RKD STUDIES

Leiden, 7 April 1613–Leiden, buried 9 February 1675
Dutch painter

Gerard Dou [1] is the most famous of the Leiden fijnschilders or ‘fine painters’, a group of artists who produced small pictures with minute details, concentrating on the faithful depiction of different surfaces. Gerard Dou specialized in night scenes and the ‘niche’ format, in which trompe-l’œil windows allowed him to demonstrate his illusionistic skills. He was the youngest son of a glazier, and as a young man trained in that profession in Leiden, first with the engraver Bartholomeus Willemsz. Dolendo (c. 1571–1626) and then with the glazier Pieter Kouwenhorn (1599–1654) or Couwenhorn. He appears as a member of the glaziers’ guild in 1625 and 1627.

In February 1628, however, he was sent to study painting with Rembrandt (1606/7–69), then still in Leiden, and remained with him for three years. He was one of the founding members of the Guild of St Luke in 1648, and also served as ensign (vaendrager) in the local militia company, an indication of his high social status. He enjoyed great success in his lifetime, and his studio was a place of pilgrimage for scholars and aristocrats. In 1665 an exhibition of twenty-nine paintings by Dou was organized in Leiden by his patron, Johan de Bye (1621/2–70/72). Another patron, the Swedish Minister to The Hague Pieter Spiering van Silvercroon (c. 1595–1652), had first right of refusal on his paintings. In 1660 the Dutch States General sent at least one painting by Dou to Charles II of England (1630–85) as part of the Dutch Gift.¹ According to Houbraken, one of Dou’s first biographers, the King was so impressed that he invited him to his court. Dou however stayed in Leiden. He attracted large numbers of students, including his nephew Domenicus van Tol (c. 1635–76), Frans van Mieris the Elder (1635–81), Carel de Moor II (1655–1738), Pieter Cornelisz. van Slingelandt (1640–91), Godefridus Schalcken (1643–1706), and possibly Gabriel Metsu (1629–67) and Quiringh van Brekelenkam (1622/30–69/79). He also influenced many other Leiden artists, including Jacob van Spreeuwen (1611–50) and Jan Adriaensz. van Staveren (1613/14–69), not to be confused with Jacob van Staverden or Staveren (c. 1656–after 1716) from Amersfoort.²

Dou’s early career in the 1630s saw him painting portraits, full-length figures, and ‘tronies’ (physiognomic studies; see under Rembrandt imitator, DPG628). His portraits are somewhat stiff, but his images of figures engaged in everyday activities are more lively. Already the characteristics of his style – the meticulous depiction of surfaces and the effects of light on many still life details – are apparent. In the 1640s Dou painted more genre pictures, at the expense of his portraits, placing his subjects in the popular ‘niche’ format. In the 1650s he began to give his genre figures a rather more monumental character, making them larger, while at the same time making even more judicious use of selected still life details. These details could be seen as symbolic and allegorical, but they also allowed him to experiment further with light effects, especially with artificial light, in both genre scenes and depictions of single female figures. During the last two decades of his life he started to paint highly illusionistic still life pictures which he used as shutters to protect his meticulously created paintings (e.g. Related works, no. 9) [2]. He also began to paint unidealized male and female nudes.

In the early catalogues Dulwich had, in addition to A Woman playing a Clavichord (DPG56), two other paintings thought to be by Dou: DPG50 (since 1892 assigned to Brekelenkam) and DPG191 (ascribed variously to Dou and Elsheimer in catalogues between 1817 and 1880; now given to Schalcken). His work was included by Smith in the first volume of his œuvre catalogues of Dutch and Flemish painters (1829), which is a sign of the esteem in which he was held, and also of the availability of his work on the art market at the time. He was highly valued in 18th- and 19th-century European collections until modernism triumphed and more painterly artists came to be preferred: the French art historian Théophile Thoré-Bürger (1807–69) in 1858 was one of the first to criticize Dou, for ces espèces de jongleries en peinture (these juggling acts in paint).³ Dou is now once again appreciated.

