Hals, Frans (c.1582-1666)
René Descartes
1647–1648
Oil on oak wood, 19 x 14 cm
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen
The small painting has been dealt a hard time. Someone has scratched zigzag lines with a pointed object all over the painting. But why this vandalism? Perhaps because it depicts a philosopher and mathematician who thought many new ideas for his time.
Provocative thinker
Although the portrait is only a painted sketch for an engraving by Jonas Suyderhoef and possibly also for a painted portrait in life-size, it did not go unnoticed through time. But what was it that was so new and provocative about Descartes‘ thinking? Perhaps it was his scientific achievements in mathematics or perhaps his philosophical writings, in which he concludes, among other things, that human thought is the only absolute. It is believed that Frans Hals painted the sketch before Descartes left Haarlem in September 1649 to enter the service of the Swedish Queen Christina. Eva de la Fuente Pedersen, 2017. (SMK)
See also:
• Descartes, René (1596-1650)