Old Man Holding a Candle and a Glass
Artist/Maker
Material / Technique
Dimensionsh x w: Mått 85,5 x 63,5 cm h x w x d: Ram 104 x 81 x 8 cm
Inventory numberNM 469
AcqusitionTransferred 1866 from Kongl. Museum
Other titlesTitel (sv): Gubbe med brinnande ljus och glas Titel (en): Old Man Holding a Candle and a Glass Tidigare: An Old Man with a Candle and a Glass
DescriptionRes. Katalogtext: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 58: Technical notes: The original support, a single piece of coarse, loosely woven, plain weave fabric, with a weave count of 10 horizontal and 12 vertical threads per cm, has been lined and attached to a non-original stretcher. The original tacking edges are present, but cusping is absent on all sides. Paint is applied thickly, mainly in opaque layers, over a thick, opaque, medium-brown ground, which helps define the dark areas of the composition. The ground fills, but does not hide the texture of the woven support. There is extensive use of strong impasto and vigorous brushwork in the whites, such the sash tied around the old man’s waist and in the highlights on his forehead, cheeks, nose and beard, on his fur collar, left arm and hand, on the candle and the rim of the glass held in his right hand. In the beard and fur collar, reddish brown paint was scumbled on to the opaque brown ground. Remnants of a deep red translucent glaze are preserved in the wine glass. A thick, discoloured layer of old varnish is present. Retouching covers extensive losses of ground and paint layers along the edges of the painting. Extensive coarse retouching is evident in areas of the background, especially at the top and lower left, and scattered small retouches cover abrasion and small losses in the old man’s face, left hand and sleeve and fur collar. The surface has been somewhat flattened by the lining. There is a pronounced overall craquelure, with areas of “cupping” throughout. The painting underwent conservation treatment in 1935, 1983, 1986 and 1995. Exhibited: NM Lövstabruk, 1995; Stockholm 2010, no. 55. Bibliography: Sander IV, p. 155, no. 1048 (as Gerard Honthorst); NMCat. 1867, p. 33 (as Gerard van Honthorst); Göthe 1887, p. 111–112 (as Gerard van Honthorst); Göthe 1893, p. 139 (as Gerard van Honthorst); NM Cat. 1958, pp. 94–95 (as Gerard van Honthorst); Nicolson 1966, p. 253 ff (as Adam de Coster) ; Nicolson 1979, p. 44; Nicolson 1989, vol. I, pp. 100–101 (as Adam de Coster, uncertain attribution); NM Cat. 1990, p. 90 (as attributed to Adam de Coster). The use of camouflaged candlelight often links Adam de Coster’s work to similar paintings made in the 1620s by the Utrecht painter Gerard van Honthorst. It is therefore easy to understand why this painting was attributed in earlier Nationalmuseum catalogues to this master. In 1966, however, Nicolson ascribed the work to Adam De Coster. The attribution seems convincing when comparing the painting with Portrait of a Singer by Candlelight in Dublin, which had earlier been attributed to Honthorst (Fig. 1).1 Both figures have the same heavy eyelids and the same unruly hair. In the1989 edition of Nicolson’s catalogue both works are listed as uncertain attributions. The Nationalmuseum painting can also be compared to a similar motif sold at Sotheby’s 1996 as Adam De Coster.2 All these works have the same archaic and somewhat coarse character. GCB 1 National Gallery, Dublin, 123 x 93. See Nicolson 1979 p. 44 and Nicolson 1989, p. 100. 2 17 January 1996, lot 145. [End] Nighttime genre scenes are often associated with morally dubious activities, with voluptuousness and excess. The difficulty of any symbolic reading arises with such ambiguous images as this old man holding a wine glass. Conflicting attitudes toward the elderly were not uncommon in the 17th century. Is the candlelight a symbol of the enlightenment of virtuous old age, or of sinister pursuits obscured by the cloak of night?
Motif categoryPortrait
Collection
TechniquePainting
Object category
Keyword