Musical Group on a Balcony
1622
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Dimensions
- 309.9 × 216.4 cm
- Status
- In Museum Collection
- Collect24 Art ID
- C24-135897
Smiling, singing figures gather around a balcony to play musical instruments, inviting the viewers below to join in the fun. The revelers' facial expressions and bright colorful clothes heighten the festive, carefree mood. A parrot and a dog, gazing down from their perches, round out the merry group. Possibly part of an allegory of Harmony, the painting may have originally been slightly wider and twice as long, containing a complete balustrade and more figures. The head of the man at the top is a modern addition. Gerrit van Honthorst painted this illusionistic ceiling, the earliest of its type made in the Netherlands in 1622, two years after his return from Italy, where he saw similar painted ceilings. Careful calculation of perspective allows the figures to burst plausibly through the flat plane of the painted panel.
Provenance
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Registry history
- 1622 — Recorded in the collection of J. Paul Getty Museum
Registered on Collect24
The identity of the collector is never published. Purchase information, documents and the exact location of the artwork remain private.
Ownership not yet verified on Collect24
This artwork is documented in the Global Art Registry, but no Collect24 account is linked to it as the owner. Claiming keeps this record and its Collect24 Art ID — nothing is created a second time.
Do you own or represent this artwork? Claim this artwork →Auction history
Public sale records matched to this work. Ownership is never disclosed.
Loading sale records…