Description
The Lute Player is an early work by Caravaggio, painted around 1596: a young musician in a white shirt sits behind a stone table, playing the lute and singing, with an open book of music in front of him and a violin, a vase of flowers and fruit beside it. The original, oil on canvas, is 94 cm high and 119 cm wide and belongs to the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. Our painter paints it for you by hand in oil on canvas, in 8 landscape sizes from 50 x 39 to 200 x 159 cm or to a size you choose, and before it ships we show you the finished painting in a photograph.
| Title: | The Lute Player |
| Other titles: | Il suonatore di liuto · Der Lautenspieler |
| Painter: | Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610) |
| Year painted: | c. 1596 |
| Original size: | 94 cm x 119 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Baroque, tenebrism |
| Located at: | The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
The Lute Player – Caravaggio
What does The Lute Player show?
Behind a table with a bare marble top sits a youth with soft features and thick brown hair. He wears a loose white shirt, holds the lute in his lap and plays it, his lips slightly parted because he is singing at the same time.
On the table in front of him lies an open part-book in which the notes are clearly legible. On one side rests a violin; on the other stands a vase of flowers, with fruit spread out beside it.
The light comes from the left. It catches the young man’s face and the white of his sleeves first, then slides over the rounded body of the lute and settles on petals and fruit.
What is the young man singing, and who sat for him?
The youth accompanies himself on the lute as he sings a madrigal about love. The book in front of him holds madrigals by Jacques Arcadelt (1515–1568), and part of the text can be read: “Vous savez que je vous aime et vous adore … Je fus vôtre”, meaning “You know that I love you and adore you … I was yours”.
The flowers, the bruised fruit and the cracked body of the lute point to transience. The love he sings of is, like everything else, fleeting and mortal.
The rather androgynous model could be Pedro Montoya, a castrato in the household of Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte who sang in the Sistine Chapel at the time. Caravaggio’s biographer Peter Robb sees in him instead the painter’s companion Mario Minniti, who also posed for one of the two versions of The Fortune Teller.
Why is The Lute Player so admired?
Caravaggio’s early biographer Giovanni Baglione describes a youth playing the lute, painted for Cardinal del Monte, that seemed altogether alive and real. According to Baglione, Caravaggio called it the best piece he ever painted.
The still-life passages are of an extremely high standard. The opening notes of the madrigals are copied so precisely that the songs can be identified.
The light was new as well. The painter Giulio Mancini recorded that Caravaggio worked under a strong light from above, with a single window and walls painted black. More on the history of the work is in the Wikipedia article, in English.
Where is the original, and where did it come from?
The original is kept in the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg under inventory number ГЭ-45. Before that it belonged to the collection of Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani, del Monte’s friend and neighbour and Caravaggio’s other important patron in those years.
In 1808 Tsar Alexander I of Russia bought it at an auction in Paris through his personal art adviser Vasily Rudanovsky, with the support of Vivant Denon.
Two official versions of the composition exist: the Hermitage one and the one in the Wildenstein collection, which was on show for many years at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. A third, from Badminton House, has been proposed, and in 2020 the Galleria Borghese in Rome exhibited it together with the St Petersburg canvas.
In the Hermitage version the drapery is more cursory, the vase shows no reflections of a window, and the left edge of the canvas cuts through the flowers and the scroll of the violin.
The Lute Player or another Caravaggio?
The Lute Player is a canvas painting for music lovers and admirers of the early, bright Caravaggio.
From the same Roman years comes The Cardsharps, where a game of cards at a table turns into a swindle. Saint Catherine of Alexandria also belonged to Cardinal del Monte’s collection: the saint kneels beside her broken spiked wheel and looks calmly out at us.
For the fruit and flowers alone, look at Still Life with Fruit on a Stone Ledge, attributed to Caravaggio. All the famous Caravaggio paintings we offer are gathered on the Caravaggio page.
How does our painter paint The Lute Player?
We start each Lute Player only once you have ordered it, in oil on canvas and layer by layer. The painter first draws the youth, the outline of the lute and the edge of the table with a fine brush, then lays in the dark background and the calm planes of marble.
Next he builds up the skin: warm transitions on the cheeks, the shadow under the chin, the light on the fingers touching the strings.
Last of all, with the finest brushes, he paints the notes in the book, the flowers in the vase one by one and the fruit on the table. This Caravaggio reproduction carries brushmarks you can feel. As an oil painting reproduction it looks serene by day, while in the evening, under a lamp, the white shirt and the flowers glow out of the dark.
Which size suits your wall?
In short: 50 x 39 or 65 x 49 cm for a narrow wall or a music corner, 70 x 57 or 90 x 70 cm for a bedroom or study, 110 x 90 or 140 x 111 cm above a sofa or piano, and 160 x 123 or 200 x 159 cm for a large open wall.
We paint The Lute Player in 8 landscape sizes (width x height): 50 x 39, 65 x 49, 70 x 57, 90 x 70, 110 x 90, 140 x 111, 160 x 123 and 200 x 159 cm. The closest to the original is 110 x 90 cm, which is 9 cm narrower and 4 cm lower.
As a painting for the living room it works well at 140 x 111 cm above a sofa.
Can I choose a different size and a frame?
Yes. The flowers on the left and the violin on the other side reach almost to the edges, so for a different ratio we adapt the composition to keep both whole. Tell us which width and height would suit your room, and we will reply with a price and a lead time.
We send The Lute Player rolled in a tube, stretched on a stretcher bar or ready framed. The stretching and framing of your Lute Player happen in our workshop in Slovenia. You choose the frame in our 3D app, which is for choosing a frame only; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
When and how will your Lute Player arrive?
We begin painting your Lute Player as soon as you confirm the order, and it ships within 15 to 45 working days. Beforehand you receive a photograph of the finished painting; if you would like a change, we make it before dispatch. Nothing is charged in customs within Slovenia or anywhere else in the EU, and every Lute Player order is covered by our returns policy.
The Lute Player makes a lovely gift for a musician or anyone who plays the guitar or the lute. If you would rather the musician chose the size, a wall art voucher leaves the choice to them.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the original of The Lute Player hang?
In the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, ever since Tsar Alexander I bought it in 1808.
What is the youth in the painting singing?
A madrigal about love; the book in front of him holds madrigals by Jacques Arcadelt.
Will I receive a print?
No. Each of our Lute Players is a hand-painted copy, made with a brush and oil paints on canvas.
How large is the original?
It is 94 cm high and 119 cm wide; our closest size is 110 x 90 cm.
Are there several versions of this composition?
Yes, officially two, in the Hermitage and in the Wildenstein collection; a third has been proposed.
Does it suit a bedroom?
Yes; the calm, single-figure scene suits a bedroom as well as a living room.
Will you paint it in a size that is not listed?
Yes. Send us the width and height you need, and we will quote a price and a delivery date for your Lute Player.
How long will I wait for the painting?
15 to 45 working days, and you receive a photograph of the finished painting before it ships.
- Subject: a youth in a white shirt plays the lute and sings; on the table lie a music book, a violin, flowers and fruit.
- Original: c. 1596, oil on canvas, 94 x 119 cm, State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg.
- Ours: painted by hand with oil paints on canvas, in 8 landscape sizes from 50 x 39 to 200 x 159 cm or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: the notes in the book are legible, they are madrigals by Jacques Arcadelt; a second version is in the Wildenstein collection.
