‘Eastern’ and ‘Western’ views of money can differ widely, and this contrast is often reflected in art.
⚖️ Portrait of Jan Uytenbogaert, ‘The Goldweigher’, 1639, by Rembrandt (1606–69). WA1855.422
⚖️ Portrait of Jan Uytenbogaert, ‘The Goldweigher’, 1639, by Rembrandt (1606–69). WA1855.422
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😠 The Miser, around 1780, by Thomas Barker of Bath (1769–1847). WA1929.3
🕯️ An old Woman weighing Gold: ‘Avarice’, 1642, by Jacques de l’Ange (active around 1630–42). WA1845.26
👑 Seated figure of Kubera, the Hindu/Buddhist god of wealth, 18th–19th century, Tibet. Gilt bronze. LI1059.5
🐘 Lakshmi the Hindu goddess of wealth flanked by two white elephants. Early 20th century. EA1966.52.127
Tickets: https://www.ashmolean.org/exhibition/money-talks-art-power-and-society
💞 Vishnu and Lakshmi, or ‘Lakshmi-Narayana’, 1495, India. Greenish-black serpentine. EA1965.161
Goya’s depiction of a miserly old man, protecting his two bags of money (his virility gone), is one of the few works of Western art that escapes a direct comparison to Judas Iscariot—and the sins of “man” after the Fall.