The Linder Gallery oil painting

[Putaendo Patrick]

Here is a site dedicated to a rather curious early 17th century painting known as "The Linder Gallery" as it supposedly shows the collection of art and objects belonging to German merchant Peter Linder.

http://mysteriousmasterpiece.com/

The site allows you to zoon in and out on the picture, and identify the objects by clicking on the numbers. If you want more art historical context, you can download a pdf article from the resources tab.

Linder lived for some time in Millan and studied mathematics with Mutio Oddi. The picture was probably painted in the 1620s and contains a considerable number of mathematical and astronomical/astrological instruments represented with very fine detail. This photo shows the whole work, while the second is a close-up of the central table:

The document in the front centre of the table shows geocentric and heliocentric plans of the heavens along with Brahe's compromise. There is also written "Others see it yet otherwise", and the plans cover a horoscope.

The painting is by no means the only picture of a 17th century gallery, although whether the room actually existed or is a conceit of the artist is unclear. However the choice and positioning of the objects almost certainly have a symbolism known to the patron, Linder, and probably contemporary viewers. The two people in the picture are also complicated - it has been suggested that the old man is a personification of Design and the woman of Art, and even that the old man may be Copernicus.

My own take is that the two people may be real and related, father and daugher or husband and wife. She is now long dead, but he remembers her as his true source of art, beauty and virtue. Compared to her memory, all the rich and costly trappings of his gallery are merely vanity. This type of construction was by no means impossible in this period. The horoscope versus the systems of the heavens may suggest her early death was astrologically predicted.

It's worth remembering that astrology and astronomy were intimately connected at this period. By all accounts, even Galileo had a certain fame for his ability to draw up horoscopes!

Anyway, I hope some of you may find it interesting for a cloudy night! And if you can prove who the artist was who painted it, the owner is offering a 10,000 Euro prize to boot!

 

 

 

[jambouk]

What a georgous painting, and what an amazing looking gallery. Thank you for sharing that with us. The painting reminds me of a book from my childhood (which I still have) called he Ultimate Alphabet by Mike Wilks, in which he had constructed an image for each letter of the alphabet, in which featured hundreds, thousands o objects each begining with the same letter. Not only was the art work amazing, it was also fun to work through the book and see how many words one could spot for each image. 

James

 

[Peter Drew]

A remarkable painting with excellent perspective and attention to detail, almost photographic. Much for the mind  to try and decipher.