Philemon and Baucis

1658

Rembrandt van Rijn

Artist, Dutch, 1606 - 1669

Three men and a woman sit around a wooden table on the right side of a dimly lit room in this horizontal painting. The scene is painted entirely in warm shades of bronze, golden yellow, and dark brown. A cleanshaven man to our right, Mercury, is dramatically backlit by golden light so we see his face almost in silhouette, though we can make out his eyes, straight nose, and parted lips. He rests both hands on the table, one palm down by the edge close to him and one palm up in front of him, near a glass of amber-colored liquid. He wears a gray and brown tunic, and light glinting in his chin-length hair suggests a silver band or another ornament. He looks toward a man and woman at the other end of the table, to our left and near the center of the composition. The woman’s head is covered with a dark cloth, and she holds a gray fowl in her lap. Her lips are also parted and her face tips down. The man next to her, closer to us, has a gray beard and hair, and he holds a rust-red cap at his chest with both hands as he looks across the table. A bowl of food lies in the center of the table between this couple and Mercury. The fourth person has a long gray beard and hair, and faces us across the table. He wears a gleaming copper and silvery-gray robe and cloak, and holds one hand up, palm down, over the table. Much of the rest of the room is swallowed in shadow but there is the suggestion of rafters and beams, and a small fire glows in a hearth on the left side of the scene. The artist signed and dated the lower left, “Rembrandt f. 1658.”

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After learning the fundamentals of drawing and painting in his native Leiden, Rembrandt van Rijn went to Amsterdam in 1624 to study for six months with Pieter Lastman (1583–1633), a famous history painter. Upon completion of his training Rembrandt returned to Leiden. Around 1632 he moved to Amsterdam, quickly establishing himself as the town’s leading artist. He received many commissions for portraits and attracted a number of students who came to learn his method of painting.

The Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses provided Dutch artists with a wide range of mythological subjects, most of which contain underlying moralizing messages on human behavior. Rembrandt here depicts the moment when Jupiter and Mercury quietly reveal themselves to the elderly couple Philemon and Baucis, as described in the eighth book of Ovid’s commentaries. Rembrandt, who was able to penetrate the essence of the myth as no artist ever had, silhouetted Mercury against the primary light source to enhance the inherent drama of the moment.

The moral of the story is that hospitality and openness to strangers are virtues that are always rewarded. As depicted by Rembrandt, the hosts Philemon and Baucis, who come to recognize that they are in the presence of gods when the food and wine keep replenishing themselves, try to catch their only goose so they can offer their divine guests better fare. Jupiter commands them not to kill the goose and blesses their sparse offering with a firm yet comforting gesture. Dressed in exotic and loosely draped robes, Jupiter dominates the scene and takes on a Christ-like appearance that strongly echoes the Christ from Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, which Rembrandt knew from a print. Leonardo’s composition had a profound impact on Rembrandt, and he used it in conceiving of a number of different subjects in prints, drawings, and paintings.

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 51

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on panel transferred to panel

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 54.5 x 68.5 cm (21 7/16 x 26 15/16 in.)
    framed: 81.3 x 95.9 x 8.3 cm (32 x 37 3/4 x 3 1/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1942.9.65

More About this Artwork

Scholarly Article:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century: Philemon and Baucis, 1658

This horizontal painting shows a group of eight light-skinned musicians and onlookers gathered closely around a rectangular, carpet-covered table. The front edge of the table runs parallel to the bottom edge of the painting, and seems close to us. Shown from about the waist up, the men and women’s vivid lapis-blue, coral-red, buttercup-yellow, lilac-purple, and moss-green garments fall in crisp folds. Bright reflections on the fabric suggest a satin-like material. Two women wear feathers in their hair and one man’s hat is plumed. One man, wearing crimson red and black, sits with his back to us to our left on the near side of the table. He holds the neck of a bass viol, about the size of a cello, with his left hand, and points to pages of an open music book with the bow in his right hand. The other people cluster on the far side of the table. A man to the left plays a violin; a woman at the center plays a guitar-sized bandora, and a woman to our right plays a lute. The musicians, along with a man who leans over the table from between the two women, look down at the music books. A young man behind the woman at the center holds up a glass of pale liquid with his right hand as he touches his left forefinger to his smiling lips. A man and woman stand close together in the background to our right, in the top right corner of the canvas.

