Musicians

This scene presents a musical trio in an interior and reflects, on the one hand, the painter's musical likings and, on the other, the taste that developed in Holland after 1620 for such representations. The composition focuses on a female figure strumming the lute, which receives the light that brings out the brightness of her skin and the vermilion of her dress. In contrast with the meticulously painted woman, the two male characters playing the flute and the violoncello and, above all, the one looking directly at the view, are painted in a more free-flowing and spontaneous manner, closer to the style of Frans Hals.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 2 minutes): Adriano Banchieri: La Zia Bernadina