Lot 1032 Dα

The present work is based upon Vinckboons' drawing “An Old Fisher and a Young Woman”, which is dated 1608 (cf. Ertz/Nitze-Ertz: David Vinckboons 1576-1632 - Monographie mit kritischem Katalog der Zeichnungen und Gemälde, Lingen 2016, p. 239, illus. Z 94,1). This depiction of an “unequal couple” is ripe with metaphors and symbolism. The cracked pitcher in the lower left corner of the work, the bunch of flowers in the old man's hand - doomed to wilt despite its beauty - and the silenced music of the lute player are all symbols of transience. Just as music for the people of those times could only be experienced in the moment, disappearing as quickly as it began, human life was but a blink of the eye in the face of eternity. The extinguished candle and the skeletal personification of death pointing his bow and arrow at the old man's back after turning his weapon on the lute player are both symbolic of impending death. The behaviour of lecherous old men fawning over younger women was a source of ridicule in classical antiquity, and “unequal lovers” became a central motif in religious and worldly moral teachings during the Middle Ages. The subject contrasts the old man's libidinous pawing with the cold, calculating way in which the young woman uses his love-blindness to improve her financial and social standing. In the present work, this aspect is metaphorically illustrated by the monkey surreptitiously reaching into the old man's purse. Klaus Ertz dates this piece to the 1620s, at which time Vinckboons was active in Amsterdam.