Dutch painter active in Amsterdam and specialized in religious, historical, and mythological scenes. He went to Italy (c. 1604) and was influenced by Caravaggio - which makes him akin to the Utrecht School - and by Elsheimer. His “forte” was small figures in exotic and brightly-coloured costumes. He was back in Amsterdam by 1607. His real importance lies in the fact that Jan Lievens was his pupil in 1617 and Rembrandt in 1624⁄15.
The painting is signed and dated on the rock at the left side.
The biblical story (Num. 22:1-35) represented here is the following. The arrival of the Israelites in the Jordan valley alarmed Balak, king of Moab, who sent for Balaam, a foreigner, to pronounce a curse on them. On his journey an angel, invisible to Balaam, barred the way, causing his ass to turn aside. This led to an altercation between the man and his beast in which the latter, like the animals of fable, acquired the gift of speech. Balaam’s eyes were then opened and he saw the angel with a drawn sword. The conversion of Balaam by the vision of the angel was regarded as prefiguration of the appearance of Christ to the apostle Thomas.
This subject is rarely depicted in paintings and prints of the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Also in post-Reformation illustrated bibles the subject is exceptional. However, Balaam played a significant role in Netherlandish processional and festival culture of the late Middle Ages and early modern period. Lastman’s Balaam and the Ass from 1622 was important for Rembrandt, who studied with Lastman for six months in 1624⁄25. In his painting of the same subject made in 1626, Rembrandt was clearly influenced by the composition as well as by the lighting and the use of colour of his former teacher.
The subject is taken from the Gospel of St Matthew:
‘And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.” But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.” But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.’
Hippocrates of Kos (c. 460-c. 370 BC), was a Greek physician of the Age of Pericles, and is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He learned medicine from his father and grandfather, and studied other subjects with Democritus.
Lastman was the most important and influential Amsterdam painter of his generation, and his influence persists throughout the work of Rembrandt, the very much greater artist who was his pupil for only six months. After an extended stay in Italy, Lastman returned home to practise ‘history painting’ - heroic narratives with a moral bias, based mainly on the Bible but occasionally also on classical history and literature, as in this picture. Because he did not rely on commissions he could choose his own subjects and he favoured ones involving conversations and sudden confrontations. Characteristically he has here taken an unusual moment from a famous mythological tale in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. As in most of his work, whether on a large or small scale, Lastman has invested the scene with a mixture of Italianate grandeur and a sly humorous realism of Netherlandish extraction.
Ovid relates that Jupiter, king of the gods, has fallen in love again, this time with the beautiful nymph Io. His wife Juno, looking down from the heavens, sees the dark cloud he has spread to entrap Io and descends to earth to check on him. Hoping to deceive her, Jupiter turns Io into a beautiful heifer, but Juno makes him give her the beast and despatches hundred-eyed Argus to guard it. On Jupiter’s orders Mercury lulls Argus to sleep and kills him. Juno then takes his eyes to decorate her peacocks’ tails.
Lastman illustrates the confrontation between deceitful Jupiter and suspicious Juno (Metamorphoses I, 612-16). The peacocks who draw Juno’s celestial chariot, their tails still dull in colour since Argus has not yet come into the story, are furiously braking their flight. Jupiter, with the aid of winged Love and red-masked Deceit with his attribute of a fox’s pelt, two characters not mentioned by Ovid, is trying to conceal the enormous heifer from the goddess. The juxtaposition of heroic nudity with his guilty and rueful expression makes him look foolish. Henpecked husband and domineering wife are old themes of humorous Northern prints and Lastman may have wittily seized this opportunity to graft the native genre onto a Latin tale of adulterous passion among the pagan gods.
Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 38 minutes):
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony in C Major (Jupiter-Symphony) K 551
The fact that Lastman visited Italy and that, while he was there, he was profoundly influenced by Elsheimer, is evident in this painting of the shipwrecked Odysseus found naked by Nausicaa and her entourage. The pictorial structure, the individual gestures and formal pathos are theatrical, and the setting itself is charged with meaning. The artist has taken a highly original approach in placing the figures, with their gestures of surprise and fright and their outstretched arms, against a pale sky - a motif Rembrandt was soon to adopt. One thing, however, is particularly remarkable about this painting, and it foreshadows an element that is to emerge strongly in later Dutch painting: the element of the “portrait histori�”. We have the impression here that a historic event is being played by specific persons, as though in a theatrical role. History painting and the reality of the protagonists are widely divergent.
