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Allegory of Poverty

Allegory of Poverty

Artist/Maker (Dutch, 1589–1662)
Date1630s
MediumOil on oak panel
DimensionsOverall: 21 1/2 × 16 5/8 in. (54.6 × 42.2 cm)
Frame: 27 7/16 × 22 11/16 × 3 1/2 in. (69.7 × 57.6 × 8.9 cm)
Credit LineMrs. F. F. Prentiss Fund
Object number1960.94
Status
On view
More Information
The painted inscription reads: "They are feeble legs which must carry poverty." In the 1630's after his move to The Hague, van de Venne began painting mainly grisailles (limited to a palette of mainly gray or brown tones) and some finished polychrome pictures, in which the figure dominates. A number of these scenes depict the everyday joys and sorrows of the lower social classes. His paintings poke fun at the mishaps and misconceptions of an ignorant peasantry, and at society in general. The pendant (or pair) to the Oberlin picture, An Allegory of Wealth (now lost) represented a dandy carrying a fashionable young woman who spills a glass of wine and frivolously scatters gold coins.
ProvenanceDukes of Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg, later Dukes of Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha, possibly acquired by Duke Ernst II von Sachsen (1745-1804); Herzogliches Gemäldegalerie, Gotha, Germany, inv. 228, by 1890.¹ (G. Cramer Oude Kunst, The Hague); purchased 1960 by Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH Notes: ¹ Included in the museum's catalogue "Herzogliches Museum zu Gotha. Katalog der Hezoglichen Gemaldegalerie" published in 1890.Exhibition History
Focus on the Permanent Collection: Images of Beggars, Peasants and the Urban Poor in Northern Europe, c. 1500-1750
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (November 30, 1993 - January 30, 1994 )
Seven Hundred Years of Western Art
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (August 26, 2001 - June 2, 2002 )
Time and Transformation in 17th Century Dutch Art
  • The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY (April 8, 2005 - June 19, 2005 )
  • The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL (August 20, 2005 - October 30, 2005 )
  • The J. B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY (January 10, 2006 - March 26, 2006 )
Paintings, Sculptures, and Miniatures at the Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 21, 2009 - April 29, 2011 )
Collections
  • European
  • On View
The AMAM continually researches its collection and updates its records with new findings.
We welcome additional information and suggestions for improvement. Please email us at AMAMcurator@oberlin.edu.