Concert with Eight Figures
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Music as an emblem of harmony seems to be the theme of this picture, for all appear united in their performance—even the armored soldier. Particularly notable are the two youths intent on singing. According to the French theologian, philosopher, and music theorist Marin Mersenne (1588–1648), "One can call the divine spirit that moves all things the maestro and conductor of this music, and of this great concert of all creatures." The modern critic Michael Fried recently wrote: "There is an extraordinary expansiveness in these pictures beyond Caravaggio’s seminal idea, as if in them a sonata had received full orchestration."
The picture belonged to Cardinal Jules Mazarin and his heirs before eventually entering France’s royal collections.
The picture belonged to Cardinal Jules Mazarin and his heirs before eventually entering France’s royal collections.
Artwork Details
- Title: Concert with Eight Figures
- Artist: Valentin de Boulogne (French, Coulommiers-en-Brie 1591–1632 Rome)
- Date: ca. 1628–30
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 68 7/8 × 85 1/16 in. (175 × 216 cm)
Frame: 80 11/16 × 94 7/8 in. (205 × 241 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Musée du Louvre, Paris, Département des Peintures
- Curatorial Department: European Paintings