Introduction: The Four Temperaments
The Four Temperaments
Heemskerck’s series The Four Temperaments helped establish a standard visual language for the temperaments, an iconography shared in part with their representation in the emblem books displayed nearby. Heemskerck gathered iconographic elements from a range of sources and consolidated these into a concise and comprehensive template.
The upper register of each print labels the temperament and aligns it with a specific planet, Roman God, and zodiac sign. The lower register of the print combines seemingly unrelated scenes to depict moods and actions associated with the temperament. Notice the references to suicide and geometry in Melancholici, water and fishermen in Phlegmatici, lovers and festivity in Sanguinei, and combat and smoke in Cholerici.
The gallery’s four colors reinforce the diagrammatic quality of Heemskerck’s own prints. Each color carries unique associations, tracing the emergence of the temperaments from the four bodily humors: red blood (sanguine), black bile (melancholy), yellow bile (choleric), and white phlegm (phlegmatic).
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- Alex Katz (American, b. 1927), Jessica (1994). Three-color woodcut on Hosho paper, edition 79/200, signed in pencil, Gift of Jacqueline Koldin Levine (Class of 1946) and Howard H. Levine, 2012.27.508.
- Osk
- Harmen Jansz.Muller (Dutch, c. 1540-c.1617), after Maerten van Heemskerck (Dutch, 1498-1574), Sanguinei, from The Four Temperaments (1566, after 1565 drawings). Engraving, first edition, signed in plate, Gift of Dale Kinney, 2009.19.1
- Roselle Hellenberg Osk (American, 1884-1954), The Sisters (1938). Etching, 7/100, Gift of Jacqueline Koldin Levine (Class of 1946) and Howard H. Levine, 2012.27.228.
- Joseph W. Reed (American, 1948-2002), Automatic John Wayne (1975). Lithograph, edition 10/10, signed in pencil, Gift of Jacqueline Koldin Levine (Class of 1946) and Howard H. Levine, 2012.27.175.
- Katherine Bradford (American, b. 1942), Color X (1993). Eight-color collagraph, A.P. 7/7, signed in pencil, Gift of the artist, The William and Uytendale Scott Memorial Study Collection of Works by Women Artists, 2006.1.301.
- Charles Wheeler Locke (American, 1899-1983), Three Men Seated in Overstuffed Chairs (20th Century). Lithograph; signed in pencil below image; Gift of Mary Patterson McPherson, President of Bryn Mawr College, 1978-1997; 2018.35.22.
- Harmen Jansz.Muller (Dutch, c. 1540-c.1617), after Maerten van Heemskerck (Dutch, 1498-1574), Phlegmatici, from The Four Temperaments (1566, after 1565 drawings). Engraving, first edition, signed in plate, Gift of Dale Kinney, 2009.19.4
- Harmen Jansz.Muller (Dutch, c. 1540-c.1617), after Maerten van Heemskerck (Dutch, 1498-1574), Cholerici, from The Four Temperaments (1566, after 1565 drawings). Engraving, first edition, signed in plate, Gift of Dale Kinney, 2009.19.2
- Katz
- Locke
- Reed
- Temperamental! Text
- Harmen Jansz.Muller (Dutch, c. 1540-c.1617), after Maerten van Heemskerck (Dutch, 1498-1574), Melancholici, from The Four Temperaments (1566, after 1565 drawings). Engraving, first edition, signed in plate, Gift of Dale Kinney, 2009.19.3