Scholarly Series:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Captain William Baillie [1723-1792], London; (his sale, Langford & Son, London, 1-2 February 1771, 2nd day, no. 73). possibly English private collection, by 1772.[1] Major Stanton; (Earl of Essex sale, Christie & Ansell, London, 31 January-1 February 1777, 2nd day, no. 75); Moris.[2] (Charles Sedelmeyer, Paris); Charles T. Yerkes, Jr. [1837-1905], Chicago and New York, by 1893;[3] (his sale, American Art Association, New York, 5-8 April 1910, no. 1160); (Scott and Fowles, New York); Otto H. Kahn [1867-1934], New York, by 1914 until at least April 1922; sold 1922, perhaps through (Scott and Fowles, New York) to Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania;[4] inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, after purchase by funds of the estate; gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] A mezzotint of the composition was executed in 1772 by Thomas Watson (John Charrington, A Catalogue of the Mezzotints After, or Said to Be After, Rembrandt, Cambridge, 1923:151, no. 182).
[2] The title page of the 1777 sale catalogue describes the collection as that of the Earl of Essex; however, in a copy of the catalogue at Christie's, London, the consignor's name is written in the margin as "Maj. Stanton." A handwritten results sheet bound into the same volume gives the following result: "75. 32/11/- Moris."
[3] Catalogue from Collection of Charles T. Yerkes, Chicago, U.S.A.. Chicago, 1893: no. 45.
[4] American Art News (9 December 1922):1 reported that the seller of the picture to Widener was Scott and Fowles. However, the journal also reported that Scott and Fowles had owned the painting since 1910, and various other sources, including Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century..., 8 vols., London, 1907-1927: 6:141, indicate that the owner during the mid-1910s was Otto H. Kahn. In addition, Kahn lent the painting to exhibitions in both 1920 and 1922, the latter a Rembrandt exhibition at the Fogg Art Museum, and although no checklist or catalogue exists for this exhibition, the museum’s records show that the picture entered the museum on 26 March 1922, and left on 13 April 1922. Perhaps Scott and Fowles simply handled the sale for Kahn.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1920

  • Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1920, unnumbered catalogue.

1922

  • Rembrandt Paintings, Drawings and Etchings, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1922, no catalogue.

1969

  • Rembrandt in the National Gallery of Art [Commemorating the Tercentenary of the Artist's Death], National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1969, no. 18, repro.

1998

  • A Collector's Cabinet, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1998, no. 47.

2000

  • Greek Gods and Heroes in the Age of Rubens and Rembrandt, National Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum, Athens; Dordrechts Museum, 2000-2001, no. 62, repro.

2004

  • Rembrandt, Albertina, Vienna, 2004, no. 133, repro.

2011

  • Rembrandt in America, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh; Cleveland Museum of Art; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2011-2012, no. 46, pl. 41.

Bibliography

n.d.

  • Catalogue from Collection of Charles T. Yerkes, Chicago, U.S.A.. Chicago, undated: no. 23.

1829

  • Smith, John. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters. 9 vols. London, 1829-1842: 7(1836):79-80, no. 194.

1877

  • Vosmaer, Carel. Rembrandt Harmens van Rijn: sa vie et ses oeuvres. 2nd ed. The Hague, 1877: 252-253.

1885

  • Dutuit, Eugène. Tableaux et dessins de Rembrandt: catalogue historique et descriptif; supplément à l'Oeuvre complet de Rembrandt. Paris, 1885: 58, no. 111.

