Core Record |
| Title |
Alchemist |
| Collection |
Dick Institute, Kilmarnock |
| Artist |
Teniers, David, II (Flemish painter, 1610-1690) |
| Date Earliest |
probably 1652 |
| Date Latest |
possibly about 1680 |
| Description |
There are least two hundred paintings of alchemists by Teniers. The subject was his favourite after his peasant genres and was represented in various formats throughout his career. Alchemical laboratories were of professional interest (artist's pigments were often produced by alchemical methods) as well as artistic interest to Teniers (the laboratories were filled with objects that would provide settings for Teniers's still-lives). This depiction portrays a serious scholar holding a pair of glasses seated before a table on which there is a pile of books and alchemical apparatus. In composition and motifs it resembles the Alchemist of 1680 in the Schleissheim Gallery, Munich, a self-portrait of Teniers. The illustration on the wall (partly obscured) in the right background is possibly dated 1652, which gives the earliest possible date of this work. |
| Current Accession Number |
KIMMG:FA/A232 |
| Subject |
figure |
| Measurements |
45.5 x 39 cm.0 cm (estimate) |
| Material |
oil on panel |
| Acquisition Details |
Given by Sir Alexander Walker 1940. |
| Publications |
Wright, Christopher, Old Master Paintings in Britain, London, 1976, p. 198. |
| Rights Owner |
The Dick Institute |
| Author |
Dr Georgia Toutziari |
