Music and Dance in Old Painting
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Oil on copper Pieter II Brueghel 18th century painting French painting < 1860 Ancient Spain George III Turner
Chronology : 1620-1629 1660-1679 1710-1719 1810-1819
See also : Oil on copper Pieter II Brueghel 18th century painting French painting < 1860 Ancient Spain George III Turner
Chronology : 1620-1629 1660-1679 1710-1719 1810-1819
masterpiece
1566 The Wedding Dance by Bruegel
Detroit Institute of Arts
Working in Antwerp and afterwards in Brussels, Pieter Bruegel lived in troubled times. His specialty of painting proverbs and morals might at any time offend the Catholic Spain which was then the colonial power, or the Dutch Protestants beginning to engage in their very long war of independence.
Pieter Bruegel chose the theme of peasant life. Their occupations are indeed symbols more or less easy to decode of the struggle between vices and virtues.
The difficulty in deciphering his message, which is explained by the political context, allows the modern viewer to focus his admiration on the anecdote. Bruegel's characters enchant us by their picturesque features and by the exceptional reference to the lifestyle of another time.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Pieter Bruegel chose the theme of peasant life. Their occupations are indeed symbols more or less easy to decode of the struggle between vices and virtues.
The difficulty in deciphering his message, which is explained by the political context, allows the modern viewer to focus his admiration on the anecdote. Bruegel's characters enchant us by their picturesque features and by the exceptional reference to the lifestyle of another time.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1624 Bagpipe Player by ter Brugghen
2009 SOLD for $ 10.2M by Sotheby's
An oil on canvas 101 x 83 cm by Hendrick ter Brugghen, signed and dated 1624, stages a bagpipe player. It was once the pendant of a lute player. A flute player is also known. These representations of popular are faraway from from the luxurious themes of the period.
Each of these musicians is represented alone with his instrument, against a neutral background. The simple beret, the badly cut beard and the naked shoulder of the bagpiper describe a musician of the peasant class. The effects of shadows and light give him presence and psychology.
Indeed ter Brugghen, who worked in Utrecht, may have known Caravaggio on a trip to Rome and was one of his first followers. The bagpipe player was sold for for $ 10.2M from a lower estimate of $ 4M by Sotheby's on January 29, 2009, lot 40. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Each of these musicians is represented alone with his instrument, against a neutral background. The simple beret, the badly cut beard and the naked shoulder of the bagpiper describe a musician of the peasant class. The effects of shadows and light give him presence and psychology.
Indeed ter Brugghen, who worked in Utrecht, may have known Caravaggio on a trip to Rome and was one of his first followers. The bagpipe player was sold for for $ 10.2M from a lower estimate of $ 4M by Sotheby's on January 29, 2009, lot 40. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
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1624 A Merry Group by Gerrit van Honthorst
2014 SOLD for $ 7.6M by Sotheby's
Gerrit van Honthorst is also known as Gherardo delle Notti. It was said that he owed such a nickname to his genre scenes lit by candlelight, which were his favorite theme. This would be fair, but it is also too watered down. Notti has a pre-Fellinian flavour : Gerrit enjoyed the nights in the Roman brothels that he had frequented with his Utrecht fellows, ter Brugghen and van Baburen.
Back in Holland, they remembered the exuberant musical atmosphere, the erotic proximity of performers with visitors, the brightly colored clothes and the wide open necklines.
On June 5, 2013, Christie's sold for $ 3.4M an oil on canvas 78 x 95 cm painted by Gerrit in 1624. A couple sings enthusiastically while reading their text under candlelight.
An oil on canvas 99 x 139 cm painted around the same year by the same artist was sold for $ 7.6M from a lower estimate of $ 2M by Sotheby's on January 30, 2014, lot 34. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The theme is musical : the man plays the violin and the woman is playing the lute, separated from the public by a balustrade. The atmosphere of this night club observed four centuries ago is entertaining and friendly.
