B.
Is there a doctor in the house?
Behind the scenes
Gerrit Dou's The Physician is a favourite work in our collection:
Gerrit Dou The physician. Oil on copper. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetū, Heathcote Helmore Bequest 1965
As was common practice, this subject has been copied and re-copied many times. The undisputed king of the doctors is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where it is signed and dated:
Gerrit Dou Arzt. Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Gemäldegalerie GG_592
But he is also to be found at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam painted by Jan van Staveren:
Jan Adriaensz. van Staveren De Dokter. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam SK-A-2321
And at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow:
Gerrit Dou Physician. Pushkin Museum, Moscow PM 544
And as a print, the doctor now downgraded to a mere charlatan, can be found in the British Museum:
Die Kaiserliche königliche Bildergalerie im Belvedere zu Wien / Belvedere gallery / Der Charlatan
After Gerrit Dou
Published by Carl Haas
Print made by Sebastian Langer
Intermediary draughtsman Sigmund Ferdinand von Perger
AN1040040001
With thanks to Jeremy Marshall for this original research.
Related
Exhibition
Treasury: A Generous Legacy
18 December 2015 – 4 December 2016
Stunning proof of the impact of generosity on the Christchurch collection.
Collection
Gerrit Dou The Physician
Gerrit Dou was Rembrandt van Rijn’s earliest and most successful student, and became highly sought after by European royalty and aristocratic patrons for his captivating, highly detailed works. His paintings were packed with intriguing elements waiting to be read. Here, a physician based on Dou himself carefully analyses a jar of urine for a pregnancy test.
(Out of Time, 23 September 2023 – 28 April 2024)