© National Galleries of Scotland
A Boy Blowing on a Firebrand to Light a Charcoal
Godfried Schalken
- Art Funded
- 1990
- Dimensions
- 75 x 64 cm
- Vendor
- Johnny Van Haeften
This painting is a striking example of the candlelit genre scenes for which Godfried Schalken was most famous.
The work recreates the subject of a classical painting, by Antiphilos of Alexandria, described in Pliny's Natural History. Northern painters quickly adopted this motif and the subject of a boy with an ember is found in the work of a long line of Dutch painters such as Gerrit van Honthorst, Hendrick Ter Brugghen, Jan Lievens and Matthijs Stom.
Provenance
Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland; Charles, 3rd Earl of Sundrland; The Hon. John Spencer; John, 1st arl Spencer; By descent.