A Woman Playing the Theorbo-Lute and a Cavalier

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A Woman Playing the Theorbo-Lute and a Cavalier
A Woman Playing the Theorbo-Lute and a Cavalier MET DP145907.jpg
Artist Gerard ter Borch
Yearc. 1658
MediumOil on wood
Dimensions36.8 cm× 32.4 cm(14.5 in× 12.8 in)
Location Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Accession14.40.617

A Woman Playing the Theorbo-Lute and a Cavalier is an oil on wood painting by Dutch artist Gerard ter Borch the Younger, created c. 1658. The work depicts a young woman playing a theorbo while her lover looks on. The painting is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York. [1]

Description

Ter Borch's painting portrays a scene in which a young woman plays a theorbo-lute (a stringed instrument) while her suitor sits nearby. The man is a cavalier, a 17th-century soldier, and he is seen to be sitting atop a cloth-covered table. His sword is laid flat to his left, while a songbook (a common lovers' gift during the time period) rests nearby. The scene is ambiguous in nature, the young woman can be either an honest maiden or a courtesan. A pocket watch, possibly representing temperance or the fleeting nature of the affair, lies near the other objects. [1] [2]

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References

  1. 1 2 "www.metmuseum.org". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
  2. Walter Liedtke. Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, vol. 1, pp. 67, 70–74, no. 15, colorpl. 15, fig. 14 (color detail); vol. 2, p. 871.