The Lute Player
c. 1612/1620
Artist, Florentine, 1563 - 1639

Orazio Gentileschi was one of the earliest and most gifted painters to be inspired by the genre scenes of Caravaggio in Rome. Here, he must have had in mind Caravaggio's famous picture on the same theme. Orazio's young woman listens intently to a note as it resonates in the pear–shaped body of the instrument. She may be tuning her lute in anticipation of the concert promised by the assortment of recorders, a cornetto and violin, and the song books lying open on the table before her.
The graceful musician and her lute are seen, unexpectedly, from the back, turned three–quarters away from the spectator. Orazio's meticulous attention to detail is such that every surface is described with a precision of focus that gives pleasure to the eye. Dutch painters, famous for their amazingly illusionistic renderings of fabrics, improved their craft by studying Orazio's works. His gift for conveying the textures of fine cloth is shown off here in the sharp gold of the dress, the dull gleam of the scarlet velvet on the stool, and the matte softness of the dark–green cloth covering the table.
More information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication Italian Paintings of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, which is available as a free PDF https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/italian-paintings-17th-and-18th-centuries.pdf

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 29
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 143.5 x 129 cm (56 1/2 x 50 13/16 in.)
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Accession
1962.8.1
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Girolamo Cavazza [d. 1717], Bologna;[1] purchased 3 June 1697 by (Marcantonio Franceschini) for Prince Johann Adam Andreas of Liechtenstein [1657-1712], Vienna;[2] by descent through the Princes of Liechtenstein to Prince Franz Josef II von und zu Liechtenstein [1906-1989], Vienna, subsequently Vaduz, until 1962;[3] purchased 1962 through (Feilchenfeldt, Zurich) by NGA.
[1] The signature on the 1697 bill of sale (copy in NGA curatorial files) has now been deciphered to read Girolamo Cavazza. Cavazza was apparently a wealthy Bolognese merchant who owned a number of paintings. On Cavazza see Dwight C. Miller, Marcantonio Franceschini and the Lichtensteins, Cambridge, 1991: 36, n. 4, 63, 209, n. a; Giuseppe Guidicini, Cose notabili della città di Bologna, 5 vols., Bologna, 1868-1873: 1:43, and Miscellanea storico-patria bolognese, Bologna, 1872: 255.
[2] In December 1693 January 1694, Franceschini, at Prince Johann Adam Andreas' request, began looking at paintings that Cavazza was reportedly willing to sell; some of the paintings mentioned at this time appear in the bill of sale of 1697. The letters are published in Miller 1991: 209, no. 34; 212-213, no. 38. As Franceschini's letters for the period May 1694 December 1698 are lost, it is not possible to follow the exact transactions. See also Fritz Wilhelm, "Neue Quellen zur Geschichte des fürstlichen Liechtensteinischen Kunstbesitzes", Jahrbuch des Kunsthistorischen Institutes der k.k. Zentralkommission für Denkmalpflege 5 (1911), Beilage: cols. 87- 142.
[3] Recorded by the following, always as Caravaggio: Vincenzio Fanti, Descrizzione completa di tutto ciò che ritrovasi nella galleria di pittura e scultura di Sua Altezza Giuseppe Wenceslao del S.R.I. Principe Regnante della Casa di Liechtenstein...data in luce di Vincenzio Fanti, Vienna, 1767: 91, no. 452; Johann Dallinger and Abate Lucchini, Description des tableaux et des pièces de sculpture que renferme la Gallerie de son Altesse François Joseph Chef et Prince Regnant de la maison de Liechtenstein, Vienna, 1780: 173-174, no. 579; Gustav Friedrich Waagen, Die vornehmsten Kunstdenkmäler in Wien, Vienna, 1866: 261-262; Jakob von Falke, Katalog der Fürstlich Liechtensteinischen Bildergallerie im Gartenpalais i der Rossau zu Wien, Vienna, 1873: 9, no. 61 (also 1885, 6, no. 31); A. Kronfeld, Führer durch die Fürstlich Liechtensteinsche Gemäldegalerie in Wien, Vienna, 1927: 8, no. 31; Erich Strohmer, Die Gemäldegalerie des Fürsten Liechtenstein in Wien, Vienna, 1943: 93, pl. 18.
