The Music Lesson

Artist Gerard ter Borch, the younger (Dutch, 1617-1681)

Place of OriginNetherlands

Date1660s

DimensionsH: 34 in. (86.3 cm); W: 27 5/8 in. (70.1 cm)

MediumOil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1952.9

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 23

DescriptionGerard ter Borch Dutch, 1617–1681 The Music Lesson Oil on canvas, 1660s Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 1952.9 Flirtation in the form of bold eye contact sets the mood of this intimate painting of music-making in a Dutch middle class interior. Music has long been associated with love, and the lute in particular could symbolize marital harmony, hearts “in tune” with one another, or even lust. The bright finery of the young couple tells us they are not married, since married couples typically wore darker, more sober clothing. They have eyes only for each other, while the standing man (often identified as a music teacher) seems more intent on observing the dashing young man’s proficiency at the lute than in noticing his amorous intentions toward the young woman. She rests her foot on a foot warmer containing a brazier of hot coals, an object often associated with female lustfulness or with courtship rituals. Typical of Gerard ter Borch’s paintings, however, the scene is quiet and somewhat ambiguous, rather than bawdy. Ter Borch always paid close attention to sumptuous texture in his paintings. He was particularly revered by contemporaries for his ability to depict satin, like the shimmering folds of the woman’s skirt.

Published ReferencesSomoff, A., Catalogue de la galerie des tableaux, St. Petersburg, 1895, II, no. 874.

Wrangell, N., Les chefs d'oeuvre de la galerie de tableaux de l'Ermitage Impérial à St. Petersbourg, London, 1909, pp. XVIII-XIX, p. 159, repr.

Hellens, F., Gerard ter Borch, Brussels, 1911, p. 126, repr. opp. p. 96.

Hofstede de Groot, C., A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century Based on the Work of John Smith, London, 1907-1928, V, in no. 140 (as an "old copy").

Weiner, P., Les chefs d'oeuvre de la galerie de tableaux de l'Ermitage à Petrograd, Munich, 1923, p. 179, repr.

Milliken, William M., "Superb Art Display Marks Cleveland Museum's 20th Anniversary," Art Digest, vol. 10, July 1936, repr. p. 13.

Milliken, William M., "World Art at Cleveland," American Magazine of Art, vol. 29, July 1936, repr. p. 438.

Plietsch, E., Gerard ter Borch, Vienna, 1944, p. 52, no. 92, repr.

Godwin, Molly Ohl, Master Works in the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, 1953, p. 22, repr. p. 23.

Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, no. 156, October 1954, repr.

Godwin, Molly Ohl, "Toledo Museum of Art: Post-war Additions," Connoisseur, vol. 136, no. 548, October 1955, pp. 133-140, repr. p. 136.

Wittmann, Otto, "The Life of the People," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 1, no. 3, Fall 1957, pp. 3-6, repr. p. 5.

Connoisseur, vol. 142, no. 571, September 1958, p. 64.

White, O., "Dutch and Flemish Paintings at Waddesdon Manor," Gazette des Beaux Arts, July-Aug. 1959, pp. 70-72.

Gudlaugsson, S. J., Katalog der Gemälde Gerard ter Borch, The Hague, 1960, II, no. 271/II.

Grosser, Maurice, Critic's Eye, Indianapolis, Bobbs-Marrill, 1962, p. 169.

A Guide to the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, 1966, repr.

Wittmann, Otto, "The Golden Age in the Netherlands," Apollo, vol. 86, no. 70, December 1967, p. 474, repr. (b&w) fig. 14, p. 473.

Waterhouse, E., The James de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor: Paintings, Fribourg, 1967, p. 170.

The Toledo Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collections, Toledo, 1976, repr. p. 58.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, p. 26, pl. 129.

Gorney, Michaelene, "Musical instruments: strings," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 20, no. 4, 1978, p. 93, 94, repr. fig. 4 (det.).

Düchting, Hajo, Jan Vermeer van Delft: im Spiegel seiner Zeit, Erlangen, 1996, p. 57, repr. p. 59 (col.).

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Annual Report, 2005 Aono, Junko, "Enobling Daily Life: A Question of Refinement in Early Eighteenth-Century Dutch Genre Painting," Simiolus, vol. 33, no.4, 2007-2008, p. 248, repr. fig. 14.

Ho, Angela K., Creating Distinctions in Dutch Genre Painting: Repetition and Invention, Amsterdam University Press, 2017, pp. 101-102, repr. pl. 7.

Exhibition HistoryLos Angeles Museum, Five Centuries of European Painting, 1933, no. 15, repr.

Chicago Art Institute, A Century of Progress, Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, 1934, no. 112, repr. pl. XVII.

Art Gallery of Toronto, Canada, XVIth and XVIIth Century Paintings by European Master, 1936, no. 10, pp. 4-5, repr.

Cleveland Museum of Art, XXth Anniversary Exhibition (Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition), 1936, no. 247, pl. 54.

Buffalo, Albright Art Gallery, European Paintings of the XVth, XVIth, XVIIth, XVIIIth Centuries, 1942, repr. pl. 156.

New York, Duveen Galleries, Paintings by the Great Dutch Masters of the XVIIth Century, 1942, repr. pl. 156.

New York, Knoedler & Company, Dutch Masters of the Seventeenth Century, 1944, no. 17, repr.

Montreal, Museum of Fine Art, Loan Exhibition of Great Paintings, Five Centuries of Dutch Art, 1944, no. 99, repr. p. 89.

Hartford, Wadsworth Atheneum, Life in XVIIth Century Holland, 1950, no. 44, pl. 9.

Mauritshuis, The Hague, Holland. 1966.

Kansas City, Nelson Gallery of Art, Paintings of the 17th Century, Dutch Interiors, 1967, no. 24, p. 41, repr.

The Hague, Mauritshuis, Gerard ter Borch, 1974, no. 61, p. 197, repr.

Landesmuseum, Munster, Germany. 1974.

The Hague, Mauritshuis: San Francisco, The Fine Arts Museum, Great Dutch paintings from America, 1990-1991, no. 10, pp. 175-179, repr. (col.) p. 176 (as "A Lady and Gentleman Making Music").

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Detroit Institute of Arts, MI, Gerard ter Borch, November 7, 2004 - January 30, 2005, no. 47, pp. 14, 35, 171-172, 176, 211, 212, no. 6, repr. (col.) p. 173, (det. col.) p. 190-191.