Children Playing with a Goat | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Year | 18th century |
Medium | oil paint, canvas |
Dimensions | 67.9 cm (26.7 in) × 104.1 cm (41.0 in) |
Location | Metropolitan Museum of Art |
Accession No. | 07.225.257 ![]() |
Identifiers | The Met object ID: 437949 |
Children Playing with a Goat is an 18th-century grisaille painting in the style of Jacob de Wit, known as a "witje". It is an oil painting on canvas depicting a relief of children playing with a goat after a relief by Francois Duquesnoy. It is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. [1]
Several paintings of this specific scene dating from the 17th century and 18th century have survived, and sometimes these were incorporated into other paintings. Though the paintings themselves have survived, the interpretation has not. In general, the popularity of putti in "witjes" as overdoors or room panels had to do with a trompe-l'œil effect when the viewer walks into a room. Stucco work as a decorative scheme was quite popular in the Netherlands from the late 17th century throughout the 18th century, but these imitation-stucco paintings were valued for their cleverness, their clarity even on a cloudy day without shadows, and of course the ease with which they could be moved and reinstalled, an aspect which has made them also difficult to trace. In fact, the genre itself existed well before De Wit was active and they were just called "grauwtjes" (little grays, or grisailles), and through De Wit's art they slowly became known as "witjes" (little whites). The shadows in the painting are supposed to be aligned with the light source, so in this case, the painting was probably an overdoor with a window on the left. The painter Jacob de Wit excelled at this "painting of putti in a bas-relief" style of grisaille, and though no original autograph version of this specific scene is known, the art historian Hessel Miedema discovered two "grauwtjes" by De Wit after reliefs by Duquesnoy in the estate sale of Lambert ten Kate. [2] According to Walter Liedtke, a comparison of this painting with autograph "witjes", however, shows that it is not as masterful as an actual Jacob de Wit.
The reason this painting is important for the art historical record has therefore more to do with its subject than with its painterly qualities. Indeed, the subject is featured in another painting owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, namely their self-portrait by Gerard Dou. This painting came into the collection via the John Pierpont Morgan bequest, and the Dou was bequeathed by Benjamin Altman. In Dou's case, he painted this scene several times in the lower "balcony" part of his popular "niche paintings" and the art historian Hofstede de Groot would just refer to it as "well-known relief by Duquesnoy of children playing with a he-goat". [3]
Known versions by Dou:
The popularity of "witjes" as a decorative element, but also as a collector's item, caused De Wit to have many followers, including Piat Sauvage, who also created a copy of the same Children Playing with a Goat theme. [4] Two of Sauvage's trompe-l'œil bas-reliefs are also in the J.P. Morgan bequest, though it is unknown whether Morgan knew about Sauvage's copy of the other painting in his collection:
The subject remained popular through the 19th century, when it was used by the sculptor P.E. van den Bossche for a sculpted frieze above the doors of a building on the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam.
Grisaille means in general any European painting that is painted in grey.
Gerrit Dou, also known as GerardDouw or Dow, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, whose small, highly polished paintings are typical of the Leiden fijnschilders. He specialised in genre scenes and is noted for his trompe-l'œil "niche" paintings and candlelit night-scenes with strong chiaroscuro. He was a student of Rembrandt.
Evert Collier was a Dutch Golden Age still-life painter known for vanitas and trompe-l'œil paintings. His first name is sometimes spelled "Edward" or "Edwaert" or "Eduwaert" or "Edwart," and his last name is sometimes spelled "Colyer" or "Kollier".
Petrus Christus was an Early Netherlandish painter active in Bruges from 1444, where, along with Hans Memling, he became the leading painter after the death of Jan van Eyck. He was influenced by van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden and is noted for his innovations with linear perspective and a meticulous technique which seems derived from miniatures and manuscript illumination. Today, some 30 works are confidently attributed to him. The best known include the Portrait of a Carthusian (1446) and Portrait of a Young Girl ; both are highly innovative in the presentation of the figure against detailed, rather than flat, backgrounds.
