Tickets
English
DonateMembershipTickets

A Musical Party

1659
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 614

Musical performance was a common pastime among the well-to-do and had strong associations with courtship in the Dutch Republic. Here, a richly dressed woman passes a songbook to the dandy behind her while maintaining a nonchalant grasp on the neck of her lute. Another beribboned gentleman tunes a viol, his sword cast off to the side, and a maid pauses in the doorway at the back with a tray of refreshments. For seventeenth-century viewers, symbolic elements such as the foot warmer would have indicated an atmosphere of indulgence and temptation.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: A Musical Party
  • Artist: Gabriël Metsu (Dutch, Leiden 1629–1667 Amsterdam)
  • Date: 1659
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 24 1/2 x 21 3/8 in. (62.2 x 54.3 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Marquand Collection, Gift of Henry G. Marquand, 1890
  • Object Number: 91.26.11
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
A Woman Seated at a Window, Gabriël Metsu Dutch, Oil on wood
A Woman Seated at a Window
Gabriël Metsu
early 1660s
Soprano Recorder in B, Thomas Coenraet Boekhout Dutch, Ebony, ivory, Dutch
Soprano Recorder in B
Thomas Coenraet Boekhout
ca. 1700
Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, Marie Gabrielle Capet (1761–1818) and Marie Marguerite Carraux de Rosemond (1765–1788), Adélaïde Labille-Guiard French, Oil on canvas
Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, Marie Gabrielle Capet (1761–1818) and Marie Marguerite Carraux de Rosemond (1765–1788)
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard
1785
Study of a Young Woman, Johannes Vermeer Dutch, Oil on canvas
Study of a Young Woman
Johannes Vermeer
ca. 1665–67
Tavern Scene, Gabriël Metsu Dutch, Oil on wood
Tavern Scene
Copy after Gabriël Metsu

Related Content

Timeline of Art History

Entries and chronologies from The Met's art encyclopedia.

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.