Portrait of René Descartes (1596-1650)
Frans Hals
1647-1648
This small painting has been harshly treated. Someone has scratched zigzagging lines across it. But why such vandalism? Perhaps because it depicts a philosopher and mathematician who introduced many new ideas. Provocative thinking Even though the portrait is only a painted sketch for an etching by Jonas Suyderhoef, and possibly for a painted life-sized portrait too, it has not survived unscathed. But what was so new and provocative about Descartes? His scientific discoveries within mathematics?
SMK – National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen · Image: SMK – National Gallery of Denmark, Public domain · Text: SMK – National Gallery of Denmark (adapted), CC0