(Made 1643–1706 The Hague)
A hermit reading in a grotto,
signed lower right: G. Schalcken,
oil on canvas, 98.5 x 77.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Collection Fo(r)ster, London;
their sale, London, 7 February 1934, lot 163;
with Hartveld, Antwerp,1934;
probably with Rapps Konsthandel, Stockholm;
Collection Knut Erik Knutson (1882–1959);
by descent to the present owner

Literature:
T. Beherman, Godfried Schalcken, Paris 1988, p. 111, cat. no 27 (dated 1670/75)

The present painting is a particularly striking addition to the oeuvre of Godfried Schalcken, due to its relatively large format, its smooth painterly style and first and foremost by the masterful handling of light. The source of light, coming in from the upper left, falls on top of the hermit’s head before reaching the open manuscript as he reads. This warm golden light illuminates the scene creating an atmosphere of intimate reading.

After his family moved to Dordrecht in 1654, Godfried Schalcken was apprenticed to Samuel van Hoogstraten (1627–1678). He completed his training in Leiden where he worked in the studio of Gerrit Dou (1613–1675) and by 1665 had returned to Dordrecht. Between 1680 and 1690 Schalcken garnered international fame, thanks mainly in part to his subtle rendering of various kinds of natural and artificial light. Schalcken not only showed technical virtuosity in this respect but also managed to exploit this speciality in his choice of suitable subjects or elegant contrasts.

As observed by Beherman, Schalcken derived the subject of the hermit from his teacher Dou, one of Rembrandt’s most famous pupils, who had introduced it in a number of small-scale paintings from the 1660s and 1670s. In contrast to his master, however, Schalcken no longer focuses on the precise rendering of the features in the face of the hermit, but instead aims to lift the subject into a scene of glory and light.