The Lute Player

Oil on round canvas

Diameter 46 cm.

Framed, diameter 61 cm.

Provenance: Sotheby’s London, Old Master Paintings, July 6, 2000, lot 304 (attributed to a follower of Nicolas Tournier)

Estimate: (6,350–9,500 EUR), Hammer price: (7,600 EUR)

The compositional choice and style of this interesting portrait of a young lute player reveal, at first glance, its distinct Caravaggesque character, both in the strong chiaroscuro—here skillfully applied—and in the incidence of light, which, coming from an external source, makes the musician’s solid figure emerge from the monochrome background.

The young man is portrayed here in half-length, turned three-quarters of the way, wearing an elegant feathered hat lined with fur, and a wide-sleeved amaranth-red shirt topped with a Sienna-colored waistcoat and cloak.

He turns his gaze toward the viewer and seems to ask for attention to follow his melody, captured during an informal concert or a rehearsal session.

The mysterious charm he exudes stems from numerous details in the painting that do not go unnoticed: from the vivid red of his lips, which stand out against the perfect oval of his face, to his dreamy gaze, magically captured in the moment.

The musical instrument, positioned diagonally and held with great determination by the musician, stands out in the foreground, reaching toward the observer to break down the barrier between the painted space and the real world.

All these elements evoke the numerous figures of young musicians that Caravaggio immortalized during his stay in Rome—among the most celebrated are those in the “Concerto” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York—a theme later taken up by numerous Caravaggisti, followers of the master, who reinterpreted its content in the early decades of the 17th century.

Analysis of the work, in particular, allows us to attribute its execution to a painter from the small circle of French artists who followed Caravaggio in Rome, evoking in particular the models conceived by Nicolas Tournier (Montbéliard, 1590 – Toulouse, c. 1638), an extraordinary artist who, together with Nicolas Régnier, was perhaps the most important of the French Caravaggisti.

Tournier lived in Rome from 1619 to 1626, where he developed a pictorial style very similar to that of Bartolomeo Manfredi, a contemporary of Caravaggio and his closest follower.

We find this type of subject in numerous works by him, thanks to which the artist gained great fame and success among collectors, making it his specialty; in these works, the highly realistic rendering of the figures is accompanied by an iconography of great character.

Here we cite, for example, the ‘Guitar Player’ in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (https://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/101055/ ), and also the ‘Flute Player’ in the Tosio Martinengo Art Gallery in Brescia (https://www.lombardiabeniculturali.it/opere-arte/schede/D0090-00215/ ).

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The images were taken using professional photography equipment.

The painting is sold complete with an elegant gilded frame and comes with a certificate of authenticity and a descriptive iconographic sheet.

If the artwork is purchased by international clients, an export permit will be required, which takes approximately 10–20 days to process; our gallery will handle the entire process until the permit is obtained. All costs associated with this procedure are included.

We arrange and organize the shipping of purchased artworks, both within Italy and internationally, using professional and insured carriers.

Please contact us for any information; we will be happy to assist you.

Follow us on: