The Blind Hurdy Gurdy Player
1605
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1605
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
The Blind Hurdy Gurdy Player is a 1605 ink by Jacques Bellange, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows a hunched figure playing a hurdy-gurdy, a small stringed instrument. The person is wrapped in a heavy cloak, their face turned upward as if straining to hear or see. Their fingers grip the instrument’s crank while the other hand rests on the neck. Notice how the artist used sharp lines to show the texture of the cloak and the blind person’s tense posture. The background is just a simple hatched pattern, keeping all focus on the musician. Want to see more by this artist? Look up Bellange, Jacques.
Jacques Bellange (c. 1575–1616) was an artist and printmaker from the Duchy of Lorraine (then independent but now part of France) whose etchings and some drawings are his only securely identified works today. They are…
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