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Two Sculptors at Night in Rome. Double Portrait of Francois Duquesnoy and Georg Petel
attributed to Adam de Coster (Flemish, 1584–1643)
earlier ascribed to Bernardo Eberhart Keilhau (Danish, 1624–1687)
1620-1623
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- height 114 cm, width 95 cm, height 130.1 cm, width 111.4 cm
- Culture
- Flemish
- Museum
- SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
- Rights
- Public Domain Mark: SMK waives its rights in this photograph, as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
About this work
We assume that we are seeing François Duquesnoy (left) and Georg Petel because the works of art depicted can be identified as theirs. But it is hardly possible to tell the two artists apart. A single flame is the only source of illumination. One asks oneself what this double portrait is all about? What is being portrayed? In spite of the atmosphere of intimacy the artists stare right ahead of themselves without seeing each other. Their gazes are directed inwards in contemplation. The light accentuates their thoughtful faces as well as their hands, tools, and works of art. Thus, the painting can be read as addressing the conditions necessary for the creation of art: contemplation (inspiration), hands and tools (craftsmanship), and the light itself, understood here as the wellspring of art and as a metaphor for inspiration. Petel's and Duquesnoy's contemplative gazes cross above the source of light. It is here that they, being artists, "touch" each other. This inspiration is what they share and portray here.
