English School c.1700 The Candle is England Titled and inscribed Beza Oil on canvas 60.9 x...

English School c.1700

The Candle is England

Titled and inscribed Beza

Oil on canvas

60.9 x 77.3cm; 24 x 30½in

Provenance:

Rev. Thomas Guthrie (1803-1873);

Sir Harry Verney, 4th Baronet (1881-1974), Claydon House;

Sir Ralph Verney, 5th Baronet (1915-2001), Claydon House;

Sir Edmund Verney, 6th Baronet (b.1950)

by whom sold, Humbert & Ellis, 10 November 2019, lot 678

Literature:

Arthur M. Hind, Engraving in England in the Sixteenth & Seventeenth Centuries, Part 1 (Cambridge University Press, 1952) p.6

The present work depicts some notable protestant reformers seated around a candle. The reformers depicted are John Wycliffe, Theodore Beza, John Calvin, Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon and Jan Hus (seated); and Heinrich Bullinger, Girolamo Zanchi, John Knox, Huldrych Zwingli, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Martin Bucer, and Jerome of Prague (standing). With their work these men have shed light onto the bible, represented by the candle, whilst a pope, a cardinal, a Jesuit and the devil try and snuff out this light. The iconography of this work derives from a print that became popular from the early seventeenth century onwards, although there are numerous variations known, with different figures depicted.