Art UK has updated its cookies policy. By using this website you are agreeing to the use of cookies. To find out more read our updated Use of Cookies policy and our updated Privacy policy.

A Musical Party

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Buy a print or image licence

You can purchase this reproduction

If you have any products in your basket we recommend that you complete your purchase from Art UK before you leave our site to avoid losing your purchases.

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

With a glance, a lifted hand, the turn of a head, the artist has made a picture that invites interpretation. This was such a popular composition at the time that several copies were made of Caspar Netscher’s original (now in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich). This is one of the copies.

Pictures of musicians playing were enjoyed in the seventeenth-century Netherlands. They were in part purely decorative, but often also seem to hold moments of titillation, showing opportunities for flirtation. They may perhaps, because of the musical setting, also represent the harmony of love. Whatever their original purpose, they invite interpretation, story-making and discussion.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

A Musical Party

Date

after 1665

Medium

Oil on canvas

Measurements

H 55.5 x W 45 cm

Accession number

NG1879

Acquisition method

May Bequest, 1854

Work type

Painting

Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

This venue is open to the public. Not all artworks are on display. If you want to see a particular artwork, please contact the venue.
View venue