Bernhard Keil, auch genannt „Monsù Bernardo“, 1624 Helsingør – 1687 Rom

TWO BLIND PEOPLE HELPING EACH OTHER Oil on canvas. Doubled. 152 x 201 cm. In gilt frame. An old man stands bent over by a river that leads diagonally out of the picture plane, barely able to free his companion from his predicament due to his blindness. The latter has just fallen into the river and appears to be just as deformed and blind as his companion. Born in Denmark as the son of a German painter and initially trained there, he spent two years in the workshop of Rembrandt (1606-1669) in Amsterdam before opening his own studio there. In 1651 he went to Venice. On his travels between Venice, Bergamont and Milan, he devoted himself to various pictorial genres, above all portraiture, where he was able to paint a portrait of Queen Christina of Sweden (1626-1689), who was staying in Ravenna at the time. He finally worked in Rome from 1656. Literature: Minna Heimbürger, Bernardo Keilhau detto Monsù Bernardo, Rome 1988, p. 280. (13803118) (13) Bernhard Keil, also known as "Monsù Bernardo", 1624 Helsingør - 1687 Rome TWO BLIND FIGURES HELPING EACH OTHER Oil on canvas. Relined. 152 x 201 cm.