Mozes verkiest de zeventig oudsten 1736 - 1737

Jacob de Wit created this drawing, "Moses Chooses the Seventy Elders," using graphite in a landscape format. The drawing presents a bustling scene filled with figures under a lightly sketched sky and mountainous backdrop. The composition is divided into clear horizontal layers from the foreground with more solid ground up to the background mountains. De Wit's use of line is particularly striking. Lines are quick, gestural, and create a sense of movement and impermanence. The artist employs hatching and cross-hatching to create depth and shadow, although the overall effect is light and airy. The rapid sketch destabilizes the monumental nature of the biblical scene. The lack of precise detail invites us to fill in the narrative gaps. The lines themselves function as signs, indicating form and space with minimal detail. Here, the dynamism of the lines suggests a moment of transition and choice, highlighting the tension between individual agency and divine mandate. This work remains open to interpretation, and underscores how lines and composition contribute to the artwork's meaning.