' "Baltimore Sun," Sunday, September 29, 1957, ill. in magazine section.

John Page-Phillips, "Macklin's Monumental Brasses," London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1969, det. ill. p. 108.

Peter C. Sutton, "A Guide to Dutch Art in America," Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1986, p. 6 (published as "Interior of the Oude Kerk in Delft").

Inscribed: Recto: Lower right in light brown paint on base of railing: "H. van Vliet 1658"