The power of music

Mount, William Sidney (1807-1868)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

1847

Height:

43.4 cm  (17 1/16 in.)

Width:

53.5 cm  (21 1/16 in.)

Technique / Medium:

oil on canvas

Description

From the Cleveland Museum web site: "This powerful painting shows an African-American man pausing in his workday to enjoy the tunes of the fiddle. Every aspect of the African-American man's pose and expression indicated his knowledge and appreciation of what he hears. Although a love of music connects the figures and briefly heals the social divisions of race, the middle-aged man remains hidden, still outside the barn door. A reflection of the era, the unresolved racial issues so eloquently portrayed in Mount's painting still resonate today."

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Violin [3573]

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

RIdIM record id

1518