LITERATURE
Baer 1990; Baer 1996; Baer 2000a and b; Saur, xxix, 2001, pp. 176–80 (D. Beaujean); Baer 2009/1990; Ecartico, no. 2579: http://www.vondel.humanities.uva.nl/ecartico/persons/2570 (Dec. 25, 2017); RKDartists&, no. 23986: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/23986 (Dec. 27, 2017).

1
Gerard Dou
Self-portrait, dated 1658
Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, inv./cat.nr. 1882; A311 (Berti/Caneva 1979)

2
Gerard Dou
Still Life with Silver Ewer, Basin and Cloth
Paris, Musée du Louvre, inv./cat.nr. 1214

c. 1665; oak panel, 37.7 x 29.8 cm
Seal on the back of the painting, possibly of Sir Francis Bourgeois

PROVENANCE
1) ?Johan de Bye, Leiden, 18 Sept. 1665, no. 2 (under paintings in cases, i.e. protected by shutters), Een claversimbelspeelster met een tapijt, daghlicht (A woman playing a claversimbel with a tapestry, in daylight), or no. 23, Eerst [sonder kas] een mit een lijst, sijnde een meysge op een claversingel speelende’ (First one [without shutters], with a frame, being a girl playing a claversingel).⁴
2) ?Maréchal d’Issenghien, Paris, in or before 1754 (Descamps 1753–63, ii (1754), p. 223: Chez M. le Maréchal d’Issenghien, une jeune Femme qui touche du Clavecin (a young woman touching the harpsichord).⁵
3) Comte du Barry sale, Paris, P. Rémy/P. Lebrun, 21 Nov. ff. 1774 (Lugt 2332), pp. 14–15, lot 30: Une jeune fille jolie & de taille svelte, occupée à toucher du clavecin près d’une croisée: il y a derriere [sic] elle des livres de musique sur une table couverte d’un tapis, une basse est posée contre: une bouteille se remarque dans une cuvette qui est à terre. A gauche sur le devant un carreau de velours sur un tabouret; à droite un rideau de tapisserie, & une cage suspendue au plancher [sic? plafond?]. Ce tableau est le plus intéressant que l’on puisse trouver; son fini est précieux: il est du nombre de ces morceaux dont on ne peut trop faire d’éloge. Il est sur bois, hauteur 14 pouces, largeur 10 pouces 6 lignes’ (A pretty, slender girl playing the clavichord near a window; behind her there are music books on a table covered by a carpet, against which a bass viol rests; a bottle is visible in a basin on the ground. In the left foreground, a square of velvet on a stool; on the right a tapestry curtain, and a cage hanging from the ceiling. This is the most interesting painting imaginable; its finish is priceless; it is one of those things that can never be overpraised. It is on panel, 14 pouces high, 10 pouces 6 lignes wide [c. 37.9 x 28.4 cm]).⁶ Bt Pierre Rémy or Boileau (?), 5,100 fr.
4) Prince de Conti sale, Paris, P. Rémy, 5 May 1777 (Lugt 2671), lot 325 (almost the same description as for no. 3 above);⁷ bt Jacques Langlier, 5,000 fr.⁸
5) Paul Benfield sale, London, Coxe, Burrell and Foster, 30 May 1799 (Lugt 5927), p. 10, lot 64; sold, £242 11s.⁹
6) Desenfans sale, Skinner and Dyke, 18 March 1802 (Lugt 6380), lot 183;¹⁰ £178 10s.; bt in;¹¹ Insurance 1804, no. 118 (‘A Lady playing on the Harpsichord; G. Dow; £500’).
7) Bourgeois Bequest, 1811; Britton 1813, p. 33, no. 354 (‘Closet to S: Drawing Room / no. 6, Lady playing on a spinnet, or harpsd – P[anel] G. Douw’; 1'10" x 1'7").

