Boy playing a jew's harp

Lely, Peter (1618-1680)


Item type:
painting
Date of creation:
1648–1650
Height:
141.0 cm  (55 1/2 in.)
Width:
102.9 cm  (40 1/2 in.)
Technique / Medium:
oil on canvas
Place of creation:
London (England)

    Item location

  • Tate (United Kingdom)
    [Museum inv. no.: T00084]This work is one of six so-called "subject pictures" painted by Lely in the 1645s/50s. Previous mis-attributions for at least five of the six accounted for them being considered as by Frans Hals, including errors by Walpole in 1768. They were only correctly attributed in the mid twentieth century by Oliver Millar.

Description

A young boy clad in red robes plays against a background of dark rocks.

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Jew's harp [2864] (The representation by Lely appears to be an accurate depiction of how the instrument would be played.)

Image URLs

image link 1

Bibliographic references

Caroline Campbell (ed.) "Peter Lely: A Lyrical Vision (London: Paul Holberton Publishing, 2012), 104.

Notes

Courtauld catalogue contains particularly good section on this and associated paintings.

RIdIM record id

2999