Hendrick ter Brugghen, 'A Man playing a Lute', 1624
About the work
Overview
Ter Brugghen focusses on a lute player lost in his art, drawing us close to the man by using strong, dramatic lighting to highlight the folds under his eyes, the long shadows of his fingers and his shiny red nose – so red that ter Brugghen may have been exaggerating for comic effect. Perhaps he was suggesting that the man had a few glasses of wine before launching into song. All this makes the player seem more real, as though he is singing directly to us.
Pictures of single musicians painted half-length were a particular specialism of a group of painters based in Utrecht in the 1620s. They were know as the ‘Dutch Caravaggists’ because they had lived and studied in Rome and were heavily influenced by the distinctive, dramatic style of Caravaggio and his followers.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- A Man playing a Lute
- Artist
- Hendrick ter Brugghen
- Artist dates
- 1588 - 1629
- Date made
- 1624
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 100.5 × 78.7 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed; Dated
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1963
- Inventory number
- NG6347
- Location
- Room 24
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 17th-century Flemish Frame
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2013Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and LeisureThe National Gallery (London)26 June 2013 - 8 September 2013
Bibliography
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1955B. Nicolson, 'Lute Player at Roland Browse and Derby', The Burlington Magazine, 1955
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1957B. Nicolson, 'Terbrugghen repeating Himself', in D. Englebert (ed.), Miscellanea Prof. Dr. D. Roggen, Antwerp 1957
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1961J.R. Judson, 'Review of Nicolson Monograph', Art Bulletin, 1961
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1965The National Gallery, The National Gallery: June 1962 - December 1964, London 1965
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1972J.M. Nash, The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer: Dutch Painting in the Seventeenth Century, London 1972
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1976C. Brown, Art in Seventeenth Century Holland (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 30 September - 12 December 1976), London 1976
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1981R.W. Bissell, Orazio Gentileschi and the Poetic Tradition in Caravaggesque Painting, London 1981
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1987C. Moiso-Diekamp, Das Pendant in der holländischen Malerei des 17 Jahrhunderts, Frankfurt am Main 1987
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1989B. Nicolson and L. Vertova, Caravaggism in Europe, Turin 1989
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1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
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1997J.A. Spicer and L.F. Orr, Masters of Light: Dutch Painting from Utrecht in the Golden Age (exh. cat. Fine Arts Museums, 13 September - 30 November 1997; Walters Art Gallery, 11 January - 5 April 1998; The National Gallery, London, 6 May - 2 August 1998), San Francisco 1997
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.