Loading
Musical Scene
Gerard van Honthorst1625-55
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
The Utrecht artist Gerrit van Honthorst was internationally known as a portrait painter, but he also gained a reputation as a painter of raucous musical scenes and parties. This drawing was once part of an album of compositional types that the artist showed to prospective patrons. Though the cheerful theme of a man and a woman sharing a song seems innocent, such unions often had amorous or lascivious connotations in 17th-century Holland.
Show lessRead more
Download this artwork (provided by The Cleveland Museum of Art).
Learn more about this artwork.
Details
- Title: Musical Scene
- Creator: Gerrit van Honthorst (Dutch, 1590-1656)
- Date Created: 1625-55
- Physical Dimensions: Sheet: 17.3 x 20.4 cm (6 13/16 x 8 1/16 in.)
- Provenance: Studio of Gerrit von Honthorst, art market, Belgium, Habolt & Co., Paris, France, Private Collection, Amsterdam, Netherlands, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Drawing
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/2019.6
- Medium: black ink wash over pen and brown ink and black chalk over graphite on gray-brown paper with white heightening, incised
- Inscriptions: inscribed “no 27” in black chalk, lower right on antique laid tan textured paper
- Fun Fact: In 17th-century Holland, scenes of men and women playing music together often had amorous connotations.
- Department: Drawings
- Culture: Netherlands, 17th century
- Credit Line: John L. Severance Fund
- Collection: DR - Dutch
- Accession Number: 2019.6
Get the app
Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more
You are all set!
Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.