Getty Museum
Musical Group on a Balcony
Creator
Gerrit van HonthorstDutch Artist · 1590–1656
All works by this person →Gerrit van Honthorst's night paintings caused such a sensation in Rome that he was known as *Gherardo delle Notti* (Gerard of the Night Scenes). An Utrecht native and son of a painter of tapestry cartoons, Honthorst's reputation was made with these nocturnal pictures, usually religious subjects. A single candle served as the light source whose rays were shielded by the figures. The lighting was de
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- 1622
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Culture
- Dutch
- Department
- Paintings
- Institution
- Getty Museum
- Object ID
- 6bb6265b-d9df-4501-9469-41ff4883dd82
From the Getty Museum record
Smiling, singing figures gather around a balcony to play musical instruments, inviting the viewers below to join in the fun. The revelers' facial expressions and bright colorful clothes heighten the festive, carefree mood. A parrot and a dog, gazing down from their perches, round out the merry group. Possibly part of an allegory of Harmony, the painting may have originally been slightly wider and twice as long, containing a complete balustrade and more figures. The head of the man at the top is a modern addition. Gerrit van Honthorst painted this illusionistic ceiling, the earliest of its type made in the Netherlands in 1622, two years after his return from Italy, where he saw similar painted ceilings. Careful calculation of perspective allows the figures to burst plausibly through the flat plane of the painted panel.
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