The subtlety of the lighting is post-Caravaggian. In full light, the woman's face expresses a radiant merriness with an intensity rarely seen in a painting. The violinist, lesser lit, sings with passion while looking at the other side. A young drinker completes the group, much less visible in the shadow, or in the smoke.
Back in Holland, they remembered the exuberant musical atmosphere, the erotic proximity of performers with visitors, the brightly colored clothes and the wide open necklines.
On June 5, 2013, Christie's sold for $ 3.4M an oil on canvas 78 x 95 cm painted by Gerrit in 1624. A couple sings enthusiastically while reading their text under candlelight.
An oil on canvas 99 x 139 cm painted around the same year by the same artist was sold for $ 7.6M from a lower estimate of $ 2M by Sotheby's on January 30, 2014, lot 34. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The theme is musical : the man plays the violin and the woman is playing the lute, separated from the public by a balustrade. The atmosphere of this night club observed four centuries ago is entertaining and friendly.
The subtlety of the lighting is post-Caravaggian. In full light, the woman's face expresses a radiant merriness with an intensity rarely seen in a painting. The violinist, lesser lit, sings with passion while looking at the other side. A young drinker completes the group, much less visible in the shadow, or in the smoke.
A Village Kermesse by Pieter II Brueghel
2001 SOLD for £ 3.9M by Sotheby's
A painter of moralities associated with peasant life, Pieter Bruegel lived in one of the worst periods of religious fanaticism. At the end of his short life, some scenes of celebrations and dances are moving away from religion, perhaps to express a hope in the unsophisticated villagers' life.
Thirty years later, when Pieter the younger started his career, times had changed. Under the yoke of Spain, Flanders was no longer a coveted country. Pieter Brueghel executed many copies from the works of his father, now valued for their picturesque scenics. He was also a great artist in his own right, featuring crowds in festivals and processions.
The later designs by Pieter the younger are much freer than those by his father. Well differentiated areas allow to highlight the occupations of many characters, always spontaneous and often truculent. He creates several variations of the kermesse of Saint George without locating them in the same village. St George is celebrated a few days after Easter when spring offers all its opulence.
One of the St George fairs by Pieter the younger shows the dances and drinking orgies in the square of a village. The largest painting in this variant, an oil on panel 117 x 176 cm, is dated 1628. Such a dating is rare in the art of Pieter the younger and means that he was happy with its achievement. It may be the prime version. It was sold for £ 3.7M by Sotheby's on December 8, 2004, lot 11.
On January 25, 2023, Christie's sold for $ 2.94M an oil on panel 72 x 103 cm of the kermesse of Saint George, lot 108. It differs from the example dated 1628 in tiny details. The musician is too far, the glutton has not started vomiting and there is no banner above the figure of the saint.
A Village Kermesse was sold for £ 3.9M by Sotheby's on July 12, 2001, lot 22.
Return from the kermesse, oil on oak panel 50 x 79, is signed P. Breughel in his post 1616 spelling. A merry procession of villagers returning from a kermesse including figures dancing to a bagpipe and a couple embracing in a horse cart. The background displays various activities in the village including dancing, sword-fighting, playing hockey, archery and processing to church.
It was sold for $ 4.6M by Sotheby's on January 27, 2011, lot 171.
Thirty years later, when Pieter the younger started his career, times had changed. Under the yoke of Spain, Flanders was no longer a coveted country. Pieter Brueghel executed many copies from the works of his father, now valued for their picturesque scenics. He was also a great artist in his own right, featuring crowds in festivals and processions.
The later designs by Pieter the younger are much freer than those by his father. Well differentiated areas allow to highlight the occupations of many characters, always spontaneous and often truculent. He creates several variations of the kermesse of Saint George without locating them in the same village. St George is celebrated a few days after Easter when spring offers all its opulence.
