Fragment of Reredos c. 1940

Edward Jewett made this watercolor on paper, called Fragment of Reredos. It's like a little architectural fantasy, a stage set for the divine, built with flat, washy colors and a steady hand. You can almost feel Jewett carefully mixing his pigments, patiently filling in each outlined space. I imagine him hunched over his desk, maybe in a quiet corner of a bustling workshop, dreaming up this sacred space. What was he thinking as he painted those cherubic angels, so plump and rosy, perched on their ledge? Did he feel a sense of reverence, or was it more like solving a puzzle, fitting all the elements together just so? The colors are muted, yet there’s still a quiet joy in the way the reds and blues meet, bordered by stripes of gold. It reminds me of some early Renaissance paintings, where every detail is rendered with such loving precision. It's as though Jewett is sharing a private vision with us, one brushstroke at a time.