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Temperamental!: Prints in the Collection of Bryn Mawr College

Personality and Class

What makes us who we are? Just as today we might turn to personality tests and horoscopes to explain our dispositions and destinies, our early modern counterparts looked to the four temperaments. Decided by the configuration of planets at birth, an excess of a bodily humor could account for one's disposition and life trajectory. One's disposition also experienced day-to-day fluctuations, influenced by the movement of the planets and changes in environment or diet. These dispositions or temperaments, in turn, could be used as explanations for a rigidly hierarchical society. Artists could attribute the hardship of beggars and peasants to their phlegmatic, and therefore idle, or choleric, and therefore dangerous, qualities. A privileged soldier's choleric violence, in contrast, could be celebrated as the strong will of Napoleon—or does the phlegmatic gesture of his idle hand undermine this reading?

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Lynd Ward (American, 1905-1985), Preachers (1943). Mezzotint; published as no. 627 in Desiderius Erasmus (Dutch, 1469-1536) Moriae encomium, or, The Praise of Folly (New York: Limited Editions Club, 1943); 2012.27.189. Gift of Jacqueline Koldin Levine (Class of 1946) and Howard H. Levine. The subject of Lynd Ward’s modern mezzotint would have been familiar to the early modern viewer—the depiction of Christian preachers as combative and quicktempered. Set in a smoky, nocturnal scene, the gaping mouths of the preachers mirror the hole of the hollow tree behind them, perhaps suggesting an equal emptiness in their speech. In contrast to the choleric preacher, who has transgressed by mistaking his own righteousness for God’s, the subject of The Four Horsemen in Albrecht Dürer’s woodcut would not have been characterized as choleric. Although the representation of the four charging figures is certainly formidable, the type of anger they embodied was considered divine, and therefore justified.
After Paul Delaroche (French, 1797-1856), Napoleon Bonaparte (1870-75), after 1838 painting. Engraving; Gift of Abby A. K. Turner Van Pelt Grimscom, Class of 1952, Katherine Drexel Van Pelt Beaver, and Charles B. P. Van Pelt, VP.786. Dressed in military costume and with a sword at his hip, Napoleon poses confidently in the comfort of his study. Napoleon was known for his choleric nature, yet like Suyderhoef’s peasant above right, he also rests his right hand inside the opening of his jacket. This detail may appear odd, but it can be explained by the subject's social class. In depictions of peasants, this phlegmatic gesture was used to signify laziness. However, in depictions of the ruling class, the same gesture adopts the positive associations of temperance, leisure, and calm. Used in a depiction of Napoleon, the gesture may also be an ironic allusion to the subject's relatively low birth.
Jonas Suyderhoef (Dutch, c. 1613-1686), after Adriaen van Ostade (Dutch, 1610-1685); The Big Broom, or Peasants Under an Arbour to the Right of an Inn (mid-late 17th century). Engraving, state ii/iv, signed in plate, 2005.3.146.
John Sartain (English-American, 1808-1897), after Christian Schussele (French-American 1824-1879), A Reminiscence of the Opera (1851). Mezzotint, Gift of John Freas, SAR.102.
Jan Georg van Vliet (Dutch, c. 1610-1668), Beggar with Two Crutches (18th- or 19th- century restrike? of 1632 plate). Etching on wove paper, state iv/iv, signed in plate, Hollstein 76, X.901.
Jan Georg van Vliet (Dutch c. 1610-1668), Pedlar (18th- or 19th- century restrike? of 1632 plate). Etching on wove paper, state v/v, signed in plate, Hollstein 79, X.899.
After Lucas van Leyden (Netherlandish, 1494-1533) The Musicians (1524). Engraving, monogram in plate, New Hollstein 155, copy c, X.415
François Vivarès (French, 1709-1780), after Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669); Beggar Seated Warming His Hands at a Chafing Dish (1850-1900), copy no. 5 after c. 1630 etching. Etched in reverse, signed in plate, X.814.
Thomas Worlidge (English, 1700-1766), after Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669); Beggar Seated on a Bank (18th century). Etched copy in reverse; after etching of 1630; New Hollstein 50, copy b ii; X.811.
