Bagpipe Player

1624

Hendrick ter Brugghen

Painter, Dutch, 1588 - 1629

Shown from the lap up, a man with pale skin sits facing our right in profile, playing a bagpipe in this vertical painting. He is lit from our left so his face is in shadow, and he looks off to our right. He has dark eyebrows, a chestnut-brown mustache and short beard, and a rounded nose. He wears a floppy, chocolate-brown beret that covers his hair and the ear facing us. A cream-white, voluminous shirt falls off the shoulder close to us, and a fawn-brown robe gathers around his lap. He blows into a long mouthpiece as he squeezes the tawny-brown bag of the instrument between his forearms. Two long, wooden pipes rest over his shoulder, and he covers the finger-holes of the flute-like chanter at the front of the bag. The background behind him is pale peanut brown. The artist signed and dated the painting just to the right of the musician’s face, “HTBrugghen fecit 1624,” with the HTB intertwined into a monogram.

Media Options

Skip thumbnail navigation
Back to thumbnail navigation
This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.

Hendrick ter Brugghen excelled at capturing the rhythms of music in the very way he composed his paintings. In this remarkable image a bagpipe player, seen in strict profile, squeezes the leather bag between his forearms as he blows through the instrument’s pipe and fingers a tune on the chanter. Two large drones, composed of different wooden sections, rest on his bare shoulder. The interlocking rhythms of this ensemble—the broad, round shapes of the musician’s shoulder, beret, and brown bagpipe bag; the flowing patterns of folds in his creamy shirt and taupe robe; the pronounced diagonals of the drones and pipe; and the verticality of the chanter—parallel those of a musical score. Ter Brugghen’s Bagpipe Player should be seen as part of a broad cultural interest in depictions of the idyllic pleasures of country existence, particularly as experienced through music. Ter Brugghen fully embraced this theme in a series of paintings of musicians and singers that capture both the joy and the sensuality of life.

The specific character of this painting, depicting a single, larger-than-life-size musician against a plain grayish ocher background, owes much to the influence of Gerrit van Honthorst (1592–1656) and Dirck van Baburen (c. 1595–1624), Dutch Caravaggist painters who returned to Utrecht from Rome in 1620. They brought with them a new sensuous style appropriate for expressing the idealized concepts of arcadian subject matter that they adapted from paintings by Caravaggio (1571–1610) and his followers. In 1624 Ter Brugghen painted no fewer than five separate compositions devoted to music, featuring not only bagpipe players but also musicians—sometimes singing—who play the lute and the violin. He continued this interest in the years to follow.

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 44

Artwork overview

More About this Artwork

Scholarly Article:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century: Bagpipe Player, 1624

This horizontal painting shows a group of eight light-skinned musicians and onlookers gathered closely around a rectangular, carpet-covered table. The front edge of the table runs parallel to the bottom edge of the painting, and seems close to us. Shown from about the waist up, the men and women’s vivid lapis-blue, coral-red, buttercup-yellow, lilac-purple, and moss-green garments fall in crisp folds. Bright reflections on the fabric suggest a satin-like material. Two women wear feathers in their hair and one man’s hat is plumed. One man, wearing crimson red and black, sits with his back to us to our left on the near side of the table. He holds the neck of a bass viol, about the size of a cello, with his left hand, and points to pages of an open music book with the bow in his right hand. The other people cluster on the far side of the table. A man to the left plays a violin; a woman at the center plays a guitar-sized bandora, and a woman to our right plays a lute. The musicians, along with a man who leans over the table from between the two women, look down at the music books. A young man behind the woman at the center holds up a glass of pale liquid with his right hand as he touches his left forefinger to his smiling lips. A man and woman stand close together in the background to our right, in the top right corner of the canvas.

