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Painted Alchemists

Painted Alchemists

Early Modern Artistry and Experiment in the Work of Thomas Wijck

Thomas Wijck’s painted alchemical laboratories were celebrated in his day as "artful" and "ingenious." They fell into obscurity along withtheir subject, as alchemy came to be viewed as an occult art or a fool’s errand. But these unusual pictures challenge our understanding of early modern alchemy-and of the deeper relationship between chemical workshops and the artists who represented them. The work of artists, like the work of alchemists, contained intellectual-creative and manual-material aspects. Both alchemists and artists claimed a special status owing to their creative powers. Wijck’s formation of an artistic and professional identity around alchemical themes reveals his desire to explore this curious territory, and ultimately to demonstrate art’s superior claims to knowledge and mastery over nature. This book explores one artist’s transformation of alchemy and its materials into a reputation for virtuosity-and what his work can teach us about the experimental early modern world.
  • Cover
  • Contents
    • Acknowledgements
    • Introduction
    • 1. Curiosity and Convention
      • Authority and Secrecy
      • Bruegel, Stradanus, and Beyond: Pictorial Precedents
    • 2. Thomas Wijck, “Artful” and “Ingenious”
      • The Young Wijck
      • An Expanding Market
      • Wijck’s Reputation
    • 3. Wijck’s Alchemical Artisans
      • Chronology
      • The Alchemist as Paterfamilias
      • The Alchemist as Artisan
      • The Alchemist as Scholar
    • 4. An Experiment in Haarlem
      • Practical Alchemy in Wijck’s Networks
      • Van Eyck, Goltzius, and the Model of the Experimental Artist
      • Representing Alchemy in Haarlem
    • 5. The Artist’s Laboratories Abroad
      • Alchemy, Magic, and “Secrets” in Rome and Naples
      • Elite Alchemy and Experiment in London
      • The “Foreign” Alchemist
    • 6. The Master of Nature
      • Oil Painting and the Art-Alchemy Debate
      • Making and Representing Pigments
      • Alchemy, Artistry, and Identity
    • Epilogue
    • Bibliography
    • Index
  • Color Plates
    • Plate 1: Thomas Wijck, The Alchemist, c. 1650-1660. Oil on panel. (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
    • Plate 2: Adriaen van Ostade, The Painter’s Studio, c. 1670-1675. Oil on panel. (Rijksmuseum,Amsterdam)
    • Plate 3: Thomas Wijck, Alchemist, c. 1670-1677. Oil on panel. (Science History Institute, Philadelphia)
    • Plate 4: David Teniers the Younger, Alchemist with Book and Crucible, c. 1640-1670. Oil on panel.(Science History Institute, Philadelphia)
    • Plate 5: Thomas Wijck, Kitchen Interior, c. 1650-1670. Oil on canvas, laid on panel. (The Walters ArtMuseum, Baltimore)
    • Plate 6: Thomas Wijck (attributed), Vision of Saint Dominic, c. 1650-1670. Oil on panel. (PrivateCollection; Photo © Christie’s Images / Bridgeman Images)
    • Plate 7: Thomas Wijck, View of the Bay of Naples with Orientals and an Antique Statue, c. 1670. Oil oncanvas. (Ham House, Richmond-on-Thames / ©National Trust Images)
    • Plate 8: Thomas Wijck, An Alchemist at Work, with a Mother by a Cradle Beyond, c. 1645-1660. Oil onpanel. (Science History Institute, Philadelphia)
    • Plate 9: Thomas Wijck, Washerwoman in a Courtyard, c. 1645-1660. Oil on canvas. (NationalMuseum, Warsaw)
    • Plate 10: Thomas Wijck, The Scholar, c. 1645-1660. Oil on panel. (Science History Institute,Philadelphia)
    • Plate 11: Jan Miense Molenaer, Saying Grace, c. 1640-1668. Oil on panel. (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
    • Plate 12: Thomas Wijck, An Alchemist in His Study, c. 1660. Oil on panel. (Science History Institute,Philadelphia)
    • Plate 13: Thomas Wijck, The Alchemist in His Study with a Woman Making Lace, c. 1650-1670. Oil onpanel. (Science History Institute, Philadelphia)
