.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Executed in the early 1630s during a particularly creative period in Molenaer’s career, this painting can be compared with one of a similarly mirthful violinist formerly in the Weldon Collection and sold Sotheby’s, New York, 22 April 2015, lot 1 (fig. 1). Unlike the ex-Weldon painting, the young violinist here pays no heed to the viewer, his upturned eyes conveying his emersion in his music. Such images of musicians making music were a specialty of Haarlem painters in the orbit of Frans Hals, with whom Molenaer studied, and highlight the contemporary Dutch interest in its making.
In Molenaer’s time, the violin would have been relatively new, having first appeared in Italy circa 1500 and would only arrive in the Netherlands around 1600. Enjoyed for its sophistication today, in the seventeenth century the instrument held rather more complicated associations. While contemporary musical theorists held that string instruments were, in general, superior to the flutes, recorders and other wind instruments played by the more uncouth segments of society, the violin tended to be played solo as an accompaniment to song or dance, with the violinist frequently unable to read sheet music. Molenaer may well have intended to convey the boy’s lower social status through an intriguing detail – the manner in which he holds his bow. He uses the French manner, his thumb under the bow’s hair, as opposed to the more sophisticated Italian grip, where the thumb is placed between the bow and hair. While the French manner enabled the musician to play with greater spontaneity, it prevented him from producing more subtle notes.
The boy’s clothing – his foppish feathered hat (traditionally associated with sixteenth-century Northern European mercenaries), brilliant red cloak and the gorget slung awkwardly around his neck – equally add to the comedic aspects of this painting. While artists like Rembrandt often employed military apparel to enhance their images, here Molenaer seems to play with their use, their inclusion deliberately defying their intended function and adding to the painting’s discordant, boisterous atmosphere.
A copy after this painting attributed by Cornelis Hofstede de Groot to Molenaer's wife, Judith Leyster, was offered Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 6 November 2001, lot 4, as Follower of Jan Miense Molenaer.
In Molenaer’s time, the violin would have been relatively new, having first appeared in Italy circa 1500 and would only arrive in the Netherlands around 1600. Enjoyed for its sophistication today, in the seventeenth century the instrument held rather more complicated associations. While contemporary musical theorists held that string instruments were, in general, superior to the flutes, recorders and other wind instruments played by the more uncouth segments of society, the violin tended to be played solo as an accompaniment to song or dance, with the violinist frequently unable to read sheet music. Molenaer may well have intended to convey the boy’s lower social status through an intriguing detail – the manner in which he holds his bow. He uses the French manner, his thumb under the bow’s hair, as opposed to the more sophisticated Italian grip, where the thumb is placed between the bow and hair. While the French manner enabled the musician to play with greater spontaneity, it prevented him from producing more subtle notes.
The boy’s clothing – his foppish feathered hat (traditionally associated with sixteenth-century Northern European mercenaries), brilliant red cloak and the gorget slung awkwardly around his neck – equally add to the comedic aspects of this painting. While artists like Rembrandt often employed military apparel to enhance their images, here Molenaer seems to play with their use, their inclusion deliberately defying their intended function and adding to the painting’s discordant, boisterous atmosphere.
A copy after this painting attributed by Cornelis Hofstede de Groot to Molenaer's wife, Judith Leyster, was offered Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 6 November 2001, lot 4, as Follower of Jan Miense Molenaer.