Artwork
A Musician and His Daughter
A Musician and His Daughter is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Thomas de Keyser. It dates from 1629 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
A 1629 oil on panel by the Dutch portraitist Thomas de Keyser, showing a father and his daughter inside a stylish home of their day. The quiet domestic scene centers on the bond between the musician and his child. Now at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Subject & Meaning
The pairing of parent and child, rendered in oil on a wood panel, frames the work as a family portrait while also marking the sitter's musical identity.
A Musician and His Daughter portrays a father and his young daughter situated within a fashionable contemporary domestic interior. The man is identified as a musician, and a lute appears among the depicted elements, situating his profession within the scene. The pairing of parent and child, rendered in oil on a wood panel, frames the work as a family portrait while also marking the sitter's musical identity.
The composition thus operates on two levels: as a record of a specific father–daughter relationship and as a statement of the musician's status and refined domestic setting in 1629.
Technique & Style
A Musician and His Daughter is executed in oil on wood panel, a support consistent with Dutch portrait practice of the period. The painting measures 74.9 by 52.7 centimeters and is classified as a portrait. Thomas de Keyser's handling renders the figures of the musician and his daughter within a contemporary domestic interior, with the panel support allowing for the fine detail characteristic of his small-scale cabinet pictures. The work is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
History & Provenance
A Musician and His Daughter, painted in 1629 by Dutch portraitist Thomas de Keyser, is an oil on wood panel measuring 74.9 × 52.7 cm. It was previously owned by Charles Neuman de Végvár (also recorded as Sanct Lucas) before entering the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is held under accession number 1990.52.
Context
Thomas de Keyser's 1629 portrait A Musician and His Daughter exemplifies Dutch Golden Age portraiture through its intimate family scene and musical symbolism. Executed in oil on wood panel, the work depicts a father with a lute beside his daughter within a contemporary interior, reflecting the era's emphasis on domestic virtue and cultural refinement. Art historians regard the piece as a significant illustration of de Keyser's skill in rendering psychological nuance and as a representative example of early 17th-century portrait conventions.
Overview
Thomas de Keyser, a Dutch portraitist, completed A Musician and His Daughter in 1629. This oil painting on wood panel portrays a father and his child within the refined interior of a home characteristic of their era. The work is presently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Thomas de Keyser (c. 1596 – 1667) was a Dutch portrait painter and a dealer in Belgium bluestone and stone mason. He was the most in-demand portrait painter in the Netherlands until the 1630s, when Rembrandt eclipsed…
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