An Interior with a Young Violinist
About this artwork
This is the earliest dated painting by Dou. In it, a young musician looks up, his playing momentarily interrupted. Dou took evident delight in the play of light and shadow, and the rendering of surface textures, especially reflective materials. The musician is surrounded by books, music and a globe, which allude to learning. This reference is appropriate for Leiden, a distinguished university city, and the location of Dou’s workshop. Pieter Spiering, Swedish ambassador to the Netherlands (1637-1645) bought the painting for Queen Christina of Sweden.
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title:An Interior with a Young Violinist
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accession number:NG 2420
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artist:
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materials:Oil on panel
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date created:1637
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measurements:Arched top: 31.10 x 23.70 cm (framed: 55.80 x 47.50 x 9.80 cm)
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credit line:Purchased with the aid of the National Heritage Memorial Fund 1984
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photographer:Antonia Reeve
Gerrit Dou
Gerrit Dou
Dou specialised in small-scale meticulously painted scenes, astonishing in their precise detail and highly polished finish. He and his followers were known as Fijnschilders (fine painters). In Leiden, Dou trained as a glazier with his father, which might possibly have encouraged his fascination with reflective surfaces, and then became a…