One of the St George fairs by Pieter the younger shows the dances and drinking orgies in the square of a village. The largest painting in this variant, an oil on panel 117 x 176 cm, is dated 1628. Such a dating is rare in the art of Pieter the younger and means that he was happy with its achievement. It may be the prime version. It was sold for £ 3.7M by Sotheby's on December 8, 2004, lot 11.
On January 25, 2023, Christie's sold for $ 2.94M an oil on panel 72 x 103 cm of the kermesse of Saint George, lot 108. It differs from the example dated 1628 in tiny details. The musician is too far, the glutton has not started vomiting and there is no banner above the figure of the saint.
A Village Kermesse was sold for £ 3.9M by Sotheby's on July 12, 2001, lot 22.
Return from the kermesse, oil on oak panel 50 x 79, is signed P. Breughel in his post 1616 spelling. A merry procession of villagers returning from a kermesse including figures dancing to a bagpipe and a couple embracing in a horse cart. The background displays various activities in the village including dancing, sword-fighting, playing hockey, archery and processing to church.
It was sold for $ 4.6M by Sotheby's on January 27, 2011, lot 171.
1628 Boy and Girl by Hals
2025 SOLD for $ 8M by Sotheby's
Frans Hals tried his hand in genre painting in the second half of the 1620s. He often used his family as models.
A lozenge shaped pair in oil on panels 26.7 x 26.7 cm each features two children around 10 years old in bust length, one on each picture. Both sing with joy. The boy with the upwards gaze is playing a violin. The girl points the finger on a song book. Both were reported as music lovers.
They are arguably the first two children of the artist by his second wife. Sara was born in 1617 and Frans II in 1618. The unusual lozenge shape was certainly intended for display in a piece of furniture.
The pair was sold for $ 8M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Sotheby's on May 21, 2025, lot 14.
A lozenge shaped pair in oil on panels 26.7 x 26.7 cm each features two children around 10 years old in bust length, one on each picture. Both sing with joy. The boy with the upwards gaze is playing a violin. The girl points the finger on a song book. Both were reported as music lovers.
They are arguably the first two children of the artist by his second wife. Sara was born in 1617 and Frans II in 1618. The unusual lozenge shape was certainly intended for display in a piece of furniture.
The pair was sold for $ 8M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Sotheby's on May 21, 2025, lot 14.
1637 Hearing by Ribera
2019 SOLD for £ 5.7M by Sotheby's
Born near Valencia, Ribera is attracted by Italy. In Rome, he is interested in the faces and attitudes of poor people, most certainly through an influence from the Caravaggesques of Utrecht. He paints a first series of the Five Senses, not without wit. Smell is a ragged beggar who peels an onion.
In 1616 Ribera, aged 25, arrives in Naples which is then a Spanish possession. He will never return to his country but wishes to state his origin by signing his works Jusepe de Ribera español. He is also nicknamed Lo Spagnoletto.
He paints other Senses in 1637 with allegories completely different from his earlier series. Hearing is a girl who plays the tambourine with an expression of deep happiness, personifying the pleasure of the senses. This oil on canvas 60 x 46 cm was sold for £ 5.7M by Sotheby's on July 3, 2019, lot 24.
This figure was painted by Ribera at the end of his tenebrist phase, with a black background in the style of his friend Velazquez. In the series of popular types, she thus appears in the continuity of his picturesque bearded milking woman (Mujer barbuda) painted in 1631.
Clearly a pendant of similar size with the Tambourine girl, Taste is a hilarious drunkard. Candidates have been proposed for Smell and Touch, but Sight remains unidentified, without evidence that this series has ever been complete.
In 1616 Ribera, aged 25, arrives in Naples which is then a Spanish possession. He will never return to his country but wishes to state his origin by signing his works Jusepe de Ribera español. He is also nicknamed Lo Spagnoletto.
He paints other Senses in 1637 with allegories completely different from his earlier series. Hearing is a girl who plays the tambourine with an expression of deep happiness, personifying the pleasure of the senses. This oil on canvas 60 x 46 cm was sold for £ 5.7M by Sotheby's on July 3, 2019, lot 24.
