Type
Artwork
Trail
Bridging Binaries: LGBTQ+ History
Museum Remix
Collection Online
Find out more about the objects that inspired this work

Thomas Chandler's collage is inspired by the Fitzwilliam Museum's portraits of Sir John Finch and Sir Thomas Baines by Carlo Dolci.

Finch and Baines, both trained physicians, met while studying at Cambridge in the 1640s. They were inseparable throughout a relationship that lasted 36 years, and were buried together in a joint monument in Christ's College.

A Song Incomplete

Collage with paper and paint

This is a photograph of a paper collage made from cut up paper and paint. Working from left to right: the words “every heart sings a song incomplete until another whispers back - Plato” is written from the bottom left hand corner up to the top left hand corner and curving round to the top right hand corner, and outlined in gold paint. The cut out hand and torso from a classical sculpture are set on top of one another, and outlined in gold, with fragments from portraits of Sir John Finch and Sir Thomas Baines positioned on top. We see part of Baines’s face with his curly dark hair and his hand with elaborate ruffled white cuff; Finch’s hands as they hold a letter; Baines’s square white collar; and the lower half of Finch’s face with moustache and lace collar. The rest of the image is filled with the left hand side of the face of a classical sculpture of a young man, outlined in gold.

 

Artist Thomas Chandler writes,

"I enjoyed the LGBT+ history behind the paintings. I approached it from my interest in classical and Renaissance art and modern re-interpretation of these as they are so often infused with homoerotic tension. I wanted a contrast between the explicit beauty of the sculpture and the implicit love between the portraits and the sitters. I believe the museums should make an effort approach queer objects in the context of other queer objects, rather than, as they often do, stripping objects back to style or period."

Museum Remix Guest Curator Lucian Stephenson says,

"The exploration of the piece is immediately obvious: the gold that edges the collage’s pieces, highlighting the observational beauty of the subjects (and thereby implying the desire of the artist) is staggeringly beautiful."

Finch & Baines

Portraits of Sir John Finch and Sir Thomas Baines side by side, with Finch on the left. Sir John Finch is posed facing right, but turned towards the viewer. It’s a dark painting, with his long curly black hair and dark gown offset by his face and white lace collar and cuffs. He looks up, interrupted while reading a long letter (there are two sheets of paper) held in both hands. He has a long nose, straight eyebrows, dark eyes, and a moustache, and looks serious. Sir Thomas Baines is posed facing left, but turned towards the viewer. He is sitting at a desk, covered with a red tablecloth. His square, plain, but very delicate white collar and frilled cuffs draw the attention. Books rest on the desk, with a volume of Plato visible. A large volume is open in front of him, with a tab for notes. His left hand, which rests on the table by the open book, has fine long fingers and wears a ring. He has shoulder-length curly dark hair, heavy-lidded eyes, and is half-smiling.

John Finch and Thomas Baines, both trained physicians, met while studying at Cambridge in the 1640s. They were inseparable throughout a relationship that lasted 36 years, and were buried together in a joint monument in Christ's College, Cambridge.

Finch commissioned the portraits from Carlo Dolci in 1665, during a diplomatic mission to Florence; he would later serve as British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. Baines is shown reading books of philosophy - including Plato - demonstrating his wide-ranging interests.

 

This artwork is part of the Museum Remix: Unheard project, and is featured in the Museum Remix: Woven Histories digital exhibition.