The Lute Player and the Singer

c. 1495/1503

Israhel van Meckenem

Associated Names
Israhel van Meckenem

Artist, German, c. 1445 - 1503

The image shows two individuals, a woman and a man. The woman is seated, facing the man, with her head slightly tilted and her hands positioned as if she is accepting or examining an object given by the man. She has a serene expression, a soft-featured face, and is wearing a headdress covering her hair. She wears a long gown with ample sleeves and sits on a bench against a wall. The man is standing or leaning against the wall with one foot raised on a platform. He is playing a lute, looking at the woman. He has curly hair, wears a hat, a tunic, leggings, and holds a stick. In the foreground, a dog sits with a leash on the ground. The background shows an archway, a closed door with a lion-head knocker, and a round object on the wall. The image is in an engraved style, emphasizing textures in clothing and architecture.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Accession Number

    1951.10.102

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Lehrs, Vol. 9, p.396, no. 506, State i/iii

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Hamburger Kunsthalle (duplicate, Lugt 1233); Eduard Trautscholdt [1893 - 1976], Düsseldorf; (William Schab, New York); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], 1951; gift to NGA, 1951.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1955

  • installation to accompany two concerts titled "Love Songs of the Renaissance," Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1955, no cat.

1967

  • Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., NGA, 1967-1968, no. 240, repro.

Bibliography

1908

  • Lehrs, Max. Geschichte und kritischer Katalog des deutschen, niederlandischen und franzosischen Kupferstichs im XV. Jahrhundert. 9 vols. and 1 plate vol. Vienna: Gesellschaft fur vervielfaltigende Kunst, 1908-1934.

1949

  • Hollstein, F.W.H. et al. German engravings, etchings and woodcuts ca. 1400-1700. 8 vols. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger, 1954-1868. Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700. Vols. I-XV, XVIII, XIX. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberge

1967

  • Shestack, Alan. Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. Exh. cat. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1967: no. 240.

Watermarks

shield with two fleurs-de-lis and two fish (Lehrs 35)

Wikidata ID

Q65358384

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