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The Astronomer
The Astronomer
Image © Worcester Art Museum, all rights reserved.

The Astronomer

Artist (Spanish, 1591–1652)
Date1638
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionscanvas: 78.4 x 97.8 cm (30 7/8 x 38 1/2 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1925.116
Label TextBorn at Jativa, Spain, Ribera went to Italy in 1610 where he became familiar with the work of such great Italian artists as Correggio and Caravaggio. He settled in Naples in 1616 and never returned to Spain. His art is representative of the realistic early Baroque style in its use of simple peasants as models for serious subjects and in the dramatic lighting effects developed by Caravaggio. Signed and dated 1638, this painting is one of a number of portraits of old men which appear in Ribera's work. Some are thought to represent saints or prophets, others philosophers or sages. In this case, the geometric diagrams on the slate may identify the subject as Ptolemy, an astronomer, geographer, and mathematician of the second century CE.ProvenanceMax Rothschild, London, England, by 1925; sold to the Worcester Art Museum, 1925.
On View
On view
A Striding Philosopher
Jusepe de Ribera
late 1620s
St. Peter Repentant
Jusepe de Ribera
1621
Portrait of a Man
Jan de Bray
1645–1697
The Thames at Twickenham
Alfred de Breanski
late 19th–early 20th century
Friar Miguel Fernández Flores
Francisco de Goya
1815
La descente des Bohémiens (The Descent of the Bohemians)
Narcisse Virgile Diaz de la Peña
about 1844
Rev. Daniel Merriman
Joseph Rodefer De Camp
1910
Sally
Joseph Rodefer De Camp
about 1907
Portrait of an Unknown Man
José Francisco Xavier de Salazar y Mendoza
1778
The Hayrick
Sarah de St. Prix Wyman Whitman
about 1869–1899
The Return of Tobias
Cristóbal de Villalpando
about 1700–1714