Associated Names
- Cavazza, Girolamo
- Franceschini, Marcantonio
- Liechtenstein, Johann Adam Andreas I of Prince
- Princes of Liechtenstein
- Liechtenstein, Prince Joseph Wenzel of
- Liechtenstein, Prince Anton Florian I of
- Liechtenstein, Prince Josef Johann Adam of
- Liechtenstein, Prince Johann Nepomuk Karl of
- Liechtenstein, Prince Franz Josef I of
- Liechtenstein, Alois I of Prince
- Liechtenstein, Prince Johann I of
- Liechtenstein, Prince Alois II of
- Liechtenstein, Prince Johann II of
- Liechtenstein, Prince Franz I of
- Liechtenstein, Prince Franz Josef II of
- Walter M. Feilchenfeldt
Exhibition History
1911
Mostra del ritratto italiano dalla fine del sec. xvi all'anno 1861, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, 1911, no. 11, 151 (exh. list), 162-163 (subsequent cat. Il ritratto italiano dal Caravaggio al Tiepolo alla mostra..., Bergamo, 1927), as by Caravaggio.
1948
Meisterwerke aus den Sammlungen des Fürsten von Liechtenstein, Kunstmuseum, Lucerne, 1948, no. 47.
1951
Liechtenstein Pictures on Loan to the National Gallery, National Gallery, London, 1951, no. 31, no cat.
1969
In Memoriam, Ailsa Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1969, unnumbered checklist.
1979
Paintings of Italian Masters from the Collections of U.S.A. Museums, State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad; Pushkin Museum, Moscow; The Kiev Museum of Western and Eastern Art, 1979 (organized by the Armand Hammer Foundation, Los Angeles).
1990
A Caravaggio Rediscovered: The Lute Player, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1990, no. 15, color plate.
1997
Los Cinco Sentidos y el Arte, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1997, no. V.7, repro.
1999
Caravaggio's 'The Taking of Christ': Saints and Sinners in Baroque Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1999, brochure, no. 8, repro.
2001
Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi: Father and Daughter Painters in Baroque Italy, Museo del Palazzo di Venezia, Rome; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, 2001-2002, no. 22, repro.
2010
Loan for display with permanent collection, Art Institute of Chicago, 2010.
2016
100th Anniversary of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016-2017, unnumbered catalogue, repro.
Bibliography
1896
Bode, Wilhelm. Die fürstlich Liechtenstein'sche Galerie in Wien. Vienna, 1896: 78, engr. by K. Schönbauer, as by Caravaggio.
1906
Kallab, W. "Caravaggio." Jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses (Jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien) 27 (1906): 280-281, fig. 5, as by Caravaggio.
1911
Marangoni, Matteo. "La Mostra del ritratto italiano." Vita d'arte 8 (1911): 22, as by Caravaggio.
Tarchiani, Nello. "La mostra del ritrato italiano." Rassegna d'Arte 11 (1911): 87, repro., as by Caravaggio.
1912
Frizzoni, Gustav. "Einige kritische Bemerkungen über italienische Gemälde in der fürstlich Liechtensteinischen Galerie." Jahrbuch des kunsthistorischen Institutes der k.k. Zentralkommission für Denkmalpflege 6 (1912): 97-98, fig. 52, as by Caravaggio.
1914
Longhi, Roberto. "Orazio Borgianii." L'arte 17 (1914): 8, as by Caravaggio. Reprinted in Roberto Longhi, Scritti giovanili, 2 vols., Florence, 1961.
1915
Longhi, Roberto. "Battistello." L'arte 18 (1915): 63, as by Caravaggio. Reprinted in Robert Longthi, Scritti giovanili, 2 vols., Florence, 1961.
1916
Longhi, Robert. "Gentileschi padre e figlia." L'arte 19 (1916): 254, as by Caravaggio.
1920
Rochès, Gabriel. La Caravage. Paris, 1920: 59-60, pl. 5, as by Caravaggio.
1922
Gamba, Carlo. "Orazio Gentileschi." Dedalo 3 (1922): 262-266, repro.
Marangoni, Matteo. "Note sul Caravaggio alla mostra del sei e settecento." Bollettino d'Arte 16 (1922): 224, as not by Caravaggio.
1923
Voss, Hermann. "Caravaggios Frühzeit." Jahrbuch der königlich Preussischen Kunstsammlungen (Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen) 44 (1923): 79-80, tentatively as by Artemisia Gentileschi.