Scholarly Series:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Possibly Aernout van Lingen, Utrecht, by 1676.[1] probably with (Glenz, Berlin), in 1915;[2] possibly Gustav Klemperer Edler von Klemenau [1852-1926], Dresden; his son, Dr. Herbert von Klemperer [1878-1951], Berlin;[3] (sale, Lange, Berlin, 18-19 November 1938, no. 151); acquired by Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne, inv. no. 2613; restituted July 2008 to Klemperer's heirs; (sale, Sotheby's, New York, 9 January 2009, no. 40); (Johnny Van Haeften London Ltd., London; Otto Naumann, New York; Bernheimer Fine Art Ltd., Munich); purchased April 2009 by NGA.
[1] The inventory of Aernout van Lingen, "raad in de Vroedshap," which was made in Utrecht in 1676, lists: "Een saakpijp van Ter Brugghen." The inventory, first published by Marten Jan Bok ("Hendrick Jansz. ter Brugghen," in Albert Blankert et al., Nieuw Licht op de Gouden Eeuw; Hendrick ter Brugghen en tijdgenoten, exh. cat., Centraal Museum, Utrecht; Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig, 1986-1987: 71), is in the Gemeentearchief Utrecht, Stadsarchief II, inv. no. 3146, 1676.
[2] A. von Schneider, Caravaggio und die Niederländer, Marburg-Lahn, 1933; 2nd ed., Amsterdam, 1967: 140.
[3] Dr. Klemperer was forced to surrender the painting when he left Germany in 1938.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1984

  • Masters of Seventeenth-Century Dutch Genre Painting, Philadelphia Museum of Art; Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin; Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1984, no. 24, pl. 9 (shown only in Philadelphia and Berlin).

2000

  • Dipingere la musica: strumenti in posa nell'arte del cinque e seicento, Santa Maria della Pietà, Cremona; Kunsthistorisches Museum at Palais Harrach, Vienna, 2000, no. I.22, repro.

2011

  • Larger than Life: Ter Brugghen's Saint Sebastian Tended by Irene, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2011, no catalogue.

2018

  • In the Light of Caravaggio: Dutch and Flemish Paintings from Southeastern Museums, Muscarelle Museum of Art, Williamsburg, 2018, no catalogue.

Bibliography

1933

  • Schneider, Arthur von. Caravaggio und die Niederländer. 2nd ed. Marburg/Lahn, 1933: 140.

1938

  • Sammlung B., Wien, die Bestände der Firma Ziffer i. L., Berlin, Porzellan aus der Sammlung R., Wien, Frankfurter und anderer Privatbesitz (zum Teil nichtarisch). Berlin, 1938: 9, no. 151, repro.

1939

  • May, Helmut. "Das Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Köln." _Die Weltkunst _ 13, nos. 24-25 (June 1939): 1, repro.

  • Moltke, Joachim Wolfgang von. "Ein unbekanntes Bild von Hendrik Terbrugghen." Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch 11 (1939): 283–285, fig. 208.

  • Förster, Otto H., ed. Wallraf-Richartz-Museum der Hansestadt Köln. 2 vols. Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch 11. Cologne, 1939: 308.

1941

  • May, Helmut. Die Niederländischen, Französischen, Italienischen und Spanischen Gemälde. Wallraf-Richartz-Museum der Hansestadt Köln 2. Cologne, 1941: 133.

1954

  • Wentzel, Hans. "Unbekannte Werke Terbrugghen in Dänemark und Schweden." _Die Kunst und das Schöne Heim _ 52 (4 January 1954): 124.

1955

  • Nicolson, Benedict. "Notable Works of Art now on the Market." The Burlington Magazine 97, no. 633 (December 1955): unpaginated, pl. XVIII.

1956

  • Nicolson, Benedict. "The Rijksmuseum 'Incredulity' and Terbrugghen's Chronology." The Burlington Magazine 98, no. 637 (April 1956): 108, 110.

1957

  • Wallraf-Richartz-Museum. Führer durch die Gemäldegalerie. Cologne, 1957: 92.

  • Nicolson, Benedict. "Ter Brugghen Repeating Himself" in Miscellanea Prof. Dr. D. Roggen. Antwerp, 1957: 194.

1958

  • Nicolson, Benedict. Hendrick Terbrugghen. London, 1958: 10, 16, 41, 104, 108, 118, no. A17, pl. 48.

1959

  • Wallraf-Richartz-Museum. Verzeichnis der Gemälde. Cologne, 1959: 166.

1960

  • Plietzsch, Eduard. Holländische und flämische Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts. Leipzig, 1960: 146, fig. 250.

