King Midas

Art Historical Context

Leonaert Bramer's *King Midas*, a drawing from the early 17th century, visitors into the timeless Greek myth of the Phrygian king cursed with the golden touch. Created during Bramer's lifetime (1596–1674), this work exemplifies the Dutch artist's flair for dramatic, intimate mythological scenes. As a master of small-scale compositions, Bramer explored biblical and classical tales, blending tenebrist shadows with luminous highlights to evoke emotion and narrative depth—a style influenced by his time in Italy amid the Caravaggisti. Executed in brush and gray ink heightened with white bodycolor, the 8¼ × 11⅞-inch sheet showcases virtuoso techniques of the Dutch Golden Age. The white heightening creates glowing effects against dark grounds, mimicking candlelit drama and emphasizing Midas's fateful greed. The framing line in the same media adds a polished, self-contained elegance, typical of preparatory or independent drawings prized by collectors. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (purchased with the C.G. Boerner Gift in 2008), this piece highlights Bramer's underrated legacy in print and sketch culture. It invites us to ponder Midas's hubris, a cautionary tale as relevant today as in antiquity, reminding us of art's power to illuminate human folly.