The work of the 17th century Amersfoort master Mathias Withoos once again hangs side by side in Museum Flehite with the recently restored paintings of his student Caspar van Wittel.
Withoos taught Van Wittel in Amersfoort how to paint
and making cityscapes in particular. It is not inconceivable that both worked on 'View of Amersfoort', which was recently restored and can now be seen again in the museum.
Student Van Wittel went to Italy and emerged as the founder of Vedutism under the name Vanvitelli. In 2022, the Museum Flehite managed to purchase two Italian cityscapes by him. A view of the Tiber in Rome and a view of the Darsena in Naples have just emerged from the restoration studio and can be seen again in Museum Flehite.
The paintings of the Amersfoort grandmasters are flanked by the work of contemporary photographer and vedutist Hans Wilschut. He was let by Van Wittel
inspired and left for Naples. There he explained from the point of view
Van Wittel captures the Darsena in its full contemporary splendor. The character-
rictic cloudy skies have remained unchanged over the centuries.
The van Wittels were purchased with the support of the Rembrandt Association (thanks in part to its Stichting Het 'Meyjes-Fonds', its Theme Fund for 18th-century painting and its Friends Lottery Purchase Fund), the Mondriaan Fund, the Turing Foundation, the Archaeological Association Flehite/Fonds Bos , the Friends of Van Wittel and the Social Cultural Fund De Amersfoortse.
The restoration of View of Amersfoort by Withoos was made possible by the Rembrandt Association (partly thanks to its FriendsLoterij Restoration Fund), Fonds Bos/OVF, the K.F. Hein Fund, Social Cultural Fund of De Amersfoortse Verzekeringen and the municipality of Amersfoort.