The Music Party

Catalogue number: Bredius 632.

This is an early work by Rembrandt from 1626. He made it when he was twenty years old and signed it with the monogram RH: Rembrandt Harmensz.

Led by a young woman, a group of people are playing music in a room. She is reading the music from the sheet, singing and beating time. The two men are accompanying her on their instruments - the young man on the harp and the older man on a viola da gamba. An older woman is reading over the girl's shoulder, listening attentively with her hand on her chin. In the foreground is a violin, a lute and a pile of books.

The subject of this painting is a mystery: is it an exhortation to praise God through singing and string music, or a scene of seduction with the old woman as a procuress? In any case, in this early work Rembrandt used elements from his own surroundings: his mother modelled for the old woman, and Rembrandt's own features can be recognized in the young man.