REFERENCES
?Descamps 1753–63, ii (1754), p. 223 (see Provenance, no. 2); Cat. 1817, p. 3, no. 11 (‘FIRST ROOM – South Side; A Lady playing on a keyed Instrument; Dou’); Haydon 1817, p. 371, no. 11 (Gerhard Douw);¹² Cat. 1820, p. 3, no. 11; not in Patmore 1824b; ?Smith, i, 1829, p. 16, no. 45, and Smith, ix, 1842, p. 6, no. 14;¹³ Cat. 1830, p. 7, no. 106; Jameson 1842, ii, p. 459, no. 106 (copy of a painting in the collection of William Wells);¹⁴ Denning 1858, no. 106 (Peter Van Slingelandt);¹⁵ Denning 1859, no. 106 (Gerard Dow);¹⁶ Lejeune (1864–5), ii (1864), pp. 467–8 (Plusieurs belles compositions (several beautiful compositions; i.e. also DPG50, now Brekelenkam, and DPG191, now Godefridus Schalcken (?) after Adam Elsheimer)); Sparkes 1876, p. 57, no. 106; Richter & Sparkes 1880, p. 58, no. 106 (‘Dou; A very remarkable work, unusually rich in composition, and well-preserved’); Havard & Sparkes 1885, p. 177, no. 106; Richter & Sparkes 1892, p. 13, no. 56; Martin 1901, p. 74, 172 (no. 2) or 173 (no. 23), 231 (no. 301 or 302b); Martin 1902, pp. 68, 108, no. 26 (pl. 35), 146 (no. 2) or 147 (no. 23); Richter & Sparkes 1905, p. 13, no. 56 (Dow); HdG, i, 1907, p. 25, pp. 385–6, nos 132–3b (Engl. edn, pp. 389–90);¹⁷ Dacier 1910, pp. 16 (no. 30), 21–2, cat. p. 15 (ill.; Related works, no, 2) [6]; Thompson, i, 1910, fig. 5; Martin 1911, pp. 75, 159 (no. 2) or 160 (no. 23), 190 (no. 162); Martin 1913, pp. xvii, 99 (fig.), 184; Cook 1914, pp. 33–4, no. 56;¹⁸ Cook 1926, pp. 32–3; Boström 1949; Cat. 1953, p. 18; Paintings 1954, pp. 13, [59]; MacLaren 1960, p. 439, under NG2568 (Vermeer; denies any relation with DPG56); Haacke 1968, p. 35 (the instrument is a clavichord); Morawińska 1974, p. 42, no. 30, fig. 45; Kitson 1980, pp. 849, 851; Murray 1980a, p. 51;¹⁹ Murray 1980b, p. 12; Sumowski 1983–94, i (1983), pp. 444, 534, no. 287; Sutton 1984a, pp. xli (fig. 57), lxv (note 107);²⁰ Brown 1984, pp. 118 (fig.), 137; Sluijter 1988, p. 52, note 168; Sluijter, Enklaar & Nieuwenhuizen 1988, pp. 113, 115 (note 2), under no. 16; Hecht 1989, pp. 56–9, no. 8; Baer 1990, p. 75, under Cat. 87.4, Cat. 111.1-5 and Cat. 114.2, and under Cat. B 6 (p. 2); MacLaren & Brown 1991, p. 469, under no. NG2568 (J. Vermeer); Sluijter 1991, pp. 59–60 (fig. 12), 63; Liedtke 1992a, p. 335; Third Way 1994; Sumowski 1983–94, vi (1994), p. 3597, no. 287; Buijsen & Grijp 1994, p. 368; Broos & Wheelock 1995, p. 202 (fig. 2); Beresford 1998, p. 90; B. Werche in Schulze 1998, pp. 42–3; Lammertse 1998, p. 70, under no. 20; Wheelock 2000, pp. 13 (fig. 1), 20, 21 (fig. 8), 24; Baer 2000a, pp. 2 (fig.), 39, 124–5, 142–3, no. 30; Gaskell 2000, p. 533 (fig. 63); Laabs 2000, p. 34 (fig.), under Gal. no. 1764 [?Pieter van Slingelandt];²¹ Shawe-Taylor 2000, pp. 54–5; F. Lammertse in Giltaij 2004, pp. 160–62, no. 40; Neumeister 2005, pp. 353–4 (fig. 340), under no. SG 512 (Anthonie Palamedesz.); Jonckheere 2008, p. 141, fig. 93; Dejardin 2009b, pp. 40–41; Klessmann 2010, pp. 26–7 (fig. 11); Salomon 2010, pp. 42–5, no. 5; M. Wieseman in Vogtherr & Tonkovich 2011, p. 115 (fig. 50), under no. 21 (Godfried Schalcken); Franits 2011, pp. 132–3, figs 84, 149; Christie’s, New York, 25 January 2012, p. 150, under lot 49; Mason 2012, n.p.; Ebert 2013, p. 65 (fig. 2); Jonker & Bergvelt 2016, pp. 69–73; Waiboer 2017, pp. 14, 30, 44, 47–8; Wieseman 2017, pp. 52, 58, 62, 135–9, 243 (no. 4.1); RKD, no. 250405: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/images/250405 (Dec. 25, 2017).

