# Allegory of the Four Seasons - Spring [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [WIT, Jacob de]() - Date: 1701-1750 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 217 x 145 cm ## Commentary Jacob de Wit, a leading representative of Dutch ceiling painting was responsible for a seasonal cycle commissioned by Landgrave Wilhelm VIII for the great galleried hall at Schloss Wilhelmshöhe. This cycle is characteristic of De Wit's works in grisaille, generally allegorical representations of putti, which were popular and internationally sought-after decorations. With their graduated greys, these works - sometimes called 'witjes', in a pun on the name Wit, meaning white - imitate stone bas-relief. The theoretical architectural function of the works is clearly expressed in their organisation as niches with a stele in each. The divinity appropriate to each of the seasons is represented by a bust on a plinth, while a small crowd of putti make merry play with the god's attributes. Spring is represented by Flora, her beautiful, symmetrical face is set among graceful garlands of flowers. <P> <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR="\#99CCCC"> <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE><TD><IMG SRC="/support/gif/listen.gif" BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE> Suggested listening \(streaming mp3, 9 minutes\):<BR><A HREF="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/music1/18\_cent/haydn\_spring\_1-2.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return true"><B>Joseph Haydn: The Seasons, Part 1 Spring, excerpts</B></A> </TD></TR></TABLE> ## Related artworks - [Adoration of the Shepherds \(detail\)]() - [Allegory of Government: Wisdom Defeating Discord]() - [Allegory of the Arts]() - [Allegory of the Four Seasons - Autumn]() - [Allegory of the Four Seasons - Summer]() - [Allegory of the Four Seasons - Winter]() - [Allegory of Transience]() - [Baptism of Christ in the Jordan]() - [Flora and Zephyr]() - [Holy Family and Trinity]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()