A boy blowing bubbles by a partially draped ledge

细节

Circle of Caspar Netscher (Heidelberg 1639-1684 The Hague)
A boy blowing bubbles by a partially draped ledge
oil on canvas
12¼ x 10 3/8 in. (31 x 26.3 cm.) (including an addition of 1/2 in. (1.3 cm.) to the right edge).

来源

William Bernard, Comte d'Harcourt (1808-1846), Paris, 1846.
Beriah Botfield (1807-1863), by 1848, by whom bequeathed to the Thynne family.

出版

B. Botfield, Catalogue of Pictures in the possession of Beriah Botfield Esq. at Norton Hall, London, 1848, p. 36, 'A Boy blowing bubbles at a table, on which are a Chalice a Candlestick, &c. and a rich cloth'.
B. Botfield, Catalogue of Pictures at Norton Hall, London, 1863, p. 27.
T. Crombie, 'Beriah Botfield and his Dutch pictures at Longleat', Apollo, CV, February 1977, p. 105, fig. 8.

展览

London, Royal Academy, Dutch Pictures 1450-1750, 1952-3, p. 78, no. 405.

注意事项

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拍品专文

Traditionally accepted as a work by Netscher and exhibited as such at the great Dutch exhibiton at the Royal Academy in 1952-3, the attribution has recently been questioned by Marjorie Wieseman who will include it under 'Rejected Pictures' in her catalogue raisonné of the artist's work, due to be published later this year. In her opinion 'the technique and overall tonality are markedly different from autograph paintings of this subject by the artist'; amongst those is the picture in the National Gallery, London, dated (?) 1670, where two boys are shown blowing bubbles at a casement, with a silver tazza on the ledge.

In both cases, the symbolic meaning is unambiguous. The children blowing bubbles are meant to symbolise the transience of earthly life, whilst the inclusion of valuable objects serves to underline the futility of worldly possessions. The vanitas theme is further emphasized in this instance by the snuffed out candle and music manuscript. Alongside the candle, the artist depicts a salt-cellar, a brandy bowl and a flagon - all Dutch seventeenth century, which rest on a luxurious seventeenth-century Indian carpet, probably from Lahore.

The theme has a classical origin in the form of the Homo Bulla Est. By employing figures in contemporary costume with contemporary objects, Netscher gave the subject a renewed sense of realism. The present picture may be dated to circa 1670, judging by the dress and its affinities with the National Gallery picture.