A Musical Company
1668
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
Artist
Jacob Ochtervelt
Jacob Ochtervelt (1634–1682) was a Dutch Golden Age painter.
See the richer artist page1668
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
A Musical Company is a 1668 unspecified by Jacob Ochtervelt, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a group of people playing music and socializing in a room. The scene looks calm and elegant, but it might actually be a brothel. This is suggested by the row of female portraits on the wall and the type of music being played. To learn more about this type of scene, look up the work of artist Jacob Ochtervelt (Dutch, 1634–1682).
Despite the calm demeanor and elegant disposition of the figures, this interior scene probably represents the interior of a brothel, signaled by the row of female portraits in the background, rarely found in other paintings of this period. The depiction of music provides another clue to the subject. The recorder and violin, played without scores, were perceived as cruder instrumentation and associated with prostitution, versus the elegant and complicated musicmaking seen in the work by Pieter de Hooch in the museum's collection.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Jacob Ochtervelt (1634–1682) was a Dutch Golden Age painter.
See the richer artist page