A putto is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and very often winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism, the putto came to represent a sort of baby angel in religious art, often called a cherub, though in traditional Christian theology a cherub is actually one of the most senior types of angel.
François Duquesnoy or Frans Duquesnoy was a Flemish Baroque sculptor who was active in Rome for most of his career, where he was known as Il Fiammingo. His idealized representations represented a quieter and more restrained version of Italian baroque sculpture, and are often contrasted with the more dramatic and emotional character of Bernini's works, while his style shows a great affinity to Algardi's sculptures.
The Camera degli Sposi, sometimes known as the Camera picta, is a room frescoed with illusionistic paintings by Andrea Mantegna in the Ducal Palace, Mantua, Italy. During the fifteenth century when the Camera degli Sposi was painted, Mantua was ruled by the Gonzaga, who maintained Mantua's political autonomy from its much stronger neighbors Milan and Venice by bidding their support out as a mercenary state. By commissioning Mantegna to paint the chamber, Ludovico III Gonzaga, the Marquis of Mantua, sought to give the Gonzaga rule more cultural credibility at a time when other Northern Italian courts such as the Ferrara were commissioning their own “painted chambers”.
Piat Joseph Sauvage or Pieter Joseph Sauvage was a painter, sculptor, printmaker and academic lecturer from the Southern Netherlands. He was known for his decorative paintings of interiors, grisailles and miniatures using trompe l'oeil effects as well as his small-scale portrait carvings. He often used precious materials such as marble, porcelain and ivory as the support for his paintings. He was a court painter to the governor of the Southern Netherlands, the Prince de Condé and the French king Louis XVI and a member of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture.
Portrait of a Man Rising from His Chair is a painting by the Dutch painter Rembrandt, painted in 1633. It hangs in the Taft Museum of Art of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The oil-on-canvas portrait measures 124 by 99 centimetres. It is signed and dated 1633, and there is no doubt of its authenticity.
Self-Portrait is a 1665 niche painting by Gerrit Dou. It shows the artist at the peak of his fame, holding a palette and surrounded by studio objects. It is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York.
Portrait of a Woman, probably a Member of the Van Beresteyn Family is a 1632 oil-on-canvas portrait painting by Rembrandt. A depiction of a woman with an unusually large millstone collar, it is a pendant to Portrait of a Man, probably a Member of the Van Beresteyn Family. Both portraits are in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Portrait of a Man, probably a Member of the Van Beresteyn Family is an oil-on-canvas 1632 portrait painting by Rembrandt. It shows a man with a lace collar, which was a new fashion in the 1630s replacing older-styled millstone collars. It is pendant to Portrait of a Woman, probably a Member of the Van Beresteyn Family, and both are in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Oval Portrait of a Woman is a 1633 portrait painting painted by Rembrandt. It shows a woman with a millstone collar and diadem cap. It is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Portrait of a Man is a c. 1657 portrait painting painted by Rembrandt. It is an oil on canvas and is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Lacemaker is an oil on canvas painting by the Dutch painter Nicolaes Maes, created c. 1656. It is an example of Dutch Golden Age painting and is part of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York.
Young Woman in a Pearl Necklace is an oil on canvas painting by an unknown painter, after a painting by the Dutch painter Willem Drost. It is an example of Dutch Golden Age painting and is part of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Portrait of a Young Woman with a Fan is a 1633 portrait painting by Rembrandt. It shows a woman holding a fan, pendant to Portrait of a Man Rising from His Chair. It is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Woman in a Red Dress is a painting attributed to the Dutch artist Gabriël Metsu, created c. 1660–1669. It has been in England since 1828, and in the collection of Polesden Lacey in Surrey since 1922.
The Bacchanal of Putti or Bacchanal of Putti with a Goat is a marble relief by Flemish sculptor François Duquesnoy. The commissioner of this relief is unknown.
The Physician is a 1653 oil painting by Dutch Golden Age artist Gerrit Dou, and is now part of the Christchurch Art Gallery. It exists in two versions: one in the Christchurch Art Gallery and the other in the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Vienna.