Here's another painting Sir Thomas Browne may have viewed. 'The Supper at Emmaus' by Cornelis Engelsz (1575-1650).
Its a great example of the Dutch 'Golden Age', of painting, combining two of the most popular of all Dutch genres, Biblical scenes and still-life. The detail of the various supper items depicted in the foreground, bread, fish and meat is exceptionally realistic. The central message of the picture is in the stark contrast between the very public, lavish and earthy supper in the foreground, to the private, frugal and heavenly supper depicted in the dimly-lit background. The Resurrected Christ, having broken bread has just revealed his identity to two of his disciples. (Luke 24 verses 13-35).
'The Supper at Emmaeus' (1612) was owned by the lawyer and MP Nathaniel Bacon (1550 - 1622) who was knighted in 1604. He was the uncle of Nicolas Bacon (1623-1666) also of Gillingham Hall. As Browne was a friend and visitor of Nicolas, even dedicating his Discourse 'The Garden of Cyrus' to him. it's highly possible he could have viewed this painting when visiting Gillingham Hall. The painting was subsequently purchased from the Bacon family by Norwich Castle Museum in 2004.
Sir Thomas Browne must have spent some time in the Netherlands. Do you know if he had a particular interest in Dutch painting? There's that passage in Sebald's The Rings of Saturn where he speculates that Browne might have been present at the anatomy lesson of Dr Tulp (I think I'm getting this right), which is quite an interesting idea.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nick.
ReplyDeleteMax Sebald's 'Rings of Saturn' raised awareness of Browne,but he probably got the idea from J.S.Finch's speculation in his 1950 pub. that Browne who was at Leiden as a medical student circa 1632-33 posed for Rembrandt.
Take a peep at my April post -
The Anatomy Lesson
In the 17th c. Norwich and Holland were close in trade, culture and even dialect!
Thanks for the information and pointing me towards your April post. Very interesting.
ReplyDelete