Allegorical portrait of an artist in her studio

Musscher, Michiel van (1645-1705)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

1675-1685

Height:

114.0 cm  (44 7/8 in.)

Width:

91.0 cm  (35 13/16 in.)

Technique / Medium:

oil on canvas

Place of creation:

Amsterdam

Description

From the North Carolina Museum of Art website: "Gesturing with a paintbrush towards her creation, an artist sits in her lavish studio awaiting the praise of viewers. Her skill in transforming nature into art, confirmed by the floral still life sitting on the easel, is already celebrated. Fame trumpets her presence and a putto places a laurel wreath on her head. The statue of Minerva, the mythological patroness of the arts, and attributes of the liberal arts such as the palette and brushes, sculptural casts, and open music book on the table call attention to the painter’s elevated status. While the costume and hairstyle of the sitter suggest a date of about 1680–1685, her identity and that of the artist responsible for the picture are open to debate. Once thought to represent the Dutch still-life painter Rachael Ruysch (1664–1750), the woman pictured here does not correspond to known likenesses of Ruysch. A somewhat more plausible identification is that of Maria van Oosterwijck (1630–1693), at the time the most highly regarded female still-life painter in Holland. Considering the relatively young age of the woman, however, this suggestion also seems unlikely. Stylistically, the painting bears many likenesses to works by Michiel van Musscher, an artist who painted similar allegorical subjects during his career."

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Violin [3573] (one of the angels on the top left is playing a violin; a second violin is pictured, but only the pegbox is visible on the table on the right)
End-blown trumpet [6556]

Musical works

illegible music notation

Image URLs

image link 1
image link 2
image link 3

Bibliographic references

Haanappel Karin. Herstory of art (Geesteren: A3, 2012) 109-110. ISBN: 9789077408940.

Grimm, C. "Portrait de l'artiste", B. Habolt & Co 1991-1992, cat. 35, 84-87, images 1-6.

RIdIM record id

2921