This figure was painted by Ribera at the end of his tenebrist phase, with a black background in the style of his friend Velazquez. In the series of popular types, she thus appears in the continuity of his picturesque bearded milking woman (Mujer barbuda) painted in 1631.
Clearly a pendant of similar size with the Tambourine girl, Taste is a hilarious drunkard. Candidates have been proposed for Smell and Touch, but Sight remains unidentified, without evidence that this series has ever been complete.
#AuctionUpdate On the Beat □: This charming portrait of a girl tapping a tambourine by Jusepe de Ribera makes a noise, singing to the tune of £5,743,000 – a new record for the artist. #SothebysOldMasters pic.twitter.com/R0OuYI9gJH
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) July 3, 2019
1648 Ham Lunch by Teniers
2019 SOLD for £ 4.7M by Christie's
Pieter Bruegel the elder had made rural scenes popular. Adriaen Brouwer, member of the Antwerp guild in 1631, developed the tavern scenes with more earthiness.
Born into a family of artists, David Teniers the younger was influenced by Brouwer. He got closer to Jan Brueghel the elder whose daughter he married in 1637. Throughout his career, Teniers was a very prolific artist in various themes of the genre scene animated by many characters.
Jan Brueghel was one of the best painters in oil on copper, which combines the sharpness of the stroke and the beauty of the colors. His son-in-law also adopts this practice by using increasingly large formats which allow a multitude of details to be easily introduced, often with humor.
The Ham Lunch, oil on copper 63 x 85 cm painted by Teniers in 1648, was sold for £ 4.7M from a lower estimate of £ 800K by Christie's on July 4, 2019, lot 15. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Teniers liked the compositions in several stages. The Ham Lunch displays two rooms in an inn. In the foreground, the old timers are seated to eat a ham. Two men watch while smoking their pipe. In the back room, young people dance in tight groups to the sound of the bagpipes.
The animation and the diversity of attitudes take precedence over the caricatured features of the portraits. For example, one of the young dancers allows herself to be kissed by her partner while another, more shy, does not trust a merry fellow. The artist has nailed his self-portrait above the fireplace.
A 70 x 88 cm oil on copper painted in 1651, showing in Rubens' garden an elegant company which includes the artist and his wife, was sold for £ 1.57M by Sotheby's on December 6, 2017, lot 43.
Born into a family of artists, David Teniers the younger was influenced by Brouwer. He got closer to Jan Brueghel the elder whose daughter he married in 1637. Throughout his career, Teniers was a very prolific artist in various themes of the genre scene animated by many characters.
Jan Brueghel was one of the best painters in oil on copper, which combines the sharpness of the stroke and the beauty of the colors. His son-in-law also adopts this practice by using increasingly large formats which allow a multitude of details to be easily introduced, often with humor.
The Ham Lunch, oil on copper 63 x 85 cm painted by Teniers in 1648, was sold for £ 4.7M from a lower estimate of £ 800K by Christie's on July 4, 2019, lot 15. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Teniers liked the compositions in several stages. The Ham Lunch displays two rooms in an inn. In the foreground, the old timers are seated to eat a ham. Two men watch while smoking their pipe. In the back room, young people dance in tight groups to the sound of the bagpipes.
The animation and the diversity of attitudes take precedence over the caricatured features of the portraits. For example, one of the young dancers allows herself to be kissed by her partner while another, more shy, does not trust a merry fellow. The artist has nailed his self-portrait above the fireplace.
A 70 x 88 cm oil on copper painted in 1651, showing in Rubens' garden an elegant company which includes the artist and his wife, was sold for £ 1.57M by Sotheby's on December 6, 2017, lot 43.
1660 The Music Lesson by van Mieris
2021 SOLD for £ 3.5M by Christie's
In the best period of Dutch genre painting, the Leiden fijnschilders led by Gerrit Dou improve their scenes with sumptuous clothes and carpets whose meticulous pictorial representation is a technical feat. The examples below were painted by Frans van Mieris who was Dou's preferred follower.