1961

  • Judson, J. Richard. "Review of Hendrick Terbrugghen by Benedict Nicolson." The Art Bulletin 43 (December 1961): 346.

1965

  • Slatkes, Leonard J. Hendrick Terbrugghen in America. Exh. cat. Dayton Art Institute; Baltimore Museum of Art. Dayton, 1965: 12.

  • Wallraf-Richartz-Museum. Verzeichnis der Gemälde. Cologne, 1965: 166.

  • Slatkes, Leonard J. Dirck van Baburen (c. 1595-1624); a Dutch painter in Utrecht and Rome. Orbis artium: Utrechtse Kunsthistorische Studiën 5. Utrecht, 1965: 158.

1966

  • Osten, Gert von der. Wallraf-Richartz-Museum Köln. Köln, 1966: 15, 62, fig. 237, repro.

  • Osten, Gert von der. Wallraf-Richartz-Museum Köln. Köln, 1966:15, 62, fig. 237, repro.

1967

  • Schneider, Arthur von. Caravaggio und die Niederländer. Reprint of 1933 edition. Amsterdam, 1967: 140.

  • Vey, Horst, and Anna Maria Kesting. Katalog der niederländischen Gemälde von 1550 bis 1800 im Wallraf-Richartz-Museum. Cologne, 1967: 26, fig. 26.

1978

  • Wright, Christopher. The Dutch Painters: 100 Seventeenth Century Masters. London, 1978: 192.

1979

  • Nicolson, Benedict. The international Caravaggesque movement: lists of pictures by Caravaggio and his followers throughout Europe from 1590 to 1650. Oxford, 1979: 100.

1981

  • Wright, Christopher. A golden age of painting: Dutch and Flemish paintings of the seventeenth century from the collection of the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation. San Antonio, 1981: 96.

1984

  • Brown, Christopher. "Hendrick ter Brugghen." In Von Frans Hals bis Vermeer: Meisterwerke holländischer Genremalerei. Edited by Peter C. Sutton. Exh. cat. Philadelphia Museum of Art Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin; Royal Academy of Arts, London. Berlin, 1984: 130, 131, no. 24, repro.

  • Sutton, Peter C. Masters of Seventeenth-Century Dutch Genre Painting. Edited by Jane Iandola Watkins. Exh. cat. Philadelphia Museum of Art; Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin; Royal Academy of Arts, London. Philadelphia, 1984: 168, no. 24, pl. 9.

1986

  • Bok, Marten Jan. "Hendrick Jansz. ter Brugghen." In Holländische Malerei in neuem Licht: Hendrick ter Brugghen und seine Zeitgenossen. Edited by Albert Blankert and Leonard J. Slatkes. Exh. cat. Centraal Museum, Utrecht; Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig. Braunschweig, 1986: 71.

  • Blankert, Albert, and Leonard J. Slatkes. Nieuw licht op de Gouden Eeuw: Hendrick ter Brugghen en Tijdgenoten. Exh. cat. Centraal Museum, Utrecht; Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig. Utrecht, 1986: 113, fig. 79.

  • Hesse, Christian, and Martina Schlagenhaufer, eds. Wallraf-Richartz-Museum Köln, vol. 1: Vollständiges Verzeichnis der Gemäldesammlung, vol. 2: Von Stefan Lochner bis Paul Cézanne: 120 Meisterwerke der Gemäldesammlung. 2 vols. Cologne, 1986: 1:15-16, fig. 285; 2:148-149, color repro.

1989

  • Nicolson, Benedict. Caravaggism in Europe. 3 vols. Archivi di storia dell'arte. 2nd ed. Turin, 1989: 1:192, no. 129.

1990

  • Le Bihan, Olivier. L'Or & l'Ombre: catalogue critique et raisonné des peintures hollandaises du dix-septième et du dix-huitième siècles, conservées au Musée des beaux-arts de Bordeaux. Bordeaux, 1990: 73, 74.

1991

  • Brown, Christopher. Brief Encounters: Ter Brugghen: Jacob reproaching Laban. Exh. cat. National Gallery, London, 1991: unpaginated, repro.

