Illumination of the Drunkards

The catalyst for this work was a preparatory study for the etching in Godfroy’s “L‘oeuvre Grave’de Adriaen van Ostade No. 19,” titled: ‘The Letter’ [Les Haranguears] (c.1667). The portrayed background characters are Rhetoricians, whom believed in love above all things, as exemplified by a nude bar maiden from a Hendrick Terbrugghen Painting ‘Unequal Couple,’ (c.1623). Lowe personalizes this painting by painting himself into the work as the central candle-bearing figure, with the right hand of the bar maiden acknowledging the tongue-in-cheek appearance of the artist.