Blindness & Art

G. Kapper/Khuttenberg, no sources available, oil on canvas, signed 1911

A blind girl and a blind old man with a bushy beard, white hair and bowed head stand next to a shelf. Since the blind girl with a long dress, long hair and a small shoulder bag can support herself against the wall, the old man, who resembles a dignified Methuselah in ancient times, entrusts himself to his young companion by leaning confidently on her. Both stand illuminated against a dark background.

L. Marius, no sources available, probably mid-19th century, oil on canvas 

The musician, an old blind man, presents his ukulele, a guitar-like four-stringed box-neck lute, held high in front of him, while the young lad on his right, who may be his son, can easily be identified as the singer with his mouth open.

Carl Mell, 1851–1936, oil on canvas, year unknown

The painting was probably intended as an altarpiece or lintel painting. At the bottom left are blind people in profile, on the right two children seen from behind; all are looking up at Saint Ottilie, who is being received by Christ on Mount Odilienberg above. Ottilie (c. 660–720), abbess from Alsace and patron saint of eyesight, was the blind daughter of Duke Eticho. After her miraculous healing through baptism, she founded a convent at Hohenburg and died in nearby Niedermünster. Her grave there is still a place of pilgrimage today, with a spring that is said to cure eye ailments.

Max Kurzweil, 1867–1916, oil on canvas, year unknown

The blind flute player sits on a small board on the right side of the picture at the edge of a forest path. He is leaning against a tree and holding his instrument in his hands. To his left, his dog, presumably a Labrador mix is sleeping. In front of him is a blue piece of cloth for alms.

L. Hellman. No sources available, oil on wood, 1952

A girl in a green dress supports her blind father in a brown coat, who is holding a rosary. With his eyes closed, he leans against the wall and turns his face towards the sky, listening to the sound of the organ. Several people can be seen in the background: one woman leaves another room with a prayer book, another in front of a burning lantern seems to be immersed in prayer, suggesting a church building.

P. Cnigotin/Caire, oil on canvas, year unknown

The blind man, shown in three-quarter profile to the left, wears a black cloak down to his waist, above which his white beard, ochre-coloured shirt and white robe stand out. His shirt and outer garment are also pulled over his head. The middle-aged man leans on a staff; his gaze appears focused, although his closed eyelids reveal him to be blind.

Painter unknown, oil on canvas, year unknown

A blind old man is being led along a path by a girl. He holds a white cane and leans on her shoulder, while she holds out her arms to keep her balance. On the left, the remains of a house wall and palm trees can be seen; bare legs and sandals suggest a mild, southern climate.

Unknown painter, oil on canvas, year unknown 

The blind old woman in a grey cloak sits to the right in front of her house, leaning on her white cane. In the centre of the picture, her daughter, wearing a white blouse and rust-red dress, is probably helping her to stand up, her head turned skyward with a disgruntled look. To the right, a seated dog can be seen dimly. The picture is unsigned and undated.

Painter unknown, oil on wood, year unknown

The old man, reminiscent of a blind Bedouin, stands facing forward in the desert, holding a white cane symbolising his frailty. He wears a dark cloak and a light-coloured turban. On the right, a dark-skinned girl in a blue dress supports him, clutching a white cloth and her eyes wide open. The picture is illegibly signed in the upper left corner; the painting style and depiction suggest an Arab artist.

Robert Beyer, 1828–1891, oil on canvas, 1850

Upon his return, Duke Frederick the Fair greets his wife, who has gone blind as a result of the pain caused by his imprisonment. The picture shows Duke Frederick with his entourage on the left and his blind wife with her children and her companion, who is reaching out her hands to him, on the right.

Richard Goldberg, oil on canvas, 1907

The right half of the picture shows the blind organ grinder standing at the blue box, while on the left is the devoutly listening audience. In the foreground, a blind woman in a white cloak is kneeling, next to her companion wearing a straw hat. In front of the barrel organ, a couple is supporting their apparently blind daughter. Everyone is concentrating on the music.

Unknown Spanish painter, oil on canvas, circa 1700

The novel Lazarillo de Tormes tells the story of poor Lazarillo, who cunningly makes his way through jobs with a blind beggar, a miserly priest and others. The anonymous work, an early example of a picaresque novel, criticises the hypocrisy of 16th-century Spanish society and ends with Lazarillo's rise to become a town crier in Toledo. The painting shows Lazarillo serving the blind beggar, who is stealing something from him; the distorted faces are reminiscent of Goya's caricatured portraits of human weaknesses.

Caspare Landi, 1756–1830, oil on canvas, year unknown

The picture shows Teiresias in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, who revealed the secrets of the gods to humans and was therefore punished with blindness. Gaspare Landi (born January 6th 1756 in Piacenza; died February 27th 1830 in the same city) was an Italian painter of the Classicist period. The second child of Ercole Landi and Maria Francesca Rizzi, he grew up with four siblings. Despite his parents' aristocratic origins, the family often struggled financially, and at times his father was imprisoned for debt.

Hermann Schneider, oil on canvas, year unknown

Nydia is a blind character from Edward Bulwer-Lytton's novel The Last Days of Pompeii (1834) who works as a flower seller in Pompeii and is in love with Glaucus. After the eruption of Vesuvius, she guides her companions through the city before taking her own life in despair. The painting shows Nydia on a marble throne in a white dress and veil, presumably in a transcendent state after her suicide. The bouquet of flowers on the right symbolises her work, while the swimming ring on the left symbolises her suicide on a ship.

Adolf Echtler, oil on canvas, 1870

The picture shows a man with long dark hair, a white beard and a hat on the left side of the picture in profile. He is leaning with both hands on a stick. His closed eyes suggest blindness. Next to him, facing the viewer is a girl with long blonde hair and her open hand stretched upwards. They are presumably a father and daughter begging for alms.

Unknown painter, copy after Anthonis van Dyck, 1599–1641, oil on canvas, year unknown

Belisarius (c. 500/505–565), Eastern Roman general under Emperor Justinian, receives alms in this copy after van Dyck. Unlike in the original, he is seated on the right, with the people giving him alms grouped to his left. According to legend, the great general died in Rome as a blind beggar.

Unknown painter, oil on wood, year unknown

A young man in a blue robe kneels before a group of blind people, while Jesus accompanies the blessing on the right side of the picture. An old blind man holds his hands over his head on the left; behind him a blind woman and a middle-aged man watch the scene. On the right in the background is a landscape with mountains and trees.