    • Plate 14: Thomas Wijck, The Alchemist, c. 1660. Oil on canvas. (Staatliches Museum, Schwerin)
    • Plate 15: Thomas Wijck, The Alchemist, c. 1660-1677. Oil on panel. (Mauritshuis, The Hague)
    • Plate 16: Thomas Wijck, Interior with an Alchemist, c. 1660-1677. Oil on panel. (Wellcome Collection,London)
    • Plate 17: Thomas Wijck, An Alchemist, c. 1670. Oil on panel. (Ham House, Richmond-upon-Thames /©National Trust Images)
    • Plate 18: Thomas Wijck, An Alchemist in Eastern Dress, c. 1670. Oil on canvas. (Ham House,Richmond-upon-Thames / ©National Trust Images)
    • Plate 19: Thomas Wijck, Alchemist and Family, c. 1660-1670. Oil on canvas. (Science History Institute,Philadelphia)
    • Plate 20: Thomas Wijck, The Alchemist, c. 1650-1670. Oil on panel. (© The Fitzwilliam Museum,Cambridge)
    • Plate 21: Hendrik Goltzius, Sine Cerere et Libero friget Venus (Without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus WouldFreeze), c. 1600-1603. Ink and oil on canvas. (Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia / Purchasedwith the Mr. and Mrs. Walter H. Annenberg Fund for Major Acquisitions, the Henry P. McIlhennyFund in memory of Frances P. McIlhenny, bequest (by exchange) of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert C. Morris,and gift (by exchange) of Frank and Alice Osborn, 1990 / 1990-100-1)
    • Plate 22: Adriaen van Ostade, An Alchemist, c. 1661. Oil on panel. (HIP / National Gallery, London /Art Resource, NY)
    • Plate 23: Cornelis Bega, The Alchemist, c. 1663. Oil on panel. (Getty Museum, Los Angeles / Digitalimage courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program)
    • Plate 24: Cornelis Bega, The Alchemist, c. 1663. Oil on canvas, mounted on panel. (From theCollection of Ethel and Martin Wunsch / National Gallery, Washington, DC)
    • Plate 25: Thomas Wijck, The Alchemist and Death, c. 1660. Oil on panel. (Collection of Alfred andIsabel Bader, Milwaukee / Photo: John Glembin)
    • Plate 26: Pieter van Laer, Self-Portrait with Magic Scene, c. 1635-1637. Oil on canvas. (Image courtesyof The Leiden Collection, New York)
    • Plate 27: Thomas Wijck, Italians in a Cloister Court, c. 1650. Oil on canvas. (Philadelphia Museum ofArt, Philadelphia / John G. Johnson Collection, 1917 / Cat. 612)
    • Plate 28: Thomas Wijck, View of a Levantine Port, c. 1650-1677. Oil on canvas. (Rijksmuseum,Amsterdam)
    • Plate 29: Thomas Wijck, Alchemist, c. 1660-1677. Oil on panel. (The State Hermitage Museum, St.Petersburg / Photograph © The State Hermitage Museum, Photo: Konstantin Sinyavsky)
    • Plate 30: Thomas Wijck, Warehouse at a Southern (Levantine) Harbor, c. 1640-1677. Oil on canvas.(Staatliches Museum, Schwerin)
    • Plate 31: Job Berckheyde, Merchant of Colors, c. 1670-1690. Oil on panel. (BPK Bildagentur /Museum der Bildenden Kunste, Leipzig / Photo: Ursula Gerstenberger / Art Resource, NY)
    • Plate 32a: Johannes Jelgerhuis, The Distillery of Apothecary A. d’Ailly, c. 1818. Oil on canvas.(Pendants) (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
    • Plate 32b: Johannes Jelgerhuis, The Distillery of Apothecary A. d’Ailly, c. 1818. Oil on canvas.(Pendants) (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
  • List of Figures
    • Fig. 0.1: Philips Galle after Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Alchemist, c. 1558. Engraving. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
    • Fig. 1.1: Theodore Galle after Jan van der Straet (Johannes Stradanus), Distillatio, c. 1590. Engraving. (Science History Institute, Philadelphia)
    • Fig. 1.2: Mattheus van Helmont, An Alchemist at Work, c. 1650-1670. Oil on canvas. (Science History Institute, Philadelphia)
    • Fig. 1.3: Adriaen van de Venne, Rijcke-Armoede, c. 1632. Oil on panel. (Science History Institute, Philadelphia)
    • Fig. 1.4: Illustration of an Alchemist. In the Margarita Philosophica, Gregor Reisch, Freiburg 1503. (Othmer Library of Chemical History, Science History Institute, Philadelphia)
