Artwork Page for The Strolling Musicians

Details / Information for The Strolling Musicians

The Strolling Musicians

c. 1635

Rembrandt van Rijn

(Dutch, 1606–1669)
Culture
Netherlands
Medium
etching and drypoint
Support
Cream(3) laid paper
Measurements
Sheet: 14.5 x 11.8 cm (5 11/16 x 4 5/8 in.); Platemark: 14.1 x 11.5 cm (5 9/16 x 4 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1976.54
Catalogue raisonné
Hollstein 119 (XVIII.63)
State
i/ii
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Although 17th-century Holland produced neither noteworthy composers nor renowned performers, rarely has another culture produced so many visual images of music as the Dutch. In this depiction of a pair of itinerant musicians wearily shuffling from door to door, Rembrandt reveals his compassionate understanding of human frailties. The hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes, as depicted here, were frequently associated with itinerant beggars and blind street singers in paintings and prints of the period.
A vertically oriented print in dense black ink fine lines depicts figures with light skin tones at a doorway. On the left, an older man in a fur hat plays a hurdy-gurdy while another figure plays a pipe and holds a dog on a leash. On the right, a man, woman, and child look out from a doorway. Dense hatching creates deep black shadows throughout the composition.

The Strolling Musicians

c. 1635

Rembrandt van Rijn

(Dutch, 1606–1669)
Netherlands

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