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Philemon and Baucis
Rembrandt van Rijn·1658
Historical Context
Rembrandt's Philemon and Baucis (1658) at the National Gallery of Art depicts the Ovidian myth of the elderly Phrygian couple who offered hospitality to the gods Jupiter and Mercury disguised as travelers — a subject that combined the classical mythological tradition with Rembrandt's profound interest in aging and spiritual wisdom. The elderly couple's recognition of their divine guests, and the gods' reward of transforming them into intertwined trees at their death, provided Rembrandt with a subject ideally suited to his late style: old people suffused with warm light, their faces carrying the weight of long lives lived with dignity and mutual devotion.
Technical Analysis
The modest interior is illuminated by warm, golden candlelight that reveals the divine visitors to the viewer. Rembrandt's handling of the light source creates a masterclass in nocturnal illumination, with the elderly couple's faces glowing with warmth and wonder.
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.
