War in Heaven (_) 1732

Curator: Jacob de Wit’s ink drawing, "War in Heaven," created in 1732, depicts an epic clash. It's currently housed at the Städel Museum. What springs to mind for you looking at this whirlwind? Editor: Well, chaos, pure chaos. A frantic mess of figures and frenzied lines, like a theological mosh pit captured on a napkin! Is this a study, perhaps? Curator: Indeed. De Wit, known for his painted ceiling decorations, often produced such drawings. But it is also worth noting how the sketch also functions as a finished object on its own terms. For me, it feels almost preliminary, as though we’re looking at pure potential. Editor: The layering of the ink is also striking. It highlights labor in the making, too—perhaps underappreciated. I wonder, how many of these sheets did he produce before arriving at a satisfying endpoint? Curator: A very good question! Think of Baroque exuberance but stripped down to its raw essence. And perhaps an understanding of its reproduction as prints, where such stark tonality would read as much bolder statements than in their wash-like original form. De Wit, after all, lived in the world of commerce, of selling artworks and sketches. Editor: Yes, but I’m left wanting more grounding...more earthly context in the image itself. There's little to tether this battle, this struggle of bodies, to something human and material, like the cost of wages of the assistants who aided de Wit in such production, or even ink. Curator: Perhaps it's about transcending earthly matters, about faith grappling with uncertainty through artistic gesture. I think the lightness and the flow—however turbulent—communicate hope, like the soul lifting from darkness, despite the labor. Editor: A noble interpretation! Though for me, a focus on the conditions that render this chaos possible would add, rather than diminish, that sense of elevation, or hope, which is why his workshop assistants were worth their weight in wages for the baroque artist’s success. Curator: So, a dance of speculation then. I’ll continue to revel in the spiritual, while you contextualize its messy, earthly birthing. Editor: A collaboration of our own making, not unlike De Wit's "War in Heaven," come to think.