Wenceslaus Hollar (Bohemian-English, 1607-1677), Salmon Fishing (1671). Etching, state ii/ii, signed in plate, New Hollstein 2138, X.352.
Master of the Die (Italian, active c. 1530-1560), after Giulio Romano (Italian 1499?-1566), Two gladiators fighting in front of an arch (1530-1560). Engraving, initialed in plate, VP.67.
Jacques Callot (French 1592-1635), The Large Hunt (1619). Etching; state i/iv, signed in plate; Lieure 353; Gift of Howard L. Gray, Professor of History, 1915-1940; 1946.16. A riding party enjoys a stag hunt across a capacious woodland. In early modern France, par force hunting was a skilled leisure activity reserved for the aristocracy. Since they had the means to afford happiness, it was believed that the upper classes were more likely to be of a sanguine temperament. One of Callot’s important innovations in etching was a slanted, steel-tipped tool which imitated the lines of engraving. The repetitive interlace of tapered lines in this print indeed resembles an engraving. However, the enhanced sense of depth in this landscape is made possible by etching’s ability to modulate light and dark in the lines of the print.
After Jacques Callot (French, 1592-1635), Captain of the Barons (1622), frontispiece from series The Beggars. Etching on wove paper, unique state, signed in plate, Lieure 467, X.865.
Francesco Curti (Italian, 1603-1607), after engraving by Agostino Carracci (Italian, 1557-1602) of drawing by Francesco Vanni (Italian 1563-1610); St. Jerome in Meditation (c. 1595). Engraved copy in reverse, X.959. Resting his hand on his head, Saint Jerome contemplates a cross, a book, a rosary, and a skull. His gesture, associated with the melancholic temperament, reflects the mood of the composition. The image is a memento mori, a reminder of death. The skull and the Latin inscription in the lower margin of the print recall the brevity of human life, while the cross, a Christian symbol for the crucifixion of Jesus, exhorts the viewer to pursue a good, spiritual life. Although the cross also refers to the hope of salvation, Saint Jerome seems to be looking elsewhere—towards the skull in the foreground, whose empty black sockets mirror the dark shadows over Jerome's own lowered eyes.
Worlidge_van Vliet
Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471-1528), The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1511). Woodcut, published as plate 3/16 in Apocalypsis cum figuris (Latin edition, 1511, of The Apocalypse, 1497/1498), initialed in plate, Gift of Marcus Stanley, 2012.15.1
Al Hirschfeld (American, 1903-2003), Le Gong, Bali (1941). Lithograph, edition of 1000, signed in plate, on loan from Mitchell Cohn (HC, Class of 1980).
Arthur Bowen Davies (American, 1862-1928), Introvert (1919-1920). Soft-ground etching and aquatint; edition of 25, state ii/ii, stamped by estate; Gift of Jacqueline Koldin Levine (Class of 1946) and Howard H. Levine; 2012.27.163
John Sloan (American, 1871-1951), Man Monkey (1905). Etching; edition of 100, state vi/vi; signed in plate; Morse 1969, 130; Gift of Richard E. Bishop in memory of Mary E. Harrington, 1962.143
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669). Peasant Family on the Tramp (18th century restrike). Etching on wove plate, state ii/iii, New Hollstein 266, X.319.
Callot
After Jacques Callot (French, 1592-1635), The Blindman and His Companion (1622), plate 9/25 from series The Beggars. Etching on wove paper, state ii/ii, signed in plate, Lieure 487, X.873.
Clare Leighton (English-American, 1898-1989), Stooking: August (1978). Wood engraving, second edition 28/100, signed in pencil below image, Gift of Jacqueline Koldin Levine (Class of 1946) and Howard H. Levine, 2012.27.383
Thomas Waterman Wood (American, 1823-1903), His Own Doctor (1883). Etching; signed in plate and below in pencil; Gift of Abbey A. K. Turner Van Pelt Grimscom (Class of 1952), Katherine Drexel Van Pelt Beaver, and Charles B. P. Van Pelt; VP.845.
Robert von Neumann (German-American, 1888-1976), The Four Net Menders (1934, published by the Woodcut Society, 1950). Woodcut; Gift of Mary Patterson McPherson, President of Bryn Mawr College, 1978-1997; 2018.35.26.
Suyderhoef
Master_Ward_Dürer
Delaroche
Curti_Davies