The music lesson, undated oil on panel 30.5 x 24 cm painted ca 1660, was sold for £ 3.5M from a lower estimate of £ 700K by Christie's on July 8, 2021, lot 7. It is beautifully preserved with brilliant colors.
The smiling man holds a violin and the young woman with a ample mouche on the temple carefully reads a songbook. Their charming intimacy is enhanced by a half emptied glass of wine. A map of Paris, then reputed as a city of love, is hanging on the wall. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
A young woman in a red jacket feeding a parrot, oil on panel 22 x 18 cm painted in 1663. was sold for £ 3.6M by Sotheby's on December 3, 2008, lot 25.
A young woman sealing a letter by candlelight, oil on panel 27 x 20 cm with arched top painted in 1667, was sold for $ 2.7M by Sotheby's on January 26, 2023, lot 4.
The drummer boy, oil on copper 17 x 14 cm painted in 1670, was sold for £ 1.76M by Christie's on December 16, 2020, lot 27.
The music lesson, undated oil on panel 30.5 x 24 cm painted ca 1660, was sold for £ 3.5M from a lower estimate of £ 700K by Christie's on July 8, 2021, lot 7. It is beautifully preserved with brilliant colors.
The smiling man holds a violin and the young woman with a ample mouche on the temple carefully reads a songbook. Their charming intimacy is enhanced by a half emptied glass of wine. A map of Paris, then reputed as a city of love, is hanging on the wall. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
A young woman in a red jacket feeding a parrot, oil on panel 22 x 18 cm painted in 1663. was sold for £ 3.6M by Sotheby's on December 3, 2008, lot 25.
A young woman sealing a letter by candlelight, oil on panel 27 x 20 cm with arched top painted in 1667, was sold for $ 2.7M by Sotheby's on January 26, 2023, lot 4.
The drummer boy, oil on copper 17 x 14 cm painted in 1670, was sold for £ 1.76M by Christie's on December 16, 2020, lot 27.
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#AuctionUpdate The Old Masters Evening Sale has begun! This beautifully preserved painting by Frans van Mieris the Elder achieved £3,502,500, 5x its low estimate: https://t.co/OpHDZ18eoX □⠀ pic.twitter.com/qT4s121Tpx
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) July 8, 2021
1670 Young Woman seated at the Virginals by Vermeer
2004 SOLD for £ 16.2 M by Sotheby's
The Young woman seated at the virginals is an oil on canvas 25 x 20 cm showing a peaceful interior scene. It has in its colors and in its theme many characteristics of an autograph Vermeer. This attribution was challenged in the context of the Van Meegeren case. Scientific expertise has rehabilitated it. It was sold for £ 16.2M by Sotheby's on July 7, 2004, lot 8. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
It can form a pendant with The Lacemaker. The two works have the same format, one of the smallest used by the artist, and may have been painted on pieces of canvas from the same cloth, too raw to be intended for commercial purpose. It is possible that each of them is the portrait of one of the artist's daughters, Maria and Elizabeth.
Both girls have a bright yellow shawl. That of the Young woman seated at the virginals was not convincing. Analysis has shown that this color was painted in two overlapping layers, probably several years apart, perhaps to repair a degradation. The removal of the upper layer gives this picture the three-dimensional intimacy of a real Vermeer.
The ultramarine blue was the most expensive pigment of its time, made from lapis lazuli. Vermeer appears to be the only artist who has made an intensive use of it, not only for the visible blue in his compositions but also to contribute subliminally to the hue of the background wall.
Present in these two functions in the Young woman seated at the virginals, this blue is also one of the arguments to authenticate the Saint Praxedis painted by Vermeer at the very beginning of his career. The fact that Vermeer never declared an apprentice to the Delft guild undoubtedly facilitates such considerations. Saint Praxedis, oil on canvas 102 x 82 cm, was sold for £ 6.2M by Christie's on July 8, 2014.