EXHIBITIONS
?Leiden 1665; London/Leeds 1947–53, n.p., no. 11 (A. Blunt; wrongly described as signed); London 1976, p. 37, no. 32 (C. Brown); Ten Paintings 1980, pp. 26–7, no. 8 (C. Brown text from London 1976); Amsterdam 1989, pp. 56–9 (P. Hecht); Frankfurt 1998, pp. 42–3, no. 6 (B. Werche); Houston/Louisville 1999–2000, pp. 160–61, no. 51 (I. A. C. Dejardin); Washington/London/The Hague 2000–2001, pp. 124–5, 142–3, no. 30 (R. Baer); Madrid 2003, pp. 110–11, 238 (English transl.), no. 8 (A. Vergara); Rotterdam/Frankfurt 2004–5, pp. 160–62, no. 40 (F. Lammertse); New York 2010, pp. 42–5, no. 5 (X. Salomon); Rome 2012, pp. 120–21, no. 8 (A. K. Wheelock); London 2013, pp. 38–9, no. 4 (M. E. Wieseman); Paris/Dublin/Washington 2017–18, p. 243, no. 4.1 (M. E. Wieseman).

TECHNICAL NOTES
Single-member oak panel. There is a damaged seal (possibly of Bourgeois) on the back. Pale green-grey ground. There are small pentimenti, including a tassel hanging from the crimson cushion and a fold under the right-hand page of the music. Infrared photography has revealed a metal ewer underneath the tablecloth, indicating that the composition of the still life in this area changed somewhat during execution. The paint surface is in good condition, with slight wear and some small restored losses. Previous recorded treatment: 1936, woodworm holes filled; 1967, reframed after burglary; 1989, cleaned and restored.

Apparently not signed or dated. The 1947 catalogue says that there was a ‘GDov’ signature (GD as monogram), but that could not be found in 1976.²² In general the painting is a bit rubbed, which shows especially in the face of the girl: in the UV photograph the outline of the face is sharper. An infrared photograph shows changes in the table on the right: originally there was a ewer, as in Lady at her Toilet in Rotterdam (Related works, no. 8) [4], which is also depicted on the shutters around the Dropsical Woman in the Louvre (Related works, no. 9) [2].

The composition is similar to that of Lady at her Toilet (Related works, no. 8), so the rather indistinct space in the background of DPG56 is probably here also meant as a wall covered with decorated leather, as is visible in the UV photograph.²³