1886

  • Wurzbach, Alfred von. Rembrandtgalerie. Stuttgart, 1886: 97, no. 493.

1893

  • Catalogue from Collection of Charles T. Yerkes, Chicago, U.S.A.. Chicago, 1893: no. 45.

  • Michel, Émile. Rembrandt: Sa vie, son oeuvre et son temps. Paris, 1893: 446-447, 561.

1894

  • Michel, Émile. Rembrandt: His Life, His Work, and His Time. 2 vols. Translated by Florence Simmonds. New York, 1894: 2:128-129, 248.

1895

  • Stephens, F.G. "Mr. Yerkes' Collection at Chicago: The Old Masters." The Magazine of Art 18 (1895): 99.

1897

  • Bode, Wilhelm von, and Cornelis Hofstede de Groot. The Complete Work of Rembrandt. 8 vols. Translated by Florence Simmonds. Paris, 1897-1906: 6:6, 46, no. 407, repro.

1898

  • Sedelmeyer, Charles. Illustrated Catalogue of 300 Paintings by Old Masters of the Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French, and English schools, being some of the principal pictures which have at various time formed part of the Sedelmeyer Gallery. Paris, 1898: no. 137.

1899

  • Bell, Malcolm. Rembrandt van Rijn and His Work. London, 1899: 82, 184.

1904

  • Yerkes, Charles Tyson. Catalogue of paintings and sculpture in the collection of Charles T. Yerkes Esq., New York. 2 vols. New York (photogravures by Elson & Co., Boston), 1904: 1:no. 81, repro.

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. Rembrandt: des Meisters Gemälde. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 2. Stuttgart, 1904: 325, 404, repro.

1905

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Rembrandt und seine Umgebung. Strasbourg, 1905: 97.

1906

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. "Rembrandt auf der Lateinschule." Jahrbuch der Königlich Preussischen Kunstsammlungen 27 (1906): 118-128.

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. Rembrandt, des Meisters Gemälde. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 2. 2nd ed. Stuttgart, 1906: repro. 325, 404.

1907

  • Brown, Gerard Baldwin. Rembrandt: A Study of His Life and Work. London, 1907: 138, 211.

  • Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century. 8 vols. Translated by Edward G. Hawke. London, 1907-1927: 6(1916):140-141, no. 212.

  • Bell, Malcolm. Rembrandt van Rijn. The great masters in painting and sculpture. London, 1907: 79, 156.

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. The Work of Rembrandt, reproduced in over five hundred illustrations. Classics in Art 2. New York, 1907: 325, repro.

  • Thieme, Ulrich, and Felix Becker, eds. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907-1950: 29(1935):266.

1908

  • Freise, Kurt. "Rembrandt and Elsheimer." The Burlington Magazine 13 (April 1908): 38–39.

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. Rembrandt, des Meisters Gemälde. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 2. 3rd ed. Stuttgart and Berlin, 1908: repro. 388, 562.

1909

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. Rembrandt: Des Meisters Gemälde. Edited by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 2. Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1909: repro. 388, 562.

1913

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. The Work of Rembrandt, reproduced in over five hundred illustrations. Classics in Art 2. Edited by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. 2nd ed. New York, 1913: repro. 325.

1914

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. The Art of the Low Countries. Translated by Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer. Garden City, NY, 1914: 140-141, 248, no. 76.

1920

  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1920: 9.

1921

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. The Work of Rembrandt. Edited by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Classics in Art 2. 3rd ed. New York, 1921: 388, repro.

1922

  • "Widener Purchases Famous Rembrandt." Art News 21 (9 December 1922): 1.

1923

  • Meldrum, David S. Rembrandt’s Painting, with an Essay on His Life and Work. New York, 1923: 202, pl. 404.

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1923: unpaginated, repro.

1925

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Rembrandt, des Meisters Handzeichnungen. 2 vols. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben. Berlin, 1925–1934: 2(1934):407 (under nos. 607 and 608).

