User:Paris1127/Democritus (Velázquez)

Democritus or The Geographer
Spanish: Demócrito, Spanish: El geógrafo
Artist	Diego Velázquez
Year	1628-1640
Medium	Oil on canvas
Movement	Baroque
Dimensions	101 cm × 81 cm (40 in × 32 in)
Location	Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, Rouen, France
Accession	822.1.16

Democritus, known in Spanish as Demócrito, El geógrafo (The Geographer), or El geógrafo sonriente (The Smiling Geographer), and in French as Démocrite or Le Géographe, is a painting attributed to Diego Velázquez, believed to have been painted around 1628. It is currently on display at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen, France, having been acquired in 1886.

History

The painting appears to have been assessed by Spanish painters Claudio Coello and José Jiménez Donoso in 1689, part of Gaspar Méndez de Haro, 7th Marquis of Carpio's collection, as Un Philosopho con Un globo Esttandose Riyendo original de Diego Velázquez (Spanish: A philosopher with a standing globe laughing, original work by Diego Velázquez). They assessed its value at 1000 Spanish reales. In 1692, it was given to the late Marquis's gardener, Pedro Rodríguez, for wages he was owed. At this point, it was known as Un retrato de una vara de un filósofo estándose riendo con un globo, original de Diego Belázquez (Portrait of a rod of a philosopher standing and laughing with a globe, original work by Diego Velázquez). At the end of the 18th century, it was offered to the Bureau des Finances de Rouen, probably by Velázquez's family, in thanks for receiving naturalization papers. During the French Revolution, it was deposited in the Abbey of St. Ouen in Rouen---at this point, in addition to the Geographer title, it was also referred to in French as le Newton. Anicet Charles Gabriel Lemonnier, a painter and art collector charged with inventorying seized artwork, neglected (potentially intentionally) to send the painting to the museum for its opening in 1809. Lemonnier had bought the painting in 1797, and by 1822 was selling his collection to Rouen's museum. However, the official in charge of getting the painting from Lemonnier kept it for his own collection, believing it to be a Jose de Ribera depicting Christopher Columbus. In 1886, Democritus finally became a part of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen's collection.

While documents were discovered that officially confirmed Democritus to be the work of Velázquez, prior to their discovery the painting had been associated with him. A resemblance was seen to the Prado's Portrait of Pablo de Valladolid (circa 1635), which depicts a jester and actor at the court of King Philip IV of Spain. Curator Gaston Le Breton believed it to be a Velázquez, and the Spanish artist and Velázquez monograph author Aureliano de Beruete recognized the artist's workmanship. In 1928, German art historian Werner Weisbach advanced the theory that the philosopher depicted in the painting is Democritus, the "Laughing Philosopher" typically depicted with a globe.

Some observers note where Velázquez painted over a hand resting on the globe. At the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio, United States, hangs a similar Velázquez painting (circa 1630), an allegory of taste, depicting a similar figure holding a wine glass. Another similar Velázquez allegory of taste painting can be found in the Zornmuseet in Mora, Sweden. It is theorized that Velázquez returned to the original (now in Rouen), and painted a globe over the wine glass, turning the drunken fool into a philosopher. Why he did so is unknown, but in 1638, the painter Peter Paul Rubens had completed a painting of Democritus to adorn the Torre de la Parada, King Philip's hunting lodge outside Madrid, and it was in 1639-1640 that Velázquez modified his original painting.