    • Fig. 1.5: Illustration of an Assaying Laboratory. In the Aula Subterranea, Lazarus Ercker, Prague 1574. (Othmer Library of Chemical History, Science History Institute, Philadelphia)
    • Fig. 1.6: Pieter van der Heyden after Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Stone Operation, c. 1559. Engraving. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
    • Fig. 1.7: David Teniers the Younger, Interior of a Laboratory with an Alchemist, c. 1640-1670. Oil on canvas. (Private Collection)
    • Fig. 1.8: Pierre Francois Basan after David Teniers the Younger, Le Plaisir des Fous, c. 1750-1790. Engraving. (Science History Institute, Philadelphia)
    • Fig. 2.1: Thomas Wijck, A Weaver at Work, c. 1640-1650. Ink and chalk drawing. (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
    • Fig. 2.2: Joerg Breu the Elder, Emblem of Washing & Bleaching, c. 1531. In the Splendour Solis, Salomon Trismosin. (BPK Bildagentur / Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen, Berlin / Art Resource, NY)
    • Fig. 2.3: Frans Hals, Young Man and Woman in an Inn (“Yonker Ramp and His Sweetheart”), c. 1623. Oil on canvas. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
    • Fig. 2.4: Judith Leyster, Jolly Drinker, c. 1629. Oil on canvas. (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
    • Fig. 2.5: Quirin van Brekelenkam, The Tailor’s Shop, c. 1661. Oil on panel. (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
    • Fig. 2.6: Illustration of anatomical studies (eyes, etc). In the Polygraphice, William Salmon, London 1685. (Othmer Library of Chemical History, Science History Institute, Philadelphia)
    • Fig. 2.7: Theodor Galle after Jan van der Straet (Johannes Stradanus), Color Olivi, c. 1590. Engraving. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
    • Fig. 2.8: Adriaen van Ostade, Peasant Family in a Cottage, c. 1661. Oil on panel. (Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection / Photograph © 2019 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
    • Fig. 2.9: Adriaen van Ostade, The Barn, c. 1647. Etching. (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
    • Fig. 2.10: Thomas Wijck, The Well, c. 1650-1670. Etching. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
    • Fig. 2.11. Thomas Wijck, The Colonnade, c. 1650-1670. Etching. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
    • Fig. 2.12: William Pether after Joseph Wright of Derby, The Alchemist Discovering Phosphorus, original c. 1771. Mezzotint. (Science History Institute, Philadelphia)
    • Fig. 3.1: Andries Both, Travelers by a Well, c. 1635-1641. Oil on wood panel, 23.7 x 34.0 cm. (National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne / Presented through The Art Foundation of Victoria by Dr. Orde Poynton CMG, Fellow, 1980)
    • Fig. 3.2: Adriaen van Ostade, Dancing Couple, c. 1625-1640. Oil on panel. (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
    • Fig. 3.3: Cornelis Bega, Saying Grace, c. 1663. Oil on canvas. (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
    • Fig. 3.4: Hendrik Sorgh, Family of Eeuwout Prins, c. 1661. Oil on panel. (Historical Museum, Rotterdam)
    • Fig. 3.5: Gerard ter Borch, The Grinder’s Family, c. 1653. Oil on canvas. (BPK Bildagentur / Staatliche Museum, Berlin / Photo: Joerg P. Anders / Art Resource, NY)
    • Fig. 3.6. Matthias Merian, Emblem 3. In the Atalanta Fugiens, Michael Maier, Oppenheim 1618. (Othmer Library of Chemical History, Science History Institute, Philadelphia)
    • Fig. 3.7: Richard Brakenburgh, An Alchemist’s Workshop with Children Playing, c. 1670-1700. Oil on canvas. (Science History Institute, Philadelphia)
    • Fig. 3.8: Nicolaes Maes, The Lacemaker, c. 1656. Oil on canvas. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
