Cloud-Borne

Antonio Bellucci
The Protection of Reason
before 1726
oil on canvas
(ceiling painting)
Liechtenstein Museum, Vienna

Hans Burgkmair the Younger
The Sounding of the Heavenly Trumpets
(scene from the Apocalypse)
ca. 1550
drawing
Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna

Garofalo (Benvenuto Tisi)
Adoration of the Child
1517
oil on panel, transferred to canvas
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden

Garofalo (Benvenuto Tisi)
Apotheosis of Hercules
ca. 1535-40
oil on canvas
Liechtenstein Museum, Vienna

Raphael Sadeler after Marten de Vos the Elder
God the Father rebuking Cain for murdering Abel
1583
engraving
Herzog August Bibliothek, Wulfenbüttel

Johannes Galle after Marten de Vos the Elder
Air
(series, the Four Elements)
ca. 1640
engraving
Herzog August Bibliothek, Wulfenbüttel

Sebastiano Ricci
A Miracle of St Francis of Paola
1733
oil on canvas
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

Jan Sadeler the Elder after Friedrich Sustris
Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria as Hercules
ca. 1590
hand-colored engraving
Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig

Anthonie Blocklandt
The Evangelist Matthew
1574
oil on paper, mounted on canvas
Centraal Museum, Utrecht

Anthonie Blocklandt
The Evangelist Mark
1574
oil on paper, mounted on canvas
Centraal Museum, Utrecht

Anthonie Blocklandt
The Evangelist Luke
1574
oil on paper, mounted on canvas
Centraal Museum, Utrecht

Anthonie Blocklandt
The Evangelist John
1574
oil on paper, mounted on canvas
Centraal Museum, Utrecht

Giulio Carpioni
The Nativity
before 1678
etching
Graphische Sammlung, ETH Zürich

Pietro da Cortona (Pietro Berrettini)
The Vision of St Francis
ca. 1641
oil on canvas
Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome

Giovanni Battista Gaulli (il Baciccio)
Baptism of Christ
ca. 1690
oil on canvas
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen

Berndnaut Smilde
Cloud in the Art Museum
2021
C-print
Kunstmuseum, The Hague

from The Glass of Water

That the glass would melt in heat,

That the water would freeze in cold,

Shows that this object is merely a state,

One of many, between two poles. So,

In the metaphysical, there are these poles.

Here in the centre stands the glass. Light

Is the lion that comes down to drink. There

And in that state, the glass is a pool.

Ruddy are his eyes and ruddy are his claws

When light comes down to wet his frothy jaws

And in the water winding weeds move round. 

– Wallace Stevens (1942)