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Old Man Lighting a Pipe
Johann Carl Loth (German, 1623–1698)
c. 1660
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- 95 × 85 cm (37 1/2 × 33 1/2 in.); Framed: 119.4 × 109.9 × 7 cm (47 × 43 1/4 × 2 3/4 in.)
- Culture
- Germany
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Painting and Sculpture of Europe
- Credit line
- Purchased with funds provided by The Old Masters Society
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This man’s suntanned skin, worn clothing, and rustic surroundings are rendered in shades of brown that mirror the contents of his pipe. The Spanish introduced tobacco into Northern Europe in the 16th century, and smoking quickly became a beloved pastime that was widely considered healthful and nourishing. By the early 17th century, single-figure images of smokers emerged as a subgenre of Dutch and Flemish painting. The theme posed an enticing challenge for artists, with its burning leaves, billowing plumes of smoke, and active facial expressions—here, the figure purses his lips and wrinkles his brow as he concentrates on lighting the pipe. German painter Johann Carl Loth blended the Northern emphasis on capturing textures with the dramatic illumination reminiscent of so-called Caravaggesque painters like Hendrick Terbrugghen.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