1929

  • Wilenski, Reginald Howard. An Introduction to Dutch Art. New York, 1929: 59-60.

1930

  • Borenius, Tancred. "The New Rembrandt." The Burlington Magazine 57 (August 1930): 53-59.

1931

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Rembrandt Paintings in America. New York, 1931: no. 132, repro.

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1931: 68, repro.

1932

  • Rijckevorsel, J. L. A. A. M. van. "Rembrandt en de Traditie." Ph.D. diss., Rijksuniversiteit Nijmegen, 1932: 77-78, 80, repro.

1934

  • Stechow, Wolfgang. "Rembrandts Darstellungen des Emmausmahles." Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 3 (1934): 329-341.

1935

  • Bredius, Abraham. Rembrandt Schilderijen, 630 Afbeeldingen. Utrecht, 1935: no. 481, repro.

  • Bredius, Abraham. Rembrandt Gemälde, 630 Abbildungen. Vienna, 1935: no. 481, repro.

1936

  • Bredius, Abraham. The Paintings of Rembrandt. New York, 1936: no. 481, repro.

1938

  • Waldmann, Emil. "Die Sammlung Widener." Pantheon 22 (November 1938): 342.

1941

  • Kieser, Emil. "Über Rembrandts Verhältnis zur Antike." Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 10 (1941/1942): 146-147, 160-161.

  • Stechow, Wolfgang. "Recent Periodical Literature on 17th-Century Painting in the Netherlands and Germany." Art Bulletin 23 (September 1941): 225-231.

  • Stechow, Wolfgang. "The Myth of Philemon and Baucis in Art." _Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes _ 4 (January 1941): 103-113, fig. 28a.

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. "Jan van de Cappelle." The Art Quarterly 4 (Autumn 1941): 272-296.

1942

  • National Gallery of Art. Works of art from the Widener collection. Washington, 1942: 6.

  • Bredius, Abraham. The Paintings of Rembrandt. 2 vols. Translated by John Byam Shaw. Oxford, 1942: 1:no. 481; 2:repro.

1945

  • Wilenski, Reginald Howard. Dutch Painting. Revised ed. London, 1945: 62.

1948

  • Rosenberg, Jakob. Rembrandt. 2 vols. Cambridge, MA, 1948: 1:185.

  • National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. Washington, 1948: 46, repro.

1954

  • Benesch, Otto. The Drawings of Rembrandt: A Critical and Chronological Catalogue. 6 vols. London, 1954-1957: 5(1957):277, no. 958; 6(1957):396, no. A76.

1959

  • National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. Reprint. Washington, DC, 1959: 46, repro.

1960

  • Goldscheider, Ludwig. Rembrandt Paintings, Drawings and Etchings. London, 1960: 180, pls. 97, 98.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 313, 342, repro.

1964

  • Gantner, Joseph. Rembrandt und die Verwandlung klassicher Formen. Berlin, 1964: 157-159, pl. 48.

  • Rosenberg, Jakob. Rembrandt: Life and Work. Revised ed. Greenwich, Connecticut, 1964: 300.

1965

  • National Gallery of Art. Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. Washington, 1965: 110.

1966

  • Bauch, Kurt. Rembrandt Gemälde. Berlin, 1966: 7, no. 106, repro.

1968

  • Gerson, Horst. Rembrandt Paintings. Amsterdam, 1968: 103, color repro., 108, 132, 155, 357, 364-365, no. 278, repro., 499.

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 98, repro.

1969

  • Kitson, Michael. Rembrandt. London, 1969: no. 37, color repro. (also 1982 ed.).

  • Bredius, Abraham. Rembrandt: The Complete Edition of the Paintings. Revised by Horst Gerson. 3rd ed. London, 1969: repro. 390, 595, no. 481.

