The music lesson

Titian (ca. 1488-1576) (attributed to)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

ca. 1535

Height:

99.1 cm  (39 in.)

Width:

125.1 cm  (49 1/4 in.)

Technique / Medium:

oil on canvas

Additional titles

Description

The music that the boy sings from is typical of part books printed in Venice in the 1520s and 30s. He appears to be under instruction from the senior figure, who beats time with his right hand. The accompaniment is supplied by a bass viol and a recorder. This type of composition – a group with suggestions of narrative and sometimes of portraiture – was developed in the late 15th century and seems to have been made popular by Giorgione. The musical theme suggests amorous associations and also the passing of time. For many years The Music Lesson was believed to have been painted in the early 1600s by an artist imitating the style of Titian. Cleaning and technical examination revealed that the painting has much in common with pictures painted by Titian and his workshop in the 1530s. This type of picture – a group of figures with the suggestion of a story or portraiture – was made popular by Giorgione, with whom Titian associated closely in his youth.

Iconclass

48C7211
musician training pupils, music-lesson

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Double bass viol [3598]
Recorder [4039]

Musical works

illegible music notation

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

Bibliographic references

Hatter, Jane. “Col tempo: Musical time, aging and sexuality in 16th-Century Venetian paintings”, Early music 39/1 (February 2011) 3-14, illus. 4b. RILM 2011-33897. DOI: 10.1093/em/caq110

RIdIM record id

4275