''The Lute Player'' is an oil-on-canvas painting from 1623 or 1624 now in
the Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
by the Haarlem painter Frans Hals, showing a smiling actor wearing a jester's costume and playing a lute.
This painting was documented by
Wilhelm von Bode
Wilhelm von Bode (10 December 1845 – 1 March 1929) was a German art historian and museum curator. Born Arnold Wilhelm Bode in Calvörde, he was ennobled in 1913. He was the creator and first curator of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum, now c ...
in 1883,
Ernst Wilhelm Moes
Ernst Wilhelm Moes (1864 – 1912), was a Dutch art historian and director of the print cabinet for the Rijksmuseum.
Biography
According to the NNBW he studied art at the University of Amsterdam and became a print collector while still a stud ...
98. A FOOL WITH A MANDOLINE. B. 45; M. 216.- Half-length. A man turned half-right, in a red costume trimmed with yellow. He has long hair, and wears a red and yellow cap. His head is seen in full face; he looks up to the left. With his right hand he touches the strings of a mandoline; his left hand grasps the neck. Very freely handled. Especially good are the various contrasting flesh-tones, the red and yellow of the costume, and the reflections in the eyes. ompare 95.Signed in the right at top, F. H.; canvas, about 29 inches by 24 inches. A copy (B. 16, and see M. 216) is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1907 catalogue, No. 1093; it measures 26 inches by 24 inches, having rather less at the foot than the original. In the collection of Baron Gustave de Rothschild, Paris.
The theme of a lute player painted at half length originated in Italy, and the Dutch painter
Dirck van Baburen
Dirck Jaspersz. van Baburen (c. 1595 – 21 February 1624) was a Dutch painter and one of the Utrecht Caravaggisti.
Biography
Dirck van Baburen was probably born in Wijk bij Duurstede, but his family moved to Utrecht when he was still youn ...
first introduced this theme in the Northern Netherlands with his lute player of 1622. Baburen's player is pointing his lute towards the viewer with his mouth open in song. Hals' player is looking up and smiling naturally, as if he is playing with a singer or another musician not in view. This painting is a good example of Hals' "rough style" of painting with loose brush strokes.
A period copy now in the collection of the Rijksmuseum has been dated before 1626 based on an engraving, and it has been attributed variously to Hals, his brother
Dirk
A dirk is a long bladed thrusting dagger.Chisholm, Hugh (ed.), ''Dagger'', The Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed., Vol. VII, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press (1910), p. 729 Historically, it gained its name from the Highland Dirk (Scot ...
, and
Judith Leyster
Judith Jans Leyster (also Leijster; baptised July 28, 1609Molenaer, JudithNational Gallery of Art website. Accessed February 1, 2014. – February 10, 1660) was a Dutch Golden Age painter of genre works, portraits, and still lifes. Her work was ...
.
Two other paintings of lute players by Hals are:
File:Frans Hals 001.png, '' The Fingernail Test''
File:Frans Hals - Boy with a glass and a lute.jpg, '' Boy with a Glass and a Lute''
Hals was not the only painter to be influenced by Baburen. Hendrik ter Brugghen painted several lute players in the 1620s, and a few of them seem to merge aspects of Baburen and Hals, though his later version seems to follow Hals more closely.
File:Dirck van Baburen - de luitspeler 1622.jpg, "First" Lute player by Baburen in 1622
File:Hendrick ter Brugghen - Lute Player - WGA22182.jpg, 1624 Lute player by Hendrick ter Brugghen
File:Hendrik ter Brugghen - Het duet.jpg, 1628 Lute player by Hendrick ter Brugghen
File:Judith Leyster - Serenade - WGA12960.jpg, 1629 '' Serenade'' by Judith Leyster
Later influences
This painting has been copied by other artists, most notably by David Bailly in his 1651 self-portrait with his artist's influences, and by
with his 1813 self-portrait with Josephus Augustinus Brentano, including this painting on the wall of Brentano's collection. Aspects of the painting have also been copied, such as the pose of the hands and the upward smiling face, such as
Jan Steen
Jan Havickszoon Steen (c. 1626 – buried 3 February 1679) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, one of the leading genre painters of the 17th century. His works are known for their psychological insight, sense of humour and abundance of colour.
Lif ...
's self-portrait as a smiling lute player.
File:David Bailly Vanitas1651.jpg, David Bailly's self-portrait with a sketch of this painting on the wall
File:Jan Steen 010.jpg, Jan Steen's self-portrait
File:Amsterdam - Herengracht 544 en 542.JPG,
Herengracht
The Herengracht () is the second of four Amsterdam canals belonging to the canal belt and lies between the Singel and the Keizersgracht.
The Gouden Bocht (Golden Bend) in particular is known for its large and beautiful canal houses.
History
Th ...
542–544, location of the former gallery of the art collector Josephus Augustinus Brentano
The painting was purchased by Gustave de Rothschild (1829–1911) in 1873 and remained in the family for more than a century until 1984.Artwork record for ''The Lute Player'' in the
RKD
The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...
See also
*
List of paintings by Frans Hals
The following is an incomplete list of paintings by Frans Hals that are generally accepted as autograph by the Frans Hals Museum and other sources. The list is more or less in order of creation, starting from around 1610 when Frans Hals began pain ...