Location: Royal Collection Trust
Object number: RCIN 404978

This painting of two musicians shows both the violin and lute. The way these instruments are positioned makes them similar to a still life, frozen in time. The figures also have a frozen quality to them. The color scheme is mainly dark and neutral, except for the splash of gold from the old man's cloak and feather on his hat. The background has a similar dark grey blandness as the other paintings in the Italian section, but there seems to be a source of light from above, and the tenebrism is not as strong as Caravaggio's or de Boulogne's art. The colors are a bit warmer.

Location: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Velazquez captures a candid snapshot in time, with the guitarist and fiddle player mid-song, and the smaller guitarist looking at the painting's viewer. Similar to Strozzi's painting, gold appears here, but it is the main color throughout the painting, seen in the flesh tones of the figures, their clothing, and the frame in the background. This painting is reminiscent of Caravaggio's portrait of The Musicians, for its similar candid shot of the musicians in the middle of a concert, with only one figure looking directly at the viewer as the other two musicians remain focused on performing for an audience, which only seems to be the monkey behind the young boy.

Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Object number: 52.81

The lute is seen in the foreground of this painting. Caravaggio paints his four figures as Greek-inspired classical figures, wearing togas and robes, with an angelic quality to them. The furthest left figure has dark wings and is tending to grapes, focused on the work he is doing. A violin is also seen at the foreground, sitting on open books in front of the lute-holding figure who looks directly at the viewer as he sings. Another man sings next to him, but his figure is blocked by the lute holder changing the tune of his instrument and the man reading off lyrics with his back turned to the viewer. This painting's restricted color scheme of dark red, browns, blacks, and use of tenebrism embodies the serious tone seen in Italian Baroque art.

Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Object number: 2008.459

This portrait continues the theme of the lute being the most prominent music symbol painted in 17th century art. De Boulogne was a follower of Caravaggio's, so his portrayal of the lute player possesses a similar tenebrism, with an overwhelmingly dark background and shadows and some source of "divine light" shining onto the figure. This vast tenebrism continues the dramatic tone that is seen in works of the Italian Baroque and the followers of that art period. This portrait also seems to capture the lute player mid-song, with his mouth open and looking directly at the viewer.

Location: National Gallery of Art

Object number: 2013.38.1

This is another Dutch Golden Age painting that captures a candid scene of entertainment, with its musicians in bright colored clothing and mid-song. Each figure in this painting wears brightly colored clothing; the only dark-toned article of clothing belongs to the man in the foreground with his back turned to the viewer, but he wears red along with his black cloak. Van Honthorst captures the musicians and singers in the middle of looking off song notes. There is a couple in the upper right corner who do not belong to the musicians, but they emulate the same sense of joy and participation in the music scene depicted.

Finlay, Ian F. "Musical Instruments in 17th-Century Dutch Paintings." The Galpin Society Journal 6 (1953): 52-69. Accessed April 12, 2021. doi:10.2307/841717.

Donington, Robert. "String Playing in Baroque Music 1." Early Music 5, no. 3 (1977): 389-93. Accessed April 13, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3126094.

Smith, David R. "Irony and Civility: Notes on the Convergence of Genre and Portraiture in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting." The Art Bulletin 69, no. 3 (1987): 407-30. Accessed April 15, 2021. doi:10.2307/3051063.

Egan, Patricia. "" Concert" Scenes in Musical Paintings of the Italian Renaissance." Journal of the American Musicological Society 14, no. 2 (1961): 184-195.

Powers, Wendy. “Violin Makers: Nicolò Amati (1596–1684) and Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737).” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/strd/hd_strd.htm (October 2003)

Santa Maria Bouquet, Jonathan. “The Lute.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/lute/hd_lute.htm (April 2010)