A Musical Company

Download2836 × 3400 px View on a wall Edit

Artist: Jacob Ochtervelt (Dutch, 1634–1682)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: Unframed: 58.5 x 48.9 cm (23 1/16 x 19 1/4 in.)
Culture: Netherlands
Museum: Cleveland Museum of Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

Despite the calm demeanor and elegant disposition of the figures, this interior scene probably represents the interior of a brothel, signaled by the row of female portraits in the background, rarely found in other paintings of this period. The depiction of music provides another clue to the subject. The recorder and violin, played without scores, were perceived as cruder instrumentation and associated with prostitution, versus the elegant and complicated musicmaking seen in the work by Pieter de Hooch in the museum's collection.