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| Artist | After Dou, Gerrit (Dutch painter and draftsman, 1613-1675) |
| Title | Man with a Violin |
| Alternative/previous titles | Gerard Dou, a portrait of himself composing |
| Date earliest | possibly about 1700s |
| Date latest | possibly about 1800s |
| Material | oil on panel |
| Measurements | 36 x 27.2 cm |
| Description | Gerrit Dou, a genre portrait and history painter, was born in Leiden. He was first trained by his father as a glass engraver, and then became a pupil of Rembrandt (1628-31/2). He worked in Leiden all his life and had many pupils and followers, including Frans van Mieris (1635-1681). Dou frequently used the composition format of a scene framed by a painted stone arch, which was extremely popular and attracted many imitators. This is possibly an 18th century copy. See Painter with Pipe and Book ( about1645, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam), and particularly The Violin Player (1653, Vaduz Castle, Liechtenstein, signed Gdov 1653), which includes the same background detail and carved frieze. This original painting was in London from 1792-1815, at several sales at Christies and Phillips when it may have been available to a copyist. This version is larger and does not have an arched top. |
| Subject | figure (man); everyday life (entertainment; music; violin) |
| Collection | Holburne Museum of Art, Bath |
| Current accession number | A82 |
| Previous accession number(s) | 123; 1482; 58 |
| Acquisition details | Bequeathed by Miss Mary Anne Barbara Holburne 1882. |
| Provenance | Sir Thomas William Holburne, by 1867-74; by descent to Mary Anne Barbara Holburne (1802-1882), 1874. |
| Notes | Holburne catalogue 1867, no. 123, as by Dou; Holburne catalogue 1887, no. 1482, as by Dou; Holburne catalogue 1936, no. 58. The large oil drying cracks are typical of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Dou became a pupil of twenty-two-year-old Rembrandt when he was fifteen. He worked in Leiden as an independent master when Rembrandt left for Amsterdam. His highly finished pictures were generally admired and his patrons included Charles II, Queen Christina of Sweden and Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. |
| Rights status | © The Holburne Museum of Art, Bath |
| Author | Rosie Broadley |
