Das Bad zu Leuk (?)
Bock, Hans, the elder (ca. 1550-ca. 1623)
Additional titles
Bath of Leuk (?)
- Künstmuseum Basel
[Museum inv. no.: 87]
Item location
Description
In 15th and 16th century the spa offers conviviality and entertainment In addition to hygiene and recreation. Bock's canvas includes dining in the water and making music, as it also depicts some amorous scenes. The soundscape of the scenery is determined by a male figure (bottom left) holding a lute, another male figure (top right) playing a flute, and finally a male figure (bottom right) playing a slightly curved shawm. Two female figures look into music books whose music is illegible. The figures in Bock’s painting cite existing models. According to information from Kunstmuseum Basel, the woman sitting in the grass on the right refers to an etching by F. Menton depicting Diana and Actaeon (see “Spätrenaissance am Oberrhein. Tobias Stimmer 1539-1584”, exhibition catalogue, Kunstmuseum Basel, 23.09-09.12.1984, pp. 173-174, cat. 373, fig. 301), while the woman depicted frontally at the edge of the bath can already be found in another painting by Bock, namely in "Venustanz"/"Dance of Venus", ca. 1570/80 (Frankfurt Städel Museum, inv.-no. 2233).Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)
Lute [3394]Flute [3955]
Shawm [4258]
RIdIM images
Bibliographic references
Spätrenaissance am Oberrhein. Tobias Stimmer 1539–1584, Exhibition catalogue, Kunstmuseum Basel, 23. Sept. – 9. Dec. 1984, with an introduction by Christian Geelhaar, with essays by Dieter Koepplin et al (Basel: Kunstmuseum, 1984), pp. 173–174, Cat-No. 373, fig. 301.Grewenig, Meinrad Maria, Der Akt in der deutschen Renaissance: Die Einheit von Nacktheit und Leib in der bildenden Kunst (Freren: Luca-Verlag, 1987).
His-Heusler, Eduard, "Hans Bock, der Maler", in: Basler Jahrbuch 1892, pp. 136-164.
Notes
1. Inscribed on the lower left of the wall (on the painting): "hans bock - F- 1597" [= Hans Bock - fecit - 1597].2. The painting has only borne the title "The Bath of Leuk" since 1907. Whether it really depicts Leukerbad in the Swiss canton of Valais cannot be determined from the depicted landscape. However, it is known that the Leukerbad was among the most famous wild baths at the time the painting was created.