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| Bartholomeus Breenbergh Christ healing deaf and dumb man 1635 oil on panel Louvre, Paris |
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| Bartholomeus Breenbergh Interior of the Colosseum, Rome before 1657 drawing British Museum |
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| Bartholomeus Breenbergh Moses and Aaron changing the rivers of Egypt into blood 1631 oil on panel Getty Museum, Los Angeles |
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| Bartholomeus Breenbergh Ruins of the Baths of Trajan, Rome 1625 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
Upon Nothing
Nothing! thou elder brother even to Shade:
That hadst a being ere the world was made,
And well fixed, art alone of ending not afraid.
Ere Time and Place were, Time and Place were not,
When primitive Nothing Something straight begot;
Then all proceeded from the great united What.
Something, the general attribute of all,
Severed from thee, its sole original,
Into thy boundless self must undistinguished fall;
Yet Something did thy mighty power command,
And from fruitful Emptiness's hand
Snatched men, beasts, birds, fire, air, and land.
Matter the wicked'st offspring of thy race,
By Form assisted, flew from thy embrace,
And rebel Light obscured thy reverend dusky face.
With Form and Matter, Time and Place did join;
Body, thy foe, with these did leagues combine
To spoil thy peaceful realm, and ruin all thy line;
But turncoat Time assists the foe in vain,
And bribed by thee, destroys their short-lived reign,
And to thy hungry womb drives back thy slaves again.
Though mysteries are barred from laic eyes,
And the divine alone with warrant pries
Into thy bosom, where truth in private lies,
Yet this of thee the wise may truly say,
Thou from the virtuous nothing dost delay,
And to be part with thee the wicked wisely pray.
Great Negative, how vainly would the wise
Inquire, define, distinguish, teach, devise,
Didst thou not stand to point their blind philosophies!
Is, or Is Not, the two great ends of Fate,
And True or False, the subject of debate,
That perfect or destroy the vast designs of state –
When they have racked the politician's breast,
Within thy Bosom most securely rest,
And when reduced to thee, are least unsafe and best.
But Nothing, why does Something still permit
That sacred monarchs should at council sit
With persons highly thought at best for nothing fit,
While weighty Something modestly abstains,
From princes' coffers, and from statesmen's brains,
And Nothing there like stately Nothing reigns?
Nothing! who dwell'st with fools in grave disguise
For whom they reverend shapes and forms devise,
Lawn sleeves, and furs, and gowns, when they like thee look wise:
French truth, Dutch prowess, British policy,
Hibernian learning, Scotch civility,
Spaniard's dispatch, Danes' wit are mainly seen in thee.
The great man's gratitude to his best friend,
Kings' promises, whores' vows – towards thee may bend,
Flow swiftly into thee, and in thee ever end.
– John Wilmot, Early of Rochester (1647-1680)
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| Bartholomeus Breenbergh Idealized view with Roman ruins ca. 1650 oil on canvas Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid |
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| Bartholomeus Breenbergh Porta San Paolo, Rome ca. 1624-29 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Bartholomeus Breenbergh The Preaching of St John the Baptist 1634 oil on panel Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Bartholomeus Breenbergh Ruins of the Aqueduct of Mezza Via ca. 1624-29 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Bartholomeus Breenbergh Stoning of Stephen 1632 oil on panel Getty Museum, Los Angeles |
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| Bartholomeus Breenbergh Ruins of Basilica of Constantine, Rome ca. 1624-29 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Bartholomeus Breenbergh Classical landscape with rocks ca. 1628-30 oil on copper Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
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| Bartholomeus Breenbergh Ruined house with ancient foundations before 1657 drawing British Museum |
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| Bartholomeus Breenbergh Grotto of Egeria, Rome ca. 1624-29 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Bartholomeus Breenbergh Venus mourning the death of Adonis 1646 oil on panel Harvard Art Museums |
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| Bartholomeus Breenbergh Figure study for Venus mourning the death of Adonis 1646 drawing Harvard Art Museums |