The Concert, Judith Leyster
Along with tavern scenes and intimate domestic genre pieces, Judith Leyster frequently painted musical performance scenes. In “The Concert,” Leyster accurately depicts elements such as the Baroque violin (made without a chin rest and usually supported against the chest), as well as the woman’s songbook.
The figures shown here are likely portraits. Based on similar individuals in Leyster’s other pictures, scholars have tentatively identified the singer as the artist herself, the violinist as her husband, and the lute player as a family friend. The members of the trio, like all musicians, must work together as a unit, “in concert,” which has led some writers to theorize that this scene symbolizes the virtue of harmony.
