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Notes

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This scene of two men and a woman making music is not a representation of everyday life. Positioned on a wide terrace overlooking an impressive formal garden, the figures don’t quite seem to belong in their surroundings. The men sit on either side of the singing woman, one holding a glass of wine and the other tuning a lute. They both wear old-fashioned costumes with outdated collars and hats that were used on the comic stage of Steen’s time. While the lutenist is concentrating on his instrument, the older man is clearly more interested in the woman, leaning over and staring at her. The contemporary viewer would have recognised her admirer as a popular stock character known from plays: the old lecher who is hoping for the affection of a woman half his age.