    • Fig. 3.9: Michiel van Musscher, Portrait of Michiel Comans II and his wife Elisabeth van der Meersch, c. 1669. Oil on canvas. (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
    • Fig. 3.10: Quiringh Gerritsz. van Brekelenkam, Fisherman and His Wife in an Interior, c. 1657. Oil on panel. (Image courtesy of The Leiden Collection, New York)
    • Fig. 3.11: Gerrit Dou, Self-Portrait, c. 1665. Oil on panel. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
    • Fig. 3.12: Illustration of alchemical cosmology. In the Utriusque Cosmi, Maioris scilicet et Minoris, metaphysica, physica, atque technica Historia, Robert Fludd, Oppenheim 1617-1618. (Othmer Library of Chemical History, Science History Institute, Philade
    • Fig. 3.13: Illustration of water bath apparatus. In the Summa perfectionis magisterii, Pseudo-Geber, Venice 1542. (Othmer Library of Chemical History, Science History Institute, Philadelphia)
    • Fig. 3.14: Follower of Gerrit Dou, An Alchemist in His Laboratory, c. 1600-1700. Oil on panel. (Science History Institute, Philadelphia)
    • Fig. 4.1: Cornelis Dusart after David Teniers the Younger, The Alchemist, c. 1660-1704. Black chalk on paper. (Science History Institute, Philadelphia)
    • Fig. 4.2: Hendrick Heerschop, The Alchemist’s Experiment Takes Fire, c. 1687. Oil on canvas, laid on board. (Science History Institute, Philadelphia)
    • Fig. 4.3: Hendrick Heerschop, An Alchemist and his Assistant, c. 1680. Oil on canvas. (Science History Institute, Philadelphia)
    • Fig. 5.1: Thomas Wijck, Santa Maria Liberatrice, c. 1640-1677. Ink wash and graphite on paper. (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
    • Fig. 5.2: Thomas Wijck, A Forge, c. 1660. Etching. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
    • Fig. 5.3: Thomas Wijck, View of the Waterhouse and Old St. Paul’s, London, c. 1663. Ink wash and graphite on paper. (Paul Mellon Collection, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven)
    • Fig. 5.4: John Slezer and Jan Wijck, Plan of the Ham House Grounds and Gardens, c. 1672-1675. Ink on paper. (National Trust Collections UK / ©National Trust Images/John Hammond)
    • Fig. 5.5: Willem Drost, Standing Oriental, c. 1650-1655. Ink on paper. (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
    • Fig. 5.6: Emanuel de Witte, Courtyard of the Old Exchange in Amsterdam, c. 1653. Oil on panel. (BPK Bildagentur / Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam / Art Resource, NY)
    • Fig. 5.7: David Teniers the Younger, Guardroom with the Deliverance of Saint Peter, c. 1645-1647. Oil on panel. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
    • Fig. 6.1: Illustration of vermillion vessels and furnaces from the Pekstok Manuscript, c. 1691. (15030: 77900 – Pekstok, Pieter / Amsterdam City Archives)
    • Fig. 6.2: Illustration of vermillion vessels and furnaces from the Pekstok Manuscript, c. 1691. (15030: 77900 – Pekstok, Pieter / Amsterdam City Archives)
    • Fig. 6.3: After Adriaen van Ostade, Painter in His Studio, c. 1645-1649. Etching with drypoint and engraving. (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
    • Fig. 6.4: Thomas Wijck, Sketch of a Painter at Work in his Studio, c. 1650-1677. Ink wash, chalk, and gouache on paper. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
    • Fig. 6.5: Rembrandt van Rijn, The Artist in His Studio, c. 1628. Oil on panel. ((Zoe Oliver Sherman Collection given in memory of Lillie Oliver Poor / Photograph © 2019 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
    • Fig. 6.6: Jan Miense Molenaer, Painter in His Studio, Painting a Musical Company, c. 1631. Oil on canvas. (BPK Bildagentur / Gemaeldegalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin / Photo: Joerg P. Anders / Art Resource, NY)
    • Fig. 6.7: Attributed to Gerrit Dou, Portrait of an Artist at his Easel in a Studio, c. 1628-1629. Oil on panel. (Image courtesy of The Leiden Collection, New York)

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