Table Of Content

The Philosopher, the Priest, and the Painter North Franeker Sea Friesland Egmond aan den Hoef Alkmaar Egmond aan Zee Zuiderzee Overijssel Egmond-Binnen Santpoort Haarlem Amsterdam Spaarne River Deventer Haarlemermeer Leiden Holland Utrecht Gelderland Utrecht UNITED PROVINCES OF THE NETHERLANDS Zeeland Staats-Brabant Antwerp Scheldt River SPANISH 0 25 50Miles NETHERLANDS 0 25 50Kilometers Frontispiece. The Netherlands in the seventeenth century The Philosopher, the Priest, and the Painter A Portrait of Descartes Steven Nadler Princeton University Press Princeton and Oxford Copyright © 2013 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxford- shire OX20 1TW press.princeton.edu Jacket art: Frans Hals. René Descartes (1596– 1650), 1649. © SMK Photo. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen. All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Nadler, Steven M., 1958– The philosopher, the priest, and the painter : a portrait of Descartes / Steven Nadler. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-691-15730-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Descartes, René, 1596–1650. 2. Philosophers—France—Biography. 3. Philosophy, Modern. 4. Europe—Intellectual life—17th century. I. Title. B1873.N34 2013 194—dc23 [B] 2012038718 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available This book has been composed in Sabon LT Std Printed on acid-free paper. ∞ Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For Jane, Rose, and Ben Contents Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xiii Chapter 1 Prologue: A Tale of Two Paintings 1 Chapter 2 The Philosopher 8 Chapter 3 The Priest 36 Chapter 4 The Painter 55 Chapter 5 “Once in a Lifetime” 87 Chapter 6 A New Philosophy 111 Chapter 7 God in Haarlem 143 Chapter 8 The Portrait 174 Notes 199 Bibliography 219 Index 227 Illustrations Color Plates Color plates follow page 104. Plate 1. Jacob Isaacksz van Ruisdael, View of Egmond, 1648. Oil on panel. Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, New Hamp- shire. Museum Purchase: Currier Funds, 1950.4 Plate 2. Jacob Isaacksz van Ruisdael, View of Haarlem with Bleaching Grounds, ca. 1670–7 5. Oil on canvas. Mauritshuis, The Hague Plate 3. Johannes Verspronck, Augustijn Bloemaert, 1658. Oil on panel. Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem Plate 4. Frans Hals, Merrymakers at Shrovetide, ca. 1615. Oil on canvas. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York/Image source: Art Resource, NY Plate 5. Frans Hals, St. George Guard, 1616. Oil on canvas. Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem. Photo: Margareta Svensson Plate 6. Frans Hals, Willem van Heythuyzen, ca. 1625. Oil on canvas. Alte Pinakothek, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlun- gen, Munich, Germany. Image: bpk, Berlin/Image source: Art Resource, NY Plate 7. Frans Hals, St. Hadrian Guard, 1627. Oil on canvas. Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem. Photo: Margareta Svensson ix