Where can I see Young Woman with a Candlestick, Old Woman and a Violin Player?

Young Woman with a Candlestick, Old Woman and a Violin Player is held by Statens Museum for Kunst.

What movement is Young Woman with a Candlestick, Old Woman and a Violin Player?

Young Woman with a Candlestick, Old Woman and a Violin Player is associated with Dutch Golden Age.

Can I buy a print of Young Woman with a Candlestick, Old Woman and a Violin Player?

Museum-quality prints of Young Woman with a Candlestick, Old Woman and a Violin Player are available made-to-order from Artifact World Gallery.

Artwork

Young Woman with a Candlestick, Old Woman and a Violin Player

Gerard van Honthorst , 1630

Young Woman with a Candlestick, Old Woman and a Violin Player is an unspecified painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Gerard van Honthorst. It dates from 1630 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst. Created in 1630, this oil painting presents an intimate interior scene illuminated by a single candle.

About this work

Subject & Meaning

A young woman holds a candlestick, its flame serving as the luminous focal point of the scene, while an older woman and a violin player complete the grouping.

Gerard van Honthorst's 1630 painting brings together three figures around the symbolic interplay of light and music. A young woman holds a candlestick, its flame serving as the luminous focal point of the scene, while an older woman and a violin player complete the grouping. The candlelight, a recurring motif in Honthorst's Utrecht Caravaggisti work, casts a warm glow that unites the figures and lends the genre scene an intimate, contemplative mood.

The pairing of the youthful candle-bearer with an aged companion introduces a vanitas-like contrast between youth and old age, while the violin player adds a musical dimension that may evoke harmony, transience, or the passage of time. Together, the candle, the instrument, and the generational contrast suggest a meditation on fleeting beauty and the rhythms of daily life illuminated by candlelight.

Technique & Style

Gerard van Honthorst painted Young Woman with a Candlestick, Old Woman and a Violin Player in oil on canvas around 1630. The composition arranges a young woman holding a candlestick beside an older woman and a violinist, creating a chiaroscuro effect that emphasizes the play of candlelight on the instruments and faces. Brushwork remains visible in the rendering of fabric textures and the reflective quality of the candlestick, while the spatial depth follows the realistic interior setting characteristic of Honthorst's genre scenes.

History & Provenance

The work now titled Young Woman with a Candlestick, Old Woman and a Violin Player was painted by Gerard van Honthorst in 1630. It entered the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, where it remains held today. The available sources do not record a specific inventory number or a documented exhibition history for the painting.

Overview

Created in 1630, this oil painting presents an intimate interior scene illuminated by a single candle. Three figures occupy the composition: a young woman holding the light source, an older woman seated nearby, and a violinist absorbed in his performance. The surrounding darkness accentuates the warm glow on the faces, establishing a quiet, contemplative atmosphere.

Young Woman with a Candlestick, Old Woman and a Violin Player

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Artist & collection

Artist

Gerard van Honthorst

Gerard "Gerrit" van Honthorst (4 November 1592 – 27 April 1656) was a Dutch Golden Age painter who became known for his depiction of artificially lit scenes, eventually receiving the Italian nickname Gherardo delle Notti ("Gerard of the…