Boy With a Roemer of Wine by Candelight / Henrick Ter Brugghen

Dutch 1623

Here’s a great old painting at the VMFA. My photo doesn’t do it justice. The plaque says Brugghen was one of the Utrecht Caravaggisti, a group of artists following Caravaggio in the Netherlands. They showed manipulation of light effects. The candle light looks so warm, or is it the wine? The plaque asks if this painting moralizes about wine. Is it a good thing or is it bad for you? The painting lets the viewer decide. If you could ask the boy in the painting he would say, wine makes him happy.