Man aged twenty tuning a violin

Kamper, Godaert (1613 or 1614-1679)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

1645

Height:

52.5 cm  (20 11/16 in.)

Width:

42.0 cm  (16 9/16 in.)

Technique / Medium:

oil on panel

Description

The young man in the painting is dressed in black. He sits beside a table with books. One is open, perhaps containing music, though it is not visible. He is tuning the top string of his violin which, although largely hidden by his right forearm, displays characteristic features of the time including the short and relatively flat fingerboard of pale-coloured wood. At this time the violin was beginning to establish for itself the pre-eminent position which it has maintained ever since.

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Violin [3573]

Image URLs

image link 1

Bibliographic references

Boydell, Barra. Music and paintings in the National Gallery of Ireland (Dublin: The National Gallery of Ireland, 1985) 29. ISBN 0903162229. RILM 1985-00222.

RIdIM record id

2790