Provenance
Captain William Baillie [1723-1792], London; (his sale, Langford & Son, London, 1-2 February 1771, 2nd day, no. 73). possibly English private collection, by 1772.[1] Major Stanton; (Earl of Essex sale, Christie & Ansell, London, 31 January-1 February 1777, 2nd day, no. 75); Moris.[2] (Charles Sedelmeyer, Paris); Charles T. Yerkes, Jr. [1837-1905], Chicago and New York, by 1893;[3] (his sale, American Art Association, New York, 5-8 April 1910, no. 1160); (Scott and Fowles, New York); Otto H. Kahn [1867-1934], New York, by 1914 until at least April 1922; sold 1922, perhaps through (Scott and Fowles, New York) to Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania;[4] inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, after purchase by funds of the estate; gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] A mezzotint of the composition was executed in 1772 by Thomas Watson (John Charrington, _A Catalogue of the Mezzotints After, or Said to Be After, Rembrandt_, Cambridge, 1923:151, no. 182).
[2] The title page of the 1777 sale catalogue describes the collection as that of the Earl of Essex; however, in a copy of the catalogue at Christie's, London, the consignor's name is written in the margin as "Maj. Stanton." A handwritten results sheet bound into the same volume gives the following result: "75. 32/11/- Moris."
[3] _Catalogue from Collection of Charles T. Yerkes, Chicago, U.S.A._. Chicago, 1893: no. 45.
[4] _American Art News_ (9 December 1922):1 reported that the seller of the picture to Widener was Scott and Fowles. However, the journal also reported that Scott and Fowles had owned the painting since 1910, and various other sources, including Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, _A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century..._, 8 vols., London, 1907-1927: 6:141, indicate that the owner during the mid-1910s was Otto H. Kahn. In addition, Kahn lent the painting to exhibitions in both 1920 and 1922, the latter a Rembrandt exhibition at the Fogg Art Museum, and although no checklist or catalogue exists for this exhibition, the museum’s records show that the picture entered the museum on 26 March 1922, and left on 13 April 1922. Perhaps Scott and Fowles simply handled the sale for Kahn.
Accession Number
1942.9.65
Medium
oil on panel transferred to panel
Dimensions
overall: 54.5 x 68.5 cm (21 7/16 x 26 15/16 in.) | framed: 81.3 x 95.9 x 8.3 cm (32 x 37 3/4 x 3 1/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Widener Collection
Tags
Painting Baroque (1600–1750) Oil Painting Panel Painting Dutch
Background & Context
Background Story
Philemon and Baucis, painted in 1658, illustrates an episode from Ovid's Metamorphoses: the gods Jupiter and Mercury, traveling in disguise, are refused shelter by every home in a village except the humble cottage of the elderly couple Philemon and Baucis, who share their meager food and wine. In gratitude, the gods flood the village and transform the couple's cottage into a temple, granting their wish to die together.
Rembrandt painted this work during the most personally difficult period of his life. He had been declared bankrupt in 1656; his art collection and house were being auctioned to pay creditors. The subject - an elderly couple who have lost everything yet retain their dignity and their devotion to each other - carries unmistakable autobiographical resonance.
The painting's most remarkable feature is its handling of light. The interior of the cottage glows with a warm, golden illumination that seems to emanate from the gods themselves rather than from any natural source. Philemon and Baucis, their faces lined with age and hardship, are bathed in this divine radiance, their humble meal transformed into a sacred act of hospitality. Rembrandt's late use of light as metaphor - divine grace illuminating human suffering - reaches one of its most moving expressions here.
Cultural Impact
Rembrandt's history paintings of the 1650s and 1660s fundamentally reconceived how artists could interpret classical and biblical narratives. By emphasizing the emotional reality of his subjects over their narrative drama, he transformed the history painting from a public spectacle into a private meditation.
Why It Matters
Philemon and Baucis is Rembrandt's testament to the redemptive power of human kindness. Painted at the lowest point of his life, it asserts that hospitality, generosity, and love survive even the loss of everything else - and that divine light shines most brightly in the humblest of dwellings.