  • Brown, Christopher. Hendrick ter Brugghen (1588-1629) 'Jakob, Laban und Lea', ein Bild in Vergleich. Exh. cat. Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne, 1991: 5, 14, fig. 9.

1993

  • Mai, Ekkehard, ed. Das Kabinett des Sammlers: Gemälde vom XV. bis XVII. Jahrhundert. Cologne, 1993: 250.

1994

  • Huys Janssen, Paul. "Jan van Bijlert (1597/98-1671), schilder in Utrecht." Ph.D. dissertation, Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht, 1994: 166.

1996

  • Slatkes, Leonard J. "Bringing Ter Brugghen and Baburen Up-to-Date." Bulletin des du Musée National de Varsovie 37 (1996): 210, 212, 213, 216, fig. 8.

1998

  • Huys Janssen, Paul. Jan Van Bijlert, 1597/98-1671: catalogue raisonné. Oculi 7. Amsterdam, 1998: 139.

1999

  • White, Christopher. Ashmolean Museum Oxford, catalogue of the collection of paintings: Dutch, Flemish, and German paintings before 1900. Oxford, 1999: 24.

2000

  • Gruber, Gerlinde. "Hendrick Terbrugghen." In Dipingere la musica: strumenti in posa nell'arte del cinque e seicento. Edited by Sylvia Ferino Pagden and Luiz C. Marques. Exh. cat. Santa Maria della Pietà, Cremona; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Milan, 2000: 116-117, no. I.22, repro.

2001

  • Gruber, Gerlinde. "Hendrick Terbrugghen." In Dipingere la musica: Musik in der Malerei des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts. Edited by Sylvia Ferino Pagden, Luiz C. Marques and Wilfried Seipel. Exh. cat. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Milan, 2001: 142-143, no. I.22, repro.
    .

2004

  • Harrison, Colin, Catherine Casley, and Jon Whiteley. The Ashmolean Museum: complete illustrated catalogue of paintings. Oxford, 2004: 35.

2005

  • Sutton, Peter C. Old master paintings from the Hascoe collection. Exh. cat. Bruce Museum of Arts and Science, Greenwich, Connecticut, 2005: 10.

2007

  • Slatkes, Leonard J., and Wayne E. Franits. The paintings of Hendrick ter Brugghen, 1588-1629: Catalogue raisonné. Oculi 10. Amsterdam, 2007: 50-51, 57, 118, 130n, 165-167, 171, 185-187, 193, 194, 218, 271, 377, cat. no. A71, pl. 70.

2009

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. "Hendrick ter Brugghen, Bagpipe Player." Bulletin / National Gallery of Art, no. 41 (Fall 2009): 14-16, 99-100, repro.

  • Pollock, Lindsay. "Old Masters Survive Test." The Art Newspaper 200 (March 2009): 47, repro.

  • Lopez, Jonathan. "A Holland - America Line: The National Gallery’s Acquisition of a Major Ter Brugghen Opens a Window on the History of Taste." Art and Antiques (May 2009): 42–44, repro.

2010

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. "A Painting by Hendrick ter Brugghen Acquired by the National Gallery of Art, Washington." The Burlington Magazine 32 (5 February 2010): 99-100.

2011

  • Bok, Marten Jan. "Een leven lang leren." Kunstschrift 55, no. 5 (October/November 2011): 28, 33, caption for fig. 38. [Fig. 38 shows the Oxford Ashmolean Portrait of a Man Playing the Bagpipes]

2014

  • Wheelock, Arthur K, Jr. "The Evolution of the Dutch Painting Collection." National Gallery of Art Bulletin no. 50 (Spring 2014): 2-19, repro.

2016

  • Warner-Johnson, Tim, and Jeremy Howard, eds. Colnaghi: Past, Present and Future: An Anthology. London, 2016: 188-189, color plate 3.

2020

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Clouds, ice, and Bounty: The Lee and Juliet Folger Collection of Seventeenth-Century Dutch and Flemish Paintings. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2020: 38, fig. 17, 40.

Inscriptions

upper right, in brown paint, HTB in monogram: HTBrugghen fecit 1624

Wikidata ID

Q20177033

You may be interested in

Loading Results