Christ Healing the Blind

Artist: Philippe de Champaigne
Title: Christ Healing the Blind
Date: ca. 1655-60
Culture: French
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 102.2 x 141.9 cm (40-1/4 x 55-7/8 in.)
Accession Number: 1967:004
Credit Line: Philippe de Champaigne, Christ Healing the Blind, ca. 1655-60, oil on canvas, 102.2 x 141.9 cm (40-1/4 x 55-7/8 in.), Putnam Foundation, Timken Museum of Art

Description

Basing his painting on the parable of Christ healing the blind in Matthew 20: 29-34, Philippe de Champaigne shows Christ pointing his right hand to–and healing-two blind men, kneeling on the far left. The artist was chiefly known early in his career for his deeply felt religious paintings and solemn portraits. In his later years, Champaigne painted a number of landscapes, an interest revealed in this work with its emphasis on the outdoor setting of the parable. Beyond the grotto shaded by towering trees where Christ stands, a broad placid river fills the middle distance. A bridge leads to a walled town and to the steep promontory and imposing mountains in the distance.

Related Information / Media

Provenance:

Studio of Philippe de Champaigne; Inherited by his nephew Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne; Mme Gentil de Chavagnac, her sale, Paris, Galerie Labrun, June 20, 1854, pp. 37–39; The dukes of Ferrari de Galliera, near Dijon inherited by a niece of the last duke, Mlle de la Renotière; Acquired by the Putnam Foundation, 1967

Literature:

Henri Stein, Philippe de Champaigne et ses relations avec Port-Royal (Paris,1891), p. 17 n.13; Vicomte de Groucy, "Les Peintres Philippe et Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne: Nouveaux Documents et inventaires après déceès," Nouvelles Archives de L'Art Français, 3d ser. (Revue de l’Art Franças Ancien et Moderne) (1892; reprint, Paris, 1973), 8:182, 196, nos. 12, 13; Agnes Mongan and Eliza beth Mongan, European Paintings in the Timken Art Gallery (San Diego, 1969), pp. 94, 95, 130-131 no. 35, ill.;Bernard Dorival, "Philippe de Champaigne: Chercheur d’ames," Connaissance des Arts, no. 273 (November 1974): 126-33, ill.; id., Philippe de Champaigne, 1602-1674: La Vie, l'oeuvre, et le catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre, 2 vols. (Paris, 1976), 1:7,99,121,122,141,178, no. 230, and 2:128, ill.; Jean-Luc Bordeaux, "Baroque to Neo-Classicism," Apollo 115 (June 1982): 456, fig.15; Timken Art Gallery: European and American Works of Art in the Putnam Foundation Collection (San Diego, 1983), pp. 28-29,116-17, no. 7, ill.

Rights & Reproductions

The Timken provides collection images to scholars, educators, publishing companies, commercial entities, and the public. Please review the TERMS GOVERNING REPRODUCTIONS OR PUBLICATION OF IMAGES.

To proceed with your image request, fill out the Image Request Form and email it to registrar@timkenmuseum.org.

For questions please contact info@timkenmuseum.org.

Note

This record has been reviewed by Timken Museum of Art staff and may be incomplete or contain errors. Our records are constantly revised. Inquiries about provenance are advised to contact the Director of Curatorial Affairs: curator@timkenmuseum.org.