DOI issue:
Nr. 4
DOI article:Monkiewicz, Maciej: A drawing of Elsheimer in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18904#0114
7. Circle of Elsheimer, Jupiter and Mercury in the House of Phiłemon and Baucis, gouache,
recently in Lodewijk Houthakker collection in Amsterdam (Photo after Móhle 1966)
"Warsaw gouache. The distinctness of the Warsaw scenę also consists in its morc confined charac-
ter, which is typical of Elsheimer's scenes set in interiors18. In the Dresden painting, despite
the lack of communication with the outside world, we see Philemon in the adjacent room behind
the open door on the right; his figurę is lit from an additional source of light. In the Warsaw
drawing, the door behind Jupiter's back acts only as a background against which the god is
depicted; in the dark, we may only see a detail of the same ceiling as in the room in which the
main scenę is set. Finally, the quality of the Warsaw composition largely depends on the
medium used is its synthetic expression. The elimination of all the superfluous details under-
lines the role of light and shade as carriers of meaning. Light, which brings the room out of
semi-darkness, symbolises the transformation of the aged couple's life thanks to the emergence
of the gods19. An apparently important attribute, the goose (present in the foreground of the
Dresden painting and absent in Goudt's print) which the hosts intended as a treat for the gods
and which survived thanks to their gćnerosity, is absent in Elsheimer's scenę. The experience
of supernatural truths hidden behind the image of the real world seems more relevant to Els-
heimer than the emblematic laycr of his work, in which he showed more restraint.
We may surmise that there existed an oil version of the Warsaw variant of Philemon and
Baucis; it could not bc identical with the painting sold in Munich in 1903, mentioned by Weiz-
18. Cf. Audrews 1977, pp. 30, 35; Aiulrcws 1985, pp. 29, 36—37.
19. Cf. Andrews 1977, p. 35; Andrews 1985, p. 36.
100
recently in Lodewijk Houthakker collection in Amsterdam (Photo after Móhle 1966)
"Warsaw gouache. The distinctness of the Warsaw scenę also consists in its morc confined charac-
ter, which is typical of Elsheimer's scenes set in interiors18. In the Dresden painting, despite
the lack of communication with the outside world, we see Philemon in the adjacent room behind
the open door on the right; his figurę is lit from an additional source of light. In the Warsaw
drawing, the door behind Jupiter's back acts only as a background against which the god is
depicted; in the dark, we may only see a detail of the same ceiling as in the room in which the
main scenę is set. Finally, the quality of the Warsaw composition largely depends on the
medium used is its synthetic expression. The elimination of all the superfluous details under-
lines the role of light and shade as carriers of meaning. Light, which brings the room out of
semi-darkness, symbolises the transformation of the aged couple's life thanks to the emergence
of the gods19. An apparently important attribute, the goose (present in the foreground of the
Dresden painting and absent in Goudt's print) which the hosts intended as a treat for the gods
and which survived thanks to their gćnerosity, is absent in Elsheimer's scenę. The experience
of supernatural truths hidden behind the image of the real world seems more relevant to Els-
heimer than the emblematic laycr of his work, in which he showed more restraint.
We may surmise that there existed an oil version of the Warsaw variant of Philemon and
Baucis; it could not bc identical with the painting sold in Munich in 1903, mentioned by Weiz-
18. Cf. Audrews 1977, pp. 30, 35; Aiulrcws 1985, pp. 29, 36—37.
19. Cf. Andrews 1977, p. 35; Andrews 1985, p. 36.
100