Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Art and Liberty
(18th and 19th Centuries )
This painting typifies the so-called "juste-milieu" (middle path) for which Gallait was so admired during his lifetime. The subject is Romantic in its idealization of the poor but virtuous itinerant musician, who bows to no authority but his own artistic muse. At the same time, it is restrained in its emotional tenor and painted with great technical assurance in the rendering of the body and in the carefully described details of the musician's dress. This is a reduced version of this subject now at the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts of Belgium. When the larger version was exhibited at the Salon of 1851, critics praised the composition for its masterful drawing and melancholic dignity.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Probably Ernest Gambart, London, from ca. 1860; H. D. Hooft van Woudenberg van Geerestein Sale, Amsterdam, 1880, no. 41; William T. Walters, Baltimore, 1880, by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 1980 | Salute to Belgium. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 3/3/1980 | Examination | examined for condition |
| 6/4/1980 | Treatment | varnish removed; surface cleaned; coated; other |
| 6/6/1991 | Treatment | surface cleaned; inpainted; coated |
Geographies
Belgium (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 33 7/8 x W: 25 9/16 in. (86 x 65 cm); Framed H: 39 3/4 x W: 34 x D: 1 3/4 in. (101 x 86.4 x 4.4 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by William T. Walters, 1880
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.78