![[Hymnist] Portrait of Protestant Hymnist, ca. 1750s](http://www.schubertiademusic.com/cdn/shop/files/HymnComposer_PaintedPortraitofProtestantHymnComposer23488a_d01b192a-94eb-4adf-a6ae-54787e6640b6.jpg?v=1723158465)
![[Hymnist] Portrait of Protestant Hymnist, ca. 1750s](http://www.schubertiademusic.com/cdn/shop/files/HymnComposer_PaintedPortraitofProtestantHymnComposer23488b.jpg?v=1723158296)
![[Hymnist] Portrait of Protestant Hymnist, ca. 1750s](http://www.schubertiademusic.com/cdn/shop/files/HymnComposer_PaintedPortraitofProtestantHymnComposer23488c.jpg?v=1723158296)
[Hymnist]. Portrait of Protestant Hymnist, ca. 1750s.
A very fine portrait of an unidentified Reformed Protestant hymnist ca. early 18th century based on the wig, clerical stock and gown, likely English (or Dutch?), the portrait ca. mid-late 18th-century. While some of the music being held up is indeed legible, we have been thus far unable to identify a particular musical work being represented. Likewise, the painter of this fine portrait remains unidentified. The canvas stamped on the verso by Emile Blanchet at his address of 17 rue de Grenelle-St Germain where he operated from 1868-1890, selling artist's supplies and restoring paintings, this work evidently restored during that period. Some crackling in paint; original frame with age cracking and some losses and rude repairs, still very presentable. Overall framed 36" x 31".
The eighteenth century witnessed the arrival of hymn singing in the churches. Throughout the Reformation the practice had been to sing only Psalms and this continued up until the end of the seventeenth century. Martin Luther had written some hymns in his day. John Bunyan and Benjamin Keach experimented with hymn-singing intheir congregations at the end of the seventeenth century, but these were isolated examples.
In 1707 Isaac Watts published his Hymns and Spiritual Songs. This marked the beginning of hymnsinging in the churches, and as the eighteenth century progressed, Watts’s hymns became widely received and used. He also published a versification of the Psalms in 1719, entitled The Psalms of David, and these and his hymns were published in a single volume and used in many churches throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He was described as, “the first Englishman who set the gospel to music.”
Having set the pattern, as the eighteenth century progressed there appeared a large number of very able hymn writers. The Eighteenth Century Revival inspired Charles Wesley and John Cennick to write hymns to be sung among the newly-formed Methodist Associations. In 1738, Charles Wesley, together with his brother John, published a collection of hymns entitled Psalms and Hymns. All but a few were the work of Charles Wesley. A second volume of hymns, entitled Hymns and Sacred Poems, was published in 1749.
We are grateful to Dr. Peter Forsaith (Research Fellow at The Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History, Oxford Brookes University, UK) for his generous assistance with the cataloging of this work.
[Hymnist]. Portrait of Protestant Hymnist, ca. 1750s.
A very fine portrait of an unidentified Reformed Protestant hymnist ca. early 18th century based on the wig, clerical stock and gown, likely English (or Dutch?), the portrait ca. mid-late 18th-century. While some of the music being held up is indeed legible, we have been thus far unable to identify a particular musical work being represented. Likewise, the painter of this fine portrait remains unidentified. The canvas stamped on the verso by Emile Blanchet at his address of 17 rue de Grenelle-St Germain where he operated from 1868-1890, selling artist's supplies and restoring paintings, this work evidently restored during that period. Some crackling in paint; original frame with age cracking and some losses and rude repairs, still very presentable. Overall framed 36" x 31".
The eighteenth century witnessed the arrival of hymn singing in the churches. Throughout the Reformation the practice had been to sing only Psalms and this continued up until the end of the seventeenth century. Martin Luther had written some hymns in his day. John Bunyan and Benjamin Keach experimented with hymn-singing intheir congregations at the end of the seventeenth century, but these were isolated examples.
In 1707 Isaac Watts published his Hymns and Spiritual Songs. This marked the beginning of hymnsinging in the churches, and as the eighteenth century progressed, Watts’s hymns became widely received and used. He also published a versification of the Psalms in 1719, entitled The Psalms of David, and these and his hymns were published in a single volume and used in many churches throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He was described as, “the first Englishman who set the gospel to music.”
Having set the pattern, as the eighteenth century progressed there appeared a large number of very able hymn writers. The Eighteenth Century Revival inspired Charles Wesley and John Cennick to write hymns to be sung among the newly-formed Methodist Associations. In 1738, Charles Wesley, together with his brother John, published a collection of hymns entitled Psalms and Hymns. All but a few were the work of Charles Wesley. A second volume of hymns, entitled Hymns and Sacred Poems, was published in 1749.
We are grateful to Dr. Peter Forsaith (Research Fellow at The Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History, Oxford Brookes University, UK) for his generous assistance with the cataloging of this work.