Painting: Still Life with Thinker, copy of a 17th century vanitas painting
[BLANK]
circa 1850 (Date manufactured/created)
oil on canvas
51" H
X
76" W
Large oil painting on canvas in the style of a Dutch "vanitas" painting from the late 1600s. Vanitas paintings are a genre that features imagery alluding to human mortality. The wide, horizontal-format painting depicts a variety of objects, as well as a man at the left with his head leaning on his hand, referred to as "the thinker". The objects include a skull, an hourglass, books, coins, letter paper, red wax seals, a candle nearly burned to a stub, a small statue of a man, woman, and infant, musical instruments including a violin, a lute and a horn or recorder, and flowers, specifically tulips. These are meant to represent the luxuries and pleasures of life, and point to the ephemeral nature of human life, with these objects being only earthly pleasures. There is a dark hand near the top left of the painting, barely discernible, which appears to be holding a note. The dates on a book and document would suggest to the viewer the painting is from 1634 or 1679, however, the almost cartoon-like (outline) quality to the depiction of objects is vastly different than the hyperrealistic style of vanitas paintings made in the 17th century, which are very finely painted. Some of the very same objects depicted in this painting can be found in true vanitas paintings which suggests this is a copy. It is our belief that this is a 19th century copy, and possibly one that Barnum himself had commissioned. It is known from his letters dating to 1845 and 1846 that he sought to commission copies of paintings while he was in Europe, with the intent to show them at his American Museum in New York, but it is unknown if that was the purpose of this copy. If so, it was removed from the American Museum before fires had ravaged the first and then second buildings (1865 and 1868), as the contents of the two museums were lost in those fires.
A plaque on the ornate frame reads "Still Life Presented By Hon. P. T. Barnum," the title alluding to his position as Mayor of Bridgeport (1875). Barnum may have presented this painting to the Fairfield County Historical Society or the Bridgeport Scientific Society in the late 1870s or 1880s. These organizations later became the original owners and tenants of the Barnum Institute of Science and History in 1893.
The painting might have been hanging in Barnum's office in Bridgeport, but it does not seem likely it was hung in his home. The subject matter does not suggest it would be particularly welcome in a Victorian home and the Barnums had fine paintings hanging on their walls, not copies. Also the considerable dirt on the canvas on top of darkened varnish suggests it was in a public building where there was a lot of smoking. (Barnum himself did not smoke.)
At present our assessment is that this painting belonged to P. T. Barnum in the 19th century, and may have been a copy he commissioned, and the wording on the plaque suggests it was donated (probably to the Fairfield County Historical Society) prior to his death in 1891. It could have been donated much later, after his death, if it was hanging in an office somewhere although the plaque tends to counter that idea. The assigned accession number represents the first year of the Institute's existence, and is thus only an approximation of when the painting might have been received, especially if Barnum himself donated it, which would have been before 1891.
Test cleaning was done on the painting around 2012 by Joseph Matteis, fine art conservator in Clinton, Conn. In one area he removed dirt down to the layer of varnish. In the center of that area he removed the old varnish as well, revealing a very white shirt worn by "the thinker." Overall the painting is so darkened by varnish and dirt that the elements are hard to discern.
A plaque on the ornate frame reads "Still Life Presented By Hon. P. T. Barnum," the title alluding to his position as Mayor of Bridgeport (1875). Barnum may have presented this painting to the Fairfield County Historical Society or the Bridgeport Scientific Society in the late 1870s or 1880s. These organizations later became the original owners and tenants of the Barnum Institute of Science and History in 1893.
The painting might have been hanging in Barnum's office in Bridgeport, but it does not seem likely it was hung in his home. The subject matter does not suggest it would be particularly welcome in a Victorian home and the Barnums had fine paintings hanging on their walls, not copies. Also the considerable dirt on the canvas on top of darkened varnish suggests it was in a public building where there was a lot of smoking. (Barnum himself did not smoke.)
At present our assessment is that this painting belonged to P. T. Barnum in the 19th century, and may have been a copy he commissioned, and the wording on the plaque suggests it was donated (probably to the Fairfield County Historical Society) prior to his death in 1891. It could have been donated much later, after his death, if it was hanging in an office somewhere although the plaque tends to counter that idea. The assigned accession number represents the first year of the Institute's existence, and is thus only an approximation of when the painting might have been received, especially if Barnum himself donated it, which would have been before 1891.
Test cleaning was done on the painting around 2012 by Joseph Matteis, fine art conservator in Clinton, Conn. In one area he removed dirt down to the layer of varnish. In the center of that area he removed the old varnish as well, revealing a very white shirt worn by "the thinker." Overall the painting is so darkened by varnish and dirt that the elements are hard to discern.
Gift of P. T. Barnum
1893.005.027