The Concert

ca. 1623

Dirck Van Baburen Dutch, between 1594 and 1595-1624

On View

European: Medieval and Renaissance, Level 2, West Wing

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About the Artwork

In 1611, Dirck Van Baburen traveled from Utrecht to Italy. He spent most of his sojourn in Rome, where, like many visiting artists, he was drawn to the radically innovative work of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610). Baburen responded to the late painter’s dramatic lighting and preference for realistic models in his own work, and when he returned home in 1620, he became an influential figure in a small circle of Carvaggisti painters in Utrecht. In The Concert, Baburen presents a ragtag group. Their costumes and instruments range from historic to contemporary, and the woman’s gesture of crowning the robe-clad lutenist with a floral wreath may indicate that they are a performance troupe joined by an elegant gentleman. The light that streams in from the left shimmers on his silken sleeves and the polished wood of his violin, highlighting, as well, the flushed faces of the other spirited musicians.

From Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 89 (2015)

Title The Concert

Artwork Date ca. 1623

Artist Dirck Van Baburen

Life Dates between 1594 and 1595-1624

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Dutch

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Unframed: 41 1/2 × 52 1/2 inches (105.4 × 133.3 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department European Painting

Credit Museum Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 2010.17

Markings

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Provenance

by 1860, Prince Rohan (Vienna, Austria);
ca. 1860, gift to Dr. Alajos Paikert [1831–1914] (Budapest, Hungary);
1914, by descent to his son, Alajos de Paikert [1866–1948] (Budapest, Hungary).
January 24, 2008, (Sotheby's, New York, New York, USA) Important Old Master Paintings Including European Works of Art, lot 244;
2008–2010, (Adam Williams, Ltd.,New York, New York, USA);
2010–present, purchased by Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Bulletin of the DIA: Notable Acquisitions, 2000–2015, vol. 89, no. 1/4 (2015): p. 61 (ill.).

Dekiert, Marcus. Musikanten in der Malerei der Niederländischen Carvaggio-Nachfolge. Munster, 2003, pp. 252–254, 290.

Franits, Wayne. The Paintings of Dirck van Baburen (ca. 1592/93–1624): Catalogue Raisonné. Philadelphia, 2013, pp. 164–165, no. A35, 318, pl. 35.

Old Master Paintings Including European Works of Art. Sales cat., Sotheby’s, New York, January 24-25, 2008, no. 244.

Städelschen Kunstinstitut Frankfurt am Main. Caravaggio in Holland: Musik und Genre bei Caravaggio und den Utrechter Caravaggisten. Munich, 2009, p. 172–173, cat. 35.

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