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A Young Astronomer

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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A curtain has been pulled back on van Deuren’s young astronomer to reveal the stargazer looking not at the heavens but at a celestial globe, marked with northern and zodiacal constellations, that he has taken from its stand. A notebook and inkpot sit on his desk awaiting his observations; books of astronomical charts and a quadrant for measuring celestial angles are ready to help him.

The Netherlands in the seventeenth century was a centre for astronomical study and the young practitioner is perhaps thinking about the discoveries he too might make. The quizzical look on his face, fascination mixed with apprehension, suggests how difficult the task of plumbing the mysteries of the heavens will be. He is looking not just to see where new stars and planets might be found but if his own fate is written in the stars.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

A Young Astronomer

Date

about 1685

Medium

Oil on oak

Measurements

H 15.3 x W 12.7 cm

Accession number

NG2589

Acquisition method

Salting Bequest, 1910

Work type

Painting

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The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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