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| Felice Ficherelli Judith with the Head of Holofernes ca. 1665 oil on canvas Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Jan de Bisschop after Anthony van Dyke Portrait of Jean Leclerc before 1671 drawing Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Gerrit van Honthorst Boy blowing on a Firebrand ca. 1621-22 oil on canvas Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Paulus Moreelse Portrait of a Young Lady ca. 1620 oil on panel Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Giovanni Mannozzi (Giovanni da San Giovanni) Profile Portrait of a Young Woman ca. 1620-30 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Bernardo Strozzi St Gerardo Sagredo, Bishop of Csanád 1633 oil on canvas Art Institute of Chicago |
On a Short History of Chance
It is said that Aristotle did not believe that nature needed chance to begin. And Augustine, freed from such deliberations, was sure God was at the heart of the patent, as well as the obscure, occurrence. To look once into the Divine Face was to have the great map of destiny spread out: complete with the body's tidal currents, the slow lamentation of flowers, the cyclical reign of the seasons, and the soul's knowledge.
But in time, the sure, steady mind clarified: it was the mechanical wheel of the universe that would prevail – its gyroscope of history advancing perfectly as it swallowed time. Thus, freed from sacrifice, the works of labor, not conscience, would fulfill the great collective destiny; all species carefully noted in the great encyclopedias of being, entered by a steady but passionless hand.
Yet listening at each daybreak – the unknown still came dropping outside of the bright, clear realms. Invariably returning, as it manifested in sudden apparition or by silent stealth: as still in wonder the senses are caught up when the sea delivers – but once – a wave of pure ivory – or etched in salt is a cathedral of the world.
Or how a face, long lost, appears on a street swimming up out of a crowd, as if from a foreign element. What, if not chance, holds all of these fast in its grip? The moment – great abyss of now: bearing the fruit of all moments before, ripe with disorganized creation.
– Ellen Hinsey (The White Fire of Time, Wesleyan University Press, 2002)
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| Antonio Triva Electress Henriette Adelaide von Savoyen 1626 oil on canvas Alte Pinakothek, Munich |
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| Gerard ter Borch Bust of Emperor Vitellius ca. 1631-33 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Gerard ter Borch Woman peeling an Apple ca. 1660 oil on canvas Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna |
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| Mattia Preti Martin de Redin, Grand Master of the Knights of Malta ca. 1660 oil on canvas Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Ottavio Leoni Portrait of a Youth 1621 drawing (black, red and white chalk) Minneapolis Institute of Art |
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| Bartholomeus van der Helst Portrait of a Burgomaster ca. 1665-70 oil on canvas Minneapolis Institute of Art |
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| Pasquale Ottino Mary Magdalen before 1630 oil on slate Minneapolis Institute of Art |
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| Baldassare Franceschini Study of the Head of a Lion before 1690 drawing Art Institute of Chicago |