Nicolaes Berchem, 'A Peasant playing a Hurdy-Gurdy to a Woman and Child', 1658
About the work
Overview
Picked out in the glow of a soft evening light, a sleepy toddler lies on his mother’s lap, his eyes half closed, one chubby arm dangling at his side. His mother smiles down at him, the last of the sun catching her wide brow and her white shawl. Beside them a man leans forward with a smile, lulling him to sleep with a tune on his hurdy-gurdy. In his red shirt, big hat and sturdy shoes, the man is likely to be a travelling musician.
Religious images weren't permitted in Dutch Protestant churches, but were appreciated in many families. A painting like this may well have been recognised as alluding to the journey into Egypt made by the holy family – the Virgin Mary, Joseph and Jesus – but it would have been loved for the pastoral serenity of the scene too.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- A Peasant playing a Hurdy-Gurdy to a Woman and Child in a Woody Landscape, with Oxen, Sheep and Goats
- Artist
- Nicolaes Berchem
- Artist dates
- 1620 - 1683
- Date made
- 1658
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 34.5 × 38.3 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed; Dated
- Acquisition credit
- Wynn Ellis Bequest, 1876
- Inventory number
- NG1006
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
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.
Bibliography
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1830
J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters: In Which is Included a Short Biographical Notice of the Artists, with a Copious Description of Their Principal Pictures […], vol. 2, London 1830
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1907C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
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1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
-
1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
-
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.