A Musical Party, The Mathias family

About this work

This painting shows a group of people in old-fashioned clothes, gathered around a table and chairs. They're all looking at each other, and some are holding musical instruments. The room is dark, but there's a bit of light coming from the left side. In the front, there's a woman in a fancy dress, and a man sitting next to her. Behind them, there are more people standing and sitting, all dressed up. Some have wigs on, and they're all looking very serious. The painting is quite old, and it's held at the Fitzwilliam Museum. If you want to learn more about how it was made, you could look into the technique of chiaroscuro.