1924
Voss, Hermann. Die Malerei des Barock in Rom. Berlin, 1924: 459, pl. 111.
1946
Marangoni, Matteo. Il Caravaggio. Florence, 1946: 44, pl. 45.
1959
Berne-Joffroy, André. Le dossier caravage. Paris, 1959: 38-39, 45, 50, 106, 110, 114, 138, 144, 159, 176, 179-181, 185, 186, 290, 366, fig. 11.
1960
Golzio, Vincenzo. Il seicento e il settecento. 2 vols. 2nd edition. Turin, 1960: 1305, fig. 1020.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 56.
1966
Bissell, R. Ward. "The Baroque Painter Orazio Gentileschi: His Career in Italy." 2 vols. Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1966: 1:61-63, fig. 57; 2:133-138, no. 26.
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:262, color repro.
1967
Bissell, R. Ward. "Orazio Gentileschi's 'Young Woman with a Violin'." Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 46 (1967): 74, repro.
Moir, Alfred. The Italian Followers of Caravaggio. 2 vols. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1967: 1:75, 119; 2:75, fig. 81.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 49, repro.
1971
Bissell, R. Ward. "Orazio Gentileschi: Baroque without Rhetoric." The Art Quarterly 3 (1971): 275-276, repro.
1973
Previtali, Giovanni. "Gentileschi's 'The Samaritan Woman at the Well'." The Burlington Magazine 115 (1973): 358, n. 6.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 148, repro.
1976
Freedberg, Sydney. "Gentileschi's 'Madonna with the Sleeping Christ Child'." The Burlington Magazine 118 (1976): 733, fig. 5.
1978
King, Marian. Adventures in Art: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1978: 40-41, pl. 18.
1979
Nicolson, Benedict. The International Caravaggesque Movement: Lists of Pictures by Caravaggio and His Followers throughout Europe from 1590-1650. Oxford, 1979: 53, pl. 53.
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:201-203; 2:pl. 139.
Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 63, pl. 48.
1981
Bissell, R. Ward. Orazio Gentileschi and the Poetic Tradition in Caravaggesque Painting. University Park, Pennsylvania, 1981: 38-39, 65, 92, n. 16, 111, 158-159, no. 31, color pl. B, figs. 64-66.
Freedberg, Sydney. "Gentileschi's 'Madonna with the Sleeping Christ Child'." In A Dealer's Record: Agnew's 1967-81. London, 1981: 45, fig. 13.
1983
Hibbard, Howard. Caravaggio. New York, 1983: 39.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 232, no 297, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 172, repro.
1987
Deswarte, Sylvie. "Gentileschi (Orazio)." In Dictionnaire de la Peinture. Paris, 1987: 335.
1989
Garrard, Mary. Artemisia Gentileschi. The Image of the Female Hero in Italian Baroque Art. Princeton, 1989: 28, repro.
Nicolson, Benedict. Caravaggism in Europe. 2nd edition of International Caravaggesque Movement. Revised and enlarged by Luisa Vertova. 3 vols. Turin, 1989: 1:115, no. 208; 2:fig. 208.
1991
Miller, Dwight C. Marcantonio Franceschini and the Liechtensteins. Cambridge, 1991: 60.
1992
Rovi, Alberto. "Precocità del Gentileschi di Brera." Arte Lombarda 101 (1992): 108.
Christiansen, Keith. Italian Painting. New York, 1992: 268.
National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 108, repro.
1996
De Grazia, Diane, and Eric Garberson, with Edgar Peters Bowron, Peter M. Lukehart, and Mitchell Merling. Italian Paintings of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1996: 96-101, color repro. 99.
1998
Lapierre, Alexandra. Artemisia un Duel pour L'Immoralite. Robert Laffont, 1998.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 164, no. 123, color repro.
2021
Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. "In Pursuit of Masterpieces: The National Gallery of Art’s Acquisitions from the Prince of Liechtenstein." Artibus et historiae 42, no. 83 (2021): 322, 323, color fig. 14, 328.
2024
Mayer, Gernot. "Collecting in Order to Show: The Liechtenstein City Palace as a Gallery Building". In Hercules of the Arts. Johann Adam Andreas I von Lichtenstein and Vienna around 1700. Exh. cat. Edited by Stephen Koja. Munich, 2024:111, fig. 4.
Wikidata ID
Q20176925