In this painting, the naked Odysseus not only looks like the great hero of the Trojan war, but he is also caricatured in his all too human role. Lastman increased the figurative detail of his staffage and with that the realism and narrative impact of his work. The young Rembrandt also adopted this sense of tension.
Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 13 minutes):
Claudio Monteverdi: Il ritorno d’Ulisse, Act I, Duet of Odysseus and Pallas Athene
The paintings Lastman made shortly after his return from Italy to Amsterdam in 1607 effectively use landscape to help set a mood. They show the profound influence of Elsheimer. Around 1610 he also began to make history pictures with the landscape subordinated to many figures, a type of painting that became his speciality. At first his crowds were scattered,and it is sometimes difficult to distinguish protagonists from secondary figures; but by the end of the decade he was able to use a crowd to enhance the dramatic action of a story.
In this painting Lastman made a definite distinction between the brightly illuminated figures in the foreground, the dimly lit figures in the middle distance and the blue-grey illumination of the group in the background. Most of the light falls on the protagonists, Orestes and Pylades, standing to the left of the altar, discussing which of them will have to sacrifice himself. Here Pieter Lastman portrayed the crucial moment in a classic drama.
The Greek writer Euripides (c. 4871-406 BC) described how Orestes, son of the hero Agamemnon, travelled to Tauris, together with his faithful friend Pylades, in order to steal the famous cult statue of the goddess Artemis. The priestess of the temple that housed the wooden statue was none other than Iphigenia, Orestes’ sister, whom Artemis had secretly brought to Tauris years earlier. Orestes did not know that she was still alive. Before the friends could put their wicked plan into action, however, they were found out and taken prisoner. Orestes and Pylades were led along to the temple, where they were to be sacrificed - the fate of all strangers who set foot on Tauris. Iphigenia took pity on them and decided that one of them would be allowed to live, leaving it to the men to decide who should be sacrificed. Although each wanted to die to save the other, they finally decided that Orestes would be sacrificed. At the moment he was to die, however, Iphigenia recognized her brother. The sacrificial banquet was called off, and Iphigenia and the young men fled to Mycenae, taking the statue of Artemis with them.
Lastman portrayed this complicated story in a skilful manner. The illumination and colour scheme were used to set off the protagonists from the dozen of supporting actors. Typical of Lastman’s early work is the crowded composition, in which throngs of people can be distinguished far into the background. They form a colourful procession of spectators, winding their way from the temple to the altar, carrying armour, human heads on poles and the wooden statue of Artemis.
The subject was popular for its moralizing and erotic aspects involving lust, wifely virtue, and, ultimately, justice triumphant.
Lastman placed the biblical scene within his own time through the objects used in the still-life in the foreground. The silver pitcher in the very elaborate and organic auricular style is by the Dutch silversmith Adam van Vianen. He was commissioned to make the piece by the Silversmiths’ Guild in Amsterdam.
This panel, depicting the biblical story of the sacrifice of Abraham, was painted in grisaille.
In this small painting Lastman depicts the Biblical story, very popular in the circle of Elsheimer whose influence can be seen on this picture, too.
The story is recounted in the Book of Tobit. Tobias was sent by his father Tobit to Media to recover a sum of money he had hidden there earlier. Archangel Raphael, sent by God to help Tobit and his family, asked Tobit (who did not recognize the angel) whether he may escort his son on his journey and, in company with Tobias’ faithful hound, they departed together. They reached the Tigris, where Tobias was attacked by a gigantic fish. The archangel ordered him to capture it and had him remove and conserve its gall, heart and liver. The innards proved to be a medicine which he can use to restore his father’s sight.
Lastman is known in the modern literature as the leading member of the group of artists called the pre-Rembrandtist. The group was mainly active in Amsterdam. What they have in common is their dedication to history painting, often employing biblical and mythological subjects that hitherto was rarely depicted by Dutch painters. Their style is derived from sources that Lastman used and all of them borrowed from Lastman, the most influential member of the group. (The group included, besides Lastman Jan Pynas, Jacob Pynas, Jan Tengnagel, Cornelisz Moeyart, and Fran�ois Venant.) About 1624 Rembrandt spent six months with Lastman, who may have inspired Holland’s greatest artist to become a history painter. He certainly influenced his early narrative style and choice of subjects.