  • National Gallery of Art. Rembrandt in the National Gallery of Art: Commemorating the tercentenary of the artist's death. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1969: 6, 28-29, no. 18, repro.

1975

  • National Gallery of Art. European paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. Washington, 1975: 288, repro.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 283, no. 376, color repro.

1977

  • Bolten, J., and H. Bolten-Rempt. The Hidden Rembrandt. Translated by Danielle Adkinson. Milan and Chicago, 1977: 145-147, 149-150, color repro.

1982

  • Kitson, Michael. Rembrandt. 2nd ed. Oxford, 1982: no. 37, color repro.

1984

  • Schwartz, Gary. Rembrandt: Zijn leven, zijn schilderijen. Maarssen, 1984: 323, 330, no. 373, repro.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 283, no. 370, color repro.

1985

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. Washington, 1985: 332, repro.

  • Schwartz, Gary. Rembrandt: His Life, His Paintings. New York, 1985: 323, 330, no. 373, repro.

1986

  • Sluijter, Eric Jan. "De "Heydensche Fabulen" in de Noordnederlandse schilderkunst circa 1560–1670: een proeve van beschrijving en interpretatie van schilderijen met verhalende onderwerpen uit de klassieke mythologie." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Leiden, 1986: 100.

  • Sutton, Peter C. A Guide to Dutch Art in America. Washington and Grand Rapids, 1986: 313.

  • Tümpel, Christian. Rembrandt. Translated by Jacques and Jean Duvernet, Léon Karlson, and Patrick Grilli. Paris, 1986: repro. 249, 422, no. A26.

1990

  • Chapman, H. Perry. Rembrandt's Self-Portraits: A Study in Seventeenth-Century Identity. Princeton, 1990: 91, no. 135, repro.

  • Liedtke, Walter A. "Dutch Paintings in America: The Collectors and their Ideals." In Great Dutch Paintings from America. Edited by Ben P.J. Broos. Exh. cat. Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. The Hague and Zwolle, 1990: 43 fig. 30.

1991

  • Sello, Gottfried. "Beim Wein verrieten sich die Götter." Art Das Kunstmagazin 1 (January 1991): 82-88, repro.

1995

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1995: 247-252, color repro. 249.

1998

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. A Collector's Cabinet. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1998: 67, no. 47.

2000

  • Paarlberg, Sander, and Peter Schoon. Greek gods and heroes in the age of Rubens and Rembrandt. Exh. cat. National Gallery/Alexandros Soutzos Museum and the Netherlands Institute, Athens; Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht. Athens, 2000: no. 62, repro.

  • Wright, Christopher. Rembrandt. Collection Les Phares 10. Translated by Paul Alexandre. Paris, 2000: 74, fig. 58.

2002

  • Tromans, Nicholas. David Wilkie: painter of everyday life. Exh. cat. Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, 2002: 38, fig. 21.

  • Quodbach, Esmée. "The Last of the American Versailles: The Widener Collection at Lynnewood Hall." Simiolus 29, no. 1/2 (2002): 84, 96.

2003

  • Golahny, Amy. Rembrandt's Reading: The Artist's Bookshelf of Ancient Poetry and History. Amsterdam, 2003: 225-226, fig. 63..

2004

  • Schröder, Klaus Albrecht, and Marian Bisanz Prakken. Rembrandt. Edition Minerva. Exh. cat. Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna. Wolfratshausen, 2004: 282, no. 133, repro.

2006

  • Schwartz, Gary. The Rembrandt Book. New York, 2006: 340, fig. 602.

2011

  • Keyes, George S., Tom Rassieur, and Dennis P. Weller. Rembrandt in America: collecting and connoisseurship. Exh. cat. North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh; Cleveland Museum of Art; Minneapolis Institute of Arts. New York, 2011: no. 46, pl. 41, 23, 70, 148-150, 157, 198.

Inscriptions

lower left: Rembrandt f. 1658

Wikidata ID

Q20177472

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