Exhibit: “Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure”

“If music be the food of love, play on;” Twelfth Night, Shakespeare


Painters in the 17th century Netherlands had a strong affinity for music with more than one in ten of the works from the Dutch Golden Age incorporating such themes. Twelve of the existing 36 paintings by Johannes Vermeer include musical references. The current exhibit in London “Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure” displays five of these works by Vermeer, along with paintings with musical motifs by his contemporaries Gerard ter Borch, Gabriel Metsu, Jan Steen and Pieter de Hooch.

Music in the Netherlands of that era was not a complex, lofty art, but rather a popular pastime for all classes. People enjoyed simple and accessible musical entertainment such as chamber music performed and sung in their own homes, often holding concerts with friends. Music as part of one’s life was frequently depicted in the forms of various symbols in paintings. In portraits, the depiction of music scores and instruments signaled the social status and talents of the subject while in illustrations of scenes of daily life, the musical items revealed the intellectual and social status of the people in the picture.


The important role of harmony in music became a metaphor for the romantic relationship between a man and a woman. Scenes of music lessons in particular were popular as they offered the rare occasion of a natural setting in which an unmarried man and woman could be together. In Gabriel Metsu’s painting, a male music teacher has stopped a lesson to offer his young female pupil a glass of wine. In the background of Metsu’s “A Man and a Woman seated by a Virginal,” (Fig. 1) we see behind a curtain, a portion of a picture of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” which foreshadows what will happen to the two people in the painting.

Fig. 1
Gabriel Metsu (1629 - 1667)
A Man and a Woman seated by a Virginal
about 1665, oil on oak
38.4 x 32.2 cm
The National Gallery, London, Inv. NG839
© The National Gallery, London

Fig. 2
Johannes Vermeer (1632 - 1675)
The Music Lesson
about 1662-3, oil on canvas
73.3 x 64.5 cm
Royal Collection Trust
© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2013

Fig. 3
Johannes Vermeer (1632 - 1675)
A Young Woman seated at a Virginal
about 1670-2, oil on canvas
51.5 x 45.5 cm
The National Gallery, London, Inv. NG2568
© The National Gallery, London

Vermeer’s “The Music Lesson” (Fig. 2) portrays a woman playing the virginal and a man listening intently. The woman seems to be focusing on her music, but her reflection in the mirror above her head reveals she is looking toward the man suggesting she has intimate feelings for him. Inscribed on the lid of the virginal are the words “Musica Letitae Comes Medicina Doloris” (“Music is a companion in pleasure, and a balm in sorrow”) which allude to the inner thoughts of the woman. At the time, the virginal symbolized the female voice and the viol that of the male. The viola da gamba lies behind the woman as if waiting to be played in harmony with the virginal. Such drama between a man and a woman is hidden within this tranquil painting.

The artists began to devise ways to draw viewers in as active participants of the unfolding romances in the paintings instead of letting us remain simply observers. The women portrayed in Vermeer’s “A Young Woman seated at a Virginal” (Fig. 3) and Gerard Dou’s “Woman at the Clavichord” cast appealing gazes toward the viewer as if inviting us to pick up and play the viols at their sides.

Music may very well be the key to deciphering 17th century Dutch paintings.


The exhibit displays viols, guitars and virginals from the 17th century and will also host musical performances from the era from Thursdays through Saturdays.


“Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure” runs until September 8, 2013.

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square,
London WC2N 5DN
The United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7747 2885
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/

Opening times:

Mondays – Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays　10：00 – 18：00
Fridays　10：00 – 21：00