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4x5 transparency scanned on Hasselblad Flextight X1 by Ed Pollard-2023.
Portrait of Erhard Weigel
4x5 transparency scanned on Hasselblad Flextight X1 by Ed Pollard-2023.
4x5 transparency scanned on Hasselblad Flextight X1 by Ed Pollard-2023.

Portrait of Erhard Weigel

Artist Pietro della Vecchia (Italian, 1603-1678)
Date1649
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 36 3/8 x 31 5/8 in. (92.4 x 80.3 cm)
Overall, Frame: 45 1/2 x 40 3/4 in. (115.6 x 103.5 cm)
ClassificationsEuropean art
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.614
Terms
  • Man
  • Erhard Weigel
  • philosophers
  • mathematicians
  • compass
  • chart
  • Black
  • White
  • Red
  • Venice
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On View
On view
DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas waist-length portrait of Erhard Weigel. The young man, looking directly at the viewer, is seated at a table holding a large tablet with five columns of words. His hair, mustache and small goatee are all brown; his mustache is large and curved. He wears a dark tunic with a mauve sash. His left hand holds a compass and balances the tablet. His right index finger points to the fourth column of words on the tablet. The background is gray and featureless.

Label TextPietro della Vecchia Italian, 1603-1678 Portrait of Erhard Weigel, 1649 Oil on canvas Who is Erhard Weigel? His portrait makes his personality clear. He props up a document, identified by its title as “a cabalistic or analogic chart,” which features five types of knowledge: contemporary philosophy, scientific thought, number theory, ancient magic, and the occult. Above a motto that reads “Wisdom is Truth,” Weigel holds a compass, demonstrating his goal: to create a system that unifies the rational and irrational, thereby revealing universal truth. The celebrated mathematician served as an advisor to the court of Duke William of Saxony-Weimar, where he shared this encyclopedic worldview. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.614
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