Lute Player
Known in many versions
Theodor Rombouts, Flemish (active Antwerp and Italy), 1597? - 1637
Geography:
Made in Southern Netherlands (modern Belgium), Europe
Date:
c. 1620Medium:
Oil on canvasDimensions:
43 3/4 x 39 1/4 inches (111.1 x 99.7 cm) Frame: 49 3/4 x 45 x 3 inches (126.4 x 114.3 x 7.6 cm)Curatorial Department:
European Painting before 1900, Johnson CollectionObject Location:
Cat. 679Credit Line:
John G. Johnson Collection, 1917
Made in Southern Netherlands (modern Belgium), Europe
Date:
c. 1620Medium:
Oil on canvasDimensions:
43 3/4 x 39 1/4 inches (111.1 x 99.7 cm) Frame: 49 3/4 x 45 x 3 inches (126.4 x 114.3 x 7.6 cm)Curatorial Department:
European Painting before 1900, Johnson CollectionObject Location:
Currently not on view
Accession Number:Cat. 679Credit Line:
John G. Johnson Collection, 1917
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Lute players were often ridiculed for the inordinate amount of time they devoted to tuning their instruments. The intense look of this street musician seems to underscore the difficulty of the task and suggest that perhaps more than musical harmony is at stake. Showing a musical instrument being tuned was a veiled reference to striving for harmony in love. Stringed instruments could also symbolize temperance, especially when shown in the company of a tankard and a pipe, as here.