RELATED WORKS
1) Gerard Dou, A Young Lady playing the Virginal, panel, 39 x 32 cm. Johnny van Haeften, London, 2012 (formerly Gould collection, New York; Alfred de Rothschild, 1884; Earl of Northbrook; William Wells of Redleaf, 1810; ?Gildemeester sale, Philippe van der Schley, Amsterdam, 11 June 1800 (Lugt 6102), lot 34; ?Maréchal d’Issenghien, Paris, in or before 1754 (Descamps, ii, 1754, p. 223);²⁴ ?Johan de Bye, Leiden, 18 Sept. 1665, no. 23;²⁵ Baer B 6 [5].²⁶
2) Copy: Gabriel de Saint-Aubin, black chalk sketch made in the margin of the catalogue at the comte du Barry sale, Paris, 1774. Institut national d’histoire de l’art, Coll. Jacques Doucet, Paris [6] .²⁷
3) ?Version: (Pupil of ) Gerard Dou, Girl playing the Harpsichord, panel, 38 x 30.5 cm. Present whereabouts unknown (formerly Imperial collection, Berlin, 1913; Potsdam Palace, 1842; Sanssouci, Berlin, 1763–86); Baer C 67, p. 3 [7].²⁸
4) ?Copy after 3: ?Dominicus van Tol,²⁹ Girl playing a Virginal, panel, 33 x 27.5 cm. Essex County Council, Chelmsford Shire Hall, 10; not in Baer [8].³⁰
4a) Copy after 3: Cornelis-Henricus van Meurs after Gerard Dou, Young Woman at the Virginal, c. 1720–30, etching and engraving, 317 x 268 mm. RPK, RM, Amsterdam, RP-P-1908-292 [9].³¹
5) Follower of Gerard Dou, Girl and Man at a Clavichord (The Music Lesson), panel, 60 x 46.4 cm. Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, 1764 [10].³²
6) Copy (after DPG56?): Balthasar Beschey sale, Antwerp, Cauldron, 1 July 1776, lot 182 (Lugt 2565).³³
7) (including a depiction of no. 1) Adriaan de Lelie, The Art Gallery of Jan Gildemeester, signed and dated A. de Lelie f. Aº 1794–95, panel, 63.7 × 85.7 cm. RM, Amsterdam, SK-A-4100 [11].³⁴
8) Gerard Dou, Lady at her Toilet, signed and dated Gdov 1667, panel, 75.5 x 58 cm. BvB, Rotterdam, 1186; Baer Cat. 114 [4].³⁵
9) Gerard Dou, Still Life with Silver Ewer, Basin and Cloth, shutters of The Dropsical Woman, 1663, panel, each 102.5 x 82 cm. Louvre, Paris, 1214 (and 1213); Baer Cat. 87 [2].³⁶
10) Gerard Dou, The Young Mother, 1658, panel (rounded at the top), 73.5 x 55.5 cm. MH, The Hague, 32; Baer Cat. 76.³⁷
11) Gerard Dou, An Interior with a Young Violinist, signed and dated G. Dou 1637, 32 x 23.5 cm. NGS, Edinburgh, NG 2420; Baer Cat. 26.³⁸
12a) Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts, Trompe-l’œil with Trumpet, Celestial Globe and Proclamation by Frederick III, signed and dated Cornelius Norbertus Gijsbrechts F Ao 1670, canvas, 132 x 201 cm. SMK, Copenhagen, KMSst461.³⁹
12b) Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts, Trompe-l’œil. Paintings, Painter’s Tools and a Flower-Patterned Table-Cover in the Artist’s Studio, probably 1670, canvas, 132 x 199 cm. SMK, Copenhagen, KMSso812 [12].⁴⁰
13) Johannes Vermeer, A Young Woman seated at a Virginal, c. 1670–72, canvas, 51.5 x 45.5 cm. NG, London, NG2568.⁴¹
14) Johannes Vermeer, Young Woman seated at a Virginal (or Woman in Yellow), c. 1670 or later, canvas, 25.5 x 20.1 cm. The Leiden Collection, New York City, JVe-100 [13].⁴²
15) Michiel van Musscher, Portrait of the Artist in his Studio, 1673, panel, 37.4 x 28.6 cm. The Leiden Collection, New York City, MM-103.⁴³
16) Michiel van Musscher, Michiel Comans […] and his Third Wife, 1669, canvas, 71 x 63 cm. RM, Amsterdam, SK-A-4135.⁴⁴
17) Johann Jacob Dorner I, Duke Maximilian III Joseph of Bavaria at the Lathe, with Count von Salern, 1765. Bayerische Verwaltung der Staatlichen Schlosser, Gärten und Seen, Munich [14].⁴⁵
Lent to the RA to be copied in 1854.

