Lot 67: JACOB DUCK

JACOB DUCK UTRECHT (?) CIRCA 1600 - 1667 LAUGHING DEMOCRITUS, SEATED NEXT TO A TERRESTRIAL GLOBE signed upper left: jdvck , and inscribed upper right: Democritus... 38.2 by 30 cm.

This previously unrecorded lively brunaille of an amused Democritus is an exceptional work within Duck's oeuvre; he primarily painted kortegaerdjes (guardroom scenes) and merry companies in full colour. The laughing philosopher and the weeping philosopher Heraclitus as his counterpart were a popular subject in 17υth Century art, and paintings and prints with this theme, either together composed around a large globe or as pendants, were widespread. This painting closely follows a print by Jan van der Bruggen (1649-after 1689), in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv. no. RP-P-1906-3035). It is plausible that Duck painted the figure of Heraclitus as well, since Van Bruggen's print also has a pendant in the Rijksmuseum (inv. no. RP-P-1906-2032).υ1

1. See J. van der Waals et. al., Prenten in de Gouden eeuw, van kunst tot kastpapier, Rotterdam 2006, p. 143, cat. nos. 213A-B, reproduced.