Heraclitus

Hendrick ter Brugghen (signed by artist), 1628

The Greek sage Heraclitus was known as the crying philosopher because he mourned the folly of mankind, while his opposite Democritus (the nearby pendant) could only laugh at it. Here Heraclitus looks like a melancholy old man. Downcast, he leans on a terrestrial globe and gestures dismissively with his left hand, as if to say: ‘All is for nought, the world will come to nothing.’

  • Artwork typepainting
  • Object numberSK-A-2784
  • Dimensionssupport: height 85.5 cm x width 70 cm
  • Physical characteristicsoil on canvas

Identification

  • Title(s)

    Heraclitus

  • Object type

  • Object number

    SK-A-2784

  • Description

    Heraclitus, pratend en gebarend terwijl hij met zijn rechterarm op een aardglobe leunt. Pendant van SK-A-2783.

  • Inscriptions / marks

    signature and date, upper right (H, T and B ligated): ‘HTBrugghen fecit 1628’

  • Part of catalogue

Creation

  • Creation

    painter: Hendrick ter Brugghen (signed by artist)

  • Dating

    1628

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Material and technique

  • Physical description

    oil on canvas

  • Dimensions

    support: height 85.5 cm x width 70 cm

This work is about

  • Subject

Acquisition and rights

  • Credit line

    Gift of B. Asscher, Amsterdam and H. Koetser, Amsterdam

  • Acquisition

    gift 1916-01

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

    **For both the present painting (SK-A-2784) and its pendant (SK-A-2783)**

    …; donated to the museum by the dealers B. Asscher and H. Koetser, London, 1916; on loan to the Centraal Museum, Utrecht, 1924-36

Documentation

  • Gregor J.M. Weber, Ter Brugghen's lost Martyrdom of St Bartholomew : what a copy can tell, uit: Simiolus : kunsthistorisch tijdschrift, 38, 2015-2016, 4, pagina 250-259 - p. 253, fig. 3

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