Depictions like this one of a boy blowing on a burning ember were popular among European painters studying illumination. Artists like Michelangelo and El Greco used this subject to showcase their skills at imitating nature, particularly the fleeting reflections of fi relight. In Gerrit van Honthorst’s version, the youth gazes quizzically at the viewer while blowing on the titular fi rebrand, which he is using to light the candle in his right hand. The boy wears a slashed doublet and a slouched, feathered beret, which in the artist’s day would have been viewed as an antiquated costume of the previous century.
Born into a family of artists, Honthorst followed the traditional path of many Dutch and Flemish artists by moving to Rome to study. A Boy Blowing on a Firebrand was painted shortly after he returned to his native Utrecht in 1620. The subject itself derives from antiquity: Roman author Pliny’s Natural History (77–79 CE) not only profoundly influenced the principles of Renaissance art but also described lost paintings of the classical period, including one of a boy blowing on an ember. Aft er spending several successful years working in Rome, Honthorst brought this theme back with him to the Netherlands, where it was appreciated by sophisticated collectors who recognized its origins in an ancient text.
Text: Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0.