Each year brought its fashion changes. The date of 1670 is plausible for both The Lacemaker and the Young woman seated at the virginals, with the curls falling on both sides of the bun.
It can form a pendant with The Lacemaker. The two works have the same format, one of the smallest used by the artist, and may have been painted on pieces of canvas from the same cloth, too raw to be intended for commercial purpose. It is possible that each of them is the portrait of one of the artist's daughters, Maria and Elizabeth.
Both girls have a bright yellow shawl. That of the Young woman seated at the virginals was not convincing. Analysis has shown that this color was painted in two overlapping layers, probably several years apart, perhaps to repair a degradation. The removal of the upper layer gives this picture the three-dimensional intimacy of a real Vermeer.
The ultramarine blue was the most expensive pigment of its time, made from lapis lazuli. Vermeer appears to be the only artist who has made an intensive use of it, not only for the visible blue in his compositions but also to contribute subliminally to the hue of the background wall.
Present in these two functions in the Young woman seated at the virginals, this blue is also one of the arguments to authenticate the Saint Praxedis painted by Vermeer at the very beginning of his career. The fact that Vermeer never declared an apprentice to the Delft guild undoubtedly facilitates such considerations. Saint Praxedis, oil on canvas 102 x 82 cm, was sold for £ 6.2M by Christie's on July 8, 2014.
Each year brought its fashion changes. The date of 1670 is plausible for both The Lacemaker and the Young woman seated at the virginals, with the curls falling on both sides of the bun.
1718-1719 La Surprise by Watteau
2008 SOLD for £ 12.3M by Christie's
La Surprise by Watteau surfaced somewhere in the British countryside after being presumably destroyed for two centuries. It was known from a copy, and the owner was unaware of being in possession of an original.
Of small size, it is an outdoor scene, elegant and dynamic, with feverish movement, with images typified according to the signature themes of the artist: the player of guitar, the couple of lovers, the puppy.
This painting 36 x 28 cm was sold for £ 12.3M from a lower estimate of £ 3M by Christie's on July 8, 2008.
Of small size, it is an outdoor scene, elegant and dynamic, with feverish movement, with images typified according to the signature themes of the artist: the player of guitar, the couple of lovers, the puppy.
This painting 36 x 28 cm was sold for £ 12.3M from a lower estimate of £ 3M by Christie's on July 8, 2008.
Getty Museum Buys $100m Trove of Works https://t.co/bD86lPUUmX pic.twitter.com/lqH9vWiQf1
— Art Market Monitor (@artmarket) July 21, 2017
1816 The Temple of Jupiter Panellenius Restored
2009 SOLD for $ 13M by Sotheby's
An oil on canvas by Turner, 117 x 178 cm, was sold for $ 13M by Sotheby's on January 29, 2009, lot 92.
It is a temple of Jupiter Panellenius (ie friend of the Greeks). This painting is later (1816), but the composition is similar to that of 1808: an animated green leads to a remote monument, flooded with sunlight, which is the strong point of the image. The characters of the English villa were walkers. Those of the temple, dressed according to antique fashion, play a round dance.
Turner made only three paintings inspired by Greece. We must see the influence of the romantic come back to the antique (that at that time influenced also the cloth fashion) and not a political mood, as the movements that would lead to the independence of Greece were just beginning in 1816.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
It is a temple of Jupiter Panellenius (ie friend of the Greeks). This painting is later (1816), but the composition is similar to that of 1808: an animated green leads to a remote monument, flooded with sunlight, which is the strong point of the image. The characters of the English villa were walkers. Those of the temple, dressed according to antique fashion, play a round dance.
Turner made only three paintings inspired by Greece. We must see the influence of the romantic come back to the antique (that at that time influenced also the cloth fashion) and not a political mood, as the movements that would lead to the independence of Greece were just beginning in 1816.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
