Cleveland Museum of Art

The Strolling Musicians

Rembrandt van Rijn

Date

c. 1635

Medium

etching and drypoint

Culture

Netherlands

Department

Prints

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Although 17th-century Holland produced neither noteworthy composers nor renowned performers, rarely has another culture produced so many visual images of music as the Dutch. In this depiction of a pair of itinerant musicians wearily shuffling from door to door, Rembrandt reveals his compassionate understanding of human frailties. The hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes, as depicted here, were frequently associated with itinerant beggars and blind street singers in paintings and prints of the period.

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