It seems likely that DPG56 featured in the Leiden exhibition in 1665, where Een claversimbelspeelster (no. 2) and Een meysge op een claversingel speelende (no. 23) are mentioned (see Provenance). The instrument would now be called a clavichord, but many terms have been used since the 17th century. Only two paintings with ‘clavichord’-playing women are among the accepted works of Dou: DPG56 and the Van Haeften painting (Related works, no.1) [5]; a third picture formerly considered to be a Dou is not accepted by Baer (Related works, no. 3) [7].⁴⁶ No others are mentioned in the documents. DPG56 was probably no. 2 in the 1665 exhibition. There has been much confusion about the provenance of DPG56 and the Van Haeften painting, for instance in Hofstede de Groot 1907 and Murray 1980a. The small sketch that Gabriel de Saint-Aubin made in 1774 at the du Barry sale (Related works, no. 2) [6] is definitely not after the Van Haeften painting, but might well be after DPG56. The painting shown in Adriaan de Lelie’s The Art Gallery of Jan Gildemeester (Related works, no. 7) [11] is certainly not DPG56, and is most probably the Van Haeften painting.

Apart from a short period around 1850, when DPG56 was thought to be a copy, or attributed to Pieter van Slingelandt,⁴⁷ it has been regarded as one of Dou’s best works. Its date is thought to be c. 1665 or earlier, which would be acceptable in comparison with dated pieces of similar character, such as The Young Mother of 1658 (Related works, no. 10) and the Lady at her Toilet of 1667 (Related works, no. 8). The presumed presence of DPG56 in the Leiden exhibition of 1665 of course influences its dating. The difference between it and An Interior with a Young Violinist of 1637 (Related works, no. 11) is not so great: there is just a certain stiffness in the earlier painting. Caution is however needed in dating Dou’s pictures, even when they appear to be clearly dated.⁴⁸

As to the subject, a woman playing an instrument, her gaze in the direction of the onlooker in a comfortable interior, could be a portrait, a history piece, or a so-called burgerlijk figuurstuk (literally a middle-class picture with figures: a genre painting). In general, when there is no specific characterization of persons or situations, as in this case, the third option is the most likely.

DPG56
Gerard Dou
Young woman playing at a clavichord, c. 1665
Dulwich (Southwark), Dulwich Picture Gallery, inv./cat.nr. DPG056

3
X-ray of DPG56

4
Gerard Dou
Young woman at her toilet, dated 1667
Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, inv./cat.nr. 1186

5
Gerard Dou
Young woman playing a clavichord, c. 1665
London (England), art dealer Johnny Van (London) Haeften

6
Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin
Woman playing the clavichord, 1774
Paris, Institut national d’histoire de l'art

7
Gerard Dou
Young woman playing the clavichord, c. 1665
New York City, The Leiden Collection, inv./cat.nr. GD-117

8
after Gerard Dou
Girl playing a virginal, 1665-1699
Chelmsford (England), Shire Hall Chelmsford, inv./cat.nr. 10

9
Cornelis-Henricus van Meurs after Gerard Dou
Young woman playing the clavichord
Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet, inv./cat.nr. RP-P-1908-292

10
follower of Gerard Dou
Music lesson, c. 1664-1669
Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden - Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, inv./cat.nr. 1764

There are many theories about the intention of the artist and interpretations of the subject. They spring essentially from two different, sometimes opposite, points of view. One sees the painting as a meticulous study of objects made of different materials, to produce a konstig, ‘artistic’, work. The other, which started in the 1960s, sees it as full of hidden meanings in the figure and in the relationship of the objects to one another. In such iconographical studies, music-making, especially by the two sexes together, combined with alcohol (as here indicated by the wine glass, wine cooler, flask and vine branch) or the promise of it, is seen to denote love and sex. In DPG56 (and similar compositions) the male is absent but is the onlooker toward whom the girl gazes. Emblem books in particular support such ideas. In 1994 the Christian newspaper Third Way contrasted DPG56 and Rubens’s DPG285: where Rubens’s painting was considered obscene in the 19th century, ‘Dou’s Lady Playing a Clavichord seems very innocent. In fact it is 17th-century pornography, full of coded sexual invitation.’

