Cephalus and Procris by Leonaert Bramer

This finely executed drawing is typical of the work of Leonaert Bramer, one of the most fascinating yet little-known artists of 17th-century Holland.

In a nocturnal atmosphere typical of the artist's work (which earned him the nickname Leonardo delle Notti - Leonardo of the Nights - during his long stay in Italy between 1616 and 1627), Bramer presents the discovery by Cephalus of the body of his wife Procris, pierced by his javelin during a hunting party. Bramer renews this mythological theme, often depicted in the classical age, by introducing a third character who supports Procris as she falters, casting a last loving glance at the man who killed her by mistake...

1. Leonaert Bramer, an original artist of the Dutch Golden Age

Born in Delft in 1596, Leonaert Bramer set off at the age of 18 on a long journey to Italy, passing through Arras, Amiens, Paris, Aix-en-Provence and Marseille, where he embarked for Genoa and Livorno. He settled in Rome in 1616, where he became one of the founders of the group of Nordic artists known as the Bentvueghels. He stayed in Rome intermittently, visiting the main Italian cities as well. In Rome, he was involved in several street brawls, including a famous one with Claude Lorrain that forced him to leave the city in 1627.

He returned to Delft in 1628 and in 1629 became a member of the Guide de Saint Luc and the Civil Guard (schutterij). He was one of the few painters in the Netherlands to paint frescoes, which unfortunately have not been preserved. He undertook a second trip to Rome in 1648, before settling permanently in Delft, where he continued to paint extensively well into old age.

Bramer was obviously well acquainted with the greatest of his Delft contemporaries, Johannes Vermeer (1632 - 1675). In 1653, on his return from his second visit to Rome, he came to Vermeer's defense when his future mother-in-law, Maria Thins, tried to prevent him from marrying her daughter. It is likely that Bramer, and not Carel Fabritius, was Vermeer's master, even if the latter's style differs greatly from Bramer's.

Bramer's graphic work is very important, and many of his drawings are autonomous works, executed independently of his pictorial production. His subjects are more in the Italian tradition than in that of the Netherlands: allegories, mythological, biblical or historical scenes dominate, while landscapes or genre scenes are rare.

The technique used for our drawing, combining pen and grey ink, grey wash and white gouache, can be found in many of the artist's drawings, such as the Blind Man's Bluff preserved in the Louvre (7th picture of the gallery), in which the treatment of the trees and bushes in the background is also very similar to that observed in our drawing.

2. Drawing description

The nocturnal setting of our drawing brings out the tragedy of the scene.

Cephalus, a prince of Thessaly, had married Procris, daughter of the King of Athens. Cephalus' beauty attracted the attention of Eos (Dawn), who encouraged him to test his wife's fidelity by courting her in disguise. After giving in to her seducer, Procris fled to Crete, where Artemis gave her a magic javelin and a dog. She returns to her husband disguised as a seductive young girl and offers herself to Cephalus, giving him the goddess's gifts before revealing her identity.

Their reconciliation has not extinguished Procris's jealousy, as she believes that Cephalus secretly joins Eos when he is away hunting. One night, she decides to follow him. The cracking of a branch under her feet attracts Cephalus' attention, and he kills her with the javelin she had given him upon their reconciliation, believing that the noise was coming from a wild beast.

The scene presented here follows this terrible misunderstanding: a tearful Cephalus throws herself at the feet of Procris, who is about to faint in the arms of an old man who supports her, her body pierced by the fatal javelin. The last loving glance between the two lovers is particularly moving, lending a profound humanity to this mythological scene.

To illustrate Bramer's original pictorial talent, we thought it would be interesting to compare our drawing with the Louvre painting The Parents of Pyramus and Thisbe discovering the Corpses of their Children (last picture of the gallery), whose inspiration seems to us to be quite close. We suggest dating our drawing to the same period as the painting : around 1630-1635.

3. Framing

To frame this delicate, elegiac artwork, we have chosen a wooden frame meticulously carved with flowering scrolls that evoke, through the precision of their chasing, the small objects made from Saint Lucia wood (a type of wild cherry tree) and produced in Lorraine in the 17th and 18th centuries.