The argument against seeing DPG56 in this way – and other Dutch paintings for that matter – is that there are no contemporary sources, published or in manuscript, that confirm such an interpretation for a painting as a whole, as opposed to the interpretation of individual objects.

Dou used similar objects in several paintings, but they are never depicted in exactly the same way. The musical instrument on the table in DPG56 – nowadays called a clavichord – is a small portable stringed keyboard instrument used from the 15th century onwards. (In modern Dutch usage a clavecimbel is a harpsichord, a bigger instrument.) The differences between the many forms of keyboard instrument are not very well defined; the instruments in Dou’s paintings are all what we now call the clavichord type, but closest is the virginal or virginaal.⁴⁹ In a discussion of the erotic element in this painting and the comparable ones, ‘virgin’ in the name of the instrument could be important. Although the insides of the lids are sometimes decorated with painting, Dou seems here to have chosen patterned paper, probably block-printed.⁵⁰ The instrument standing on the floor to the right is a ‘viol’ or ‘base viol’ – not a cello but a viola da gamba.⁵¹

For the curtain, Dou chose a tapestry made in the northern Netherlands, possibly in Delft or Gouda.⁵² The same tapestry, evidently a studio prop, appears in at least eight other paintings by him, and in at least five paintings by pupils and followers.⁵³ A similar European tapestry appears in a still life by Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts of 1670 (Related works, no. 12b) [12]; the pendant of that picture (Related works, no. 12a) shows an Eastern tapestry, the artist probably intending a contrast between East and West. Eastern textiles were very popular at the time.⁵⁴ Whether Dou chose a European textile for aesthetic reasons or to give a ‘Dutch’ touch remains uncertain.

The wine cooler basin is of brass, similar to known examples.⁵⁵ The flask with a screw top, probably of painted pewter, is, like the basin, a recurrent motif in Dou’s work.⁵⁶

Dou's influence has often been seen in Vermeer’s Young Woman seated at a Virginal in London (Related works, no. 13), and there are indeed many similarities, as there are with Vermeer’s Woman in Yellow (Related works, no. 14) [13], generally dated c. 1670–75. Vermeer might have seen Dou’s works in the 1665 exhibition. The paintings have in common the position of the keyboard, nearly parallel to the image but not quite, the position of the body, the hand and the head, and also the gaze. The tapestry in Vermeer’s London picture is also Dutch. His instrument, however, is much larger, and its lid is decorated with a painted landscape.

Other artists whose work shows appreciation or at least knowledge of Dou’s work are Michiel van Musscher and Johann Jacob Dorner. Van Musscher in a Self-Portrait used almost the same tapestry as Dou (Related works, no. 15) and in a double portrait of 1669 he placed a very similar vase with flowers on the windowsill (Related works, no. 16). In 1765 Johann Jacob Dorner painted Duke Maximilian III Joseph of Bavaria in his workshop (Related works, no. 17) [14]; the position of the Duke, the tapestry, and the open window are clearly based on Dou’s composition, while the clavichord has been transformed into a lathe.⁵⁷ It is fascinating to see how a 17th-century Dutch bourgeois interior is transformed into an 18th-century Bavarian princely image.

13
Johannes Vermeer
Young woman seated at a virginal, c. 1670-1672
New York City, The Leiden Collection, inv./cat.nr. JVe-100

14
Johann Jacob Dorner (I)
Duke Maximilian III Joseph of Bavaria at the Lathe, with Count von Salern, dated 1765
Munich, Gärten und Seen Bayerische Verwaltung der staatlichen Schlösser