Description
The Musicians is a Caravaggio from about 1595: four young men in loose white and red robes sit crowded together; one tunes a lute, one reads from a music book, one looks straight at us, and the fourth, with small wings, picks grapes. The original, oil on canvas, is 92.1 cm high and 118.4 cm wide and belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Our painter paints it by hand to your order in oils on canvas, in 8 landscape sizes from 52 x 42 to 190 x 150 cm or made to measure, and before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished work.
| Title: | The Musicians |
| Other titles: | I musici · Concert of Youths |
| Painter: | Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610) |
| Year painted: | c. 1595 |
| Original size: | 92.1 cm x 118.4 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Baroque, tenebrism |
| Located at: | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
The Musicians – Caravaggio
What does The Musicians show?
On a landscape canvas four young musicians sit in so tight a group that their shoulders almost touch. All wear loose white and red garments modelled on Greek or Roman dress.
In the middle sits the lute player in a white shirt, with a dark red cloak thrown over it. He holds the lute in his lap and tunes it, one hand at the pegbox and the other on the strings. His lips are parted and his eyes are moist, as if moved by the song he is singing.
At the front right a youth turns his bare back to us. The white cloth has slipped from his shoulder, and a reddish-brown sash tied in a large bow holds it at the waist. He holds an open part-book and reads his line. Behind him a dark-haired horn player looks straight out of the painting.
On the left a boy with wings like Cupid’s, a few arrows behind his shoulder, bends over a bunch of pale grapes and pulls it from the vine. In front, on the white cloth, lie a violin with its bow and an open sheet of music.
What does the scene mean?
This is not a portrait of a real ensemble but an allegory. According to Wikipedia, just as food sustains life, music sustains love. That is why Cupid, the god of love, sits among the singers and players, absent-mindedly busy with his grapes.
The music that can still be read shows the young men rehearsing madrigals, songs about love. The lute player’s eyes are wet with tears, so the songs are presumed to tell of love’s sorrow rather than its pleasures.
Nobody plays the violin in the foreground. In the reading given on Wikipedia it hints at a fifth participant, and that fifth person is you, standing before the painting.
Why is The Musicians so well known?
Because it is thought to be the first work Caravaggio painted expressly for Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte. The cardinal was passionate about music and kept many instruments in his house, which the young painter could use as models.
He painted the four figures from live models, as was his habit: the faces are not idealised but have flushed cheeks, tousled hair and wholly individual features. The lute player has been identified as Caravaggio’s companion Mario Minniti, and the youth facing us may be a self-portrait of the painter.
The painter and biographer Giovanni Baglione wrote that Caravaggio painted for the cardinal youths making music and also a youth playing a lute. That second work is very probably The Lute Player, which forms a pair with this one. More on the patron and the readings of the scene is in the Wikipedia article, in English.
Where is the original, and how did it get there?
The original belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, accession number 52.81.
After Cardinal del Monte’s death the painting was sold on 8 May 1628. It changed hands a few more times; in 1638 it was inventoried in the collection of Cardinal Richelieu, and it stayed with the Duchesse d’Aiguillon until 1657. After that its trail went cold.
According to the museum’s catalogue entry, it was bought at a house sale in 1952, and it has been in New York ever since. It was extensively restored in 1983.
The Musicians or another Caravaggio?
The Musicians is a canvas painting for anyone whose life is full of music: players, choir singers, music teachers and concertgoers.
For more young figures, see The Cardsharps, where two tricksters cheat an unsuspecting young man at the card table. A similarly sly moment is caught in The Fortune Teller, in which a girl reads the palm of a young gentleman.
From the same years comes Bacchus, where a young man crowned with vine leaves offers a glass of wine and grapes again play their part. The full list of famous Caravaggio paintings we offer is on the Caravaggio page.
How does our painter paint The Musicians?
We start only after you order, in oils on canvas, layer by layer. The painter first draws the four intertwined figures, their hands, the lute and the violin with care.
Then he builds the light out of the dark ground step by step. First come the deep shadows of the background, then the red cloak, which needs several glazes before it glows like velvet, and last the white cloth, whose folds are made of greys, pale yellows and pure white.
The instruments take the most patience: the rounded lute, the violin and the tiny notes on paper. This hand-painted copy has a real surface, and side light shows the brushwork clearly. As an oil painting reproduction rich in white and red it comes alive in daylight, and in the evening a warm lamp brings out the faces.
Which size suits which wall?
In short: 52 x 42 or 66 x 53 cm above a desk or a piano, 75 x 59 or 95 x 75 cm for a bedroom, hallway or music room, 105 x 85 or 135 x 106 cm above a sofa or sideboard, and 150 x 120 or 190 x 150 cm for a large living-room wall.
We paint The Musicians in 8 landscape sizes (width x height): 52 x 42, 66 x 53, 75 x 59, 95 x 75, 105 x 85, 135 x 106, 150 x 120 and 190 x 150 cm. The original is 118.4 cm wide and 92.1 cm high. The nearest size, 105 x 85 cm, is 13.4 cm narrower and 7.1 cm lower, while 135 x 106 cm is 16.6 cm wider and 13.9 cm taller.
In the larger sizes the musicians seem to sit in the room with you. As a painting for the living room it works best at 135 x 106 or 150 x 120 cm.
Can I have another size or a frame?
Yes. If your wall calls for different proportions, we adapt the composition so that all four young men, the lute and the violin stay whole on the canvas. Send us the width and height you want and we will quote a price and a date.
The painting is shipped rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed. Our workshop in Slovenia does the stretching and framing and prepares each painting before it leaves for its buyer. You pick the moulding in our 3D app, which serves only for choosing a frame; showing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
When will it arrive, and how is it delivered?
Once you confirm the order the painter starts work, and the painting is ready to ship in 15 to 45 working days. Before we pack it, we send you a photograph of the finished painting and make any changes you ask for. No customs duty applies anywhere in the EU, Slovenia included, and our returns policy protects every purchase.
It makes a fine gift for a musician or a couple who met at a concert. If you are unsure about the size, give a wall art voucher and let the recipient choose.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the original hang?
In the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, under accession number 52.81.
Who are the four young men?
A lute player, a youth with a part-book, a horn player who looks at us, and Cupid picking grapes.
Is this a print?
No. Each Caravaggio reproduction we sell is painted with brush and oil paint on canvas, layer by layer.
How big is the original?
It is 118.4 cm wide and 92.1 cm high; our nearest size, 105 x 85 cm, is a little smaller.
Why does the boy on the left have wings?
He is Cupid, the god of love; in the usual reading, music feeds love as food feeds life.
Is it suitable for a music room or bedroom?
Yes: music and youth give it a warm mood, especially above a piano.
Is a size outside the list possible?
Yes. Tell us the width and height, and we will send you a price and a delivery date.
How long does it take?
Between 15 and 45 working days; before The Musicians is shipped, we send you a photo of the finished painting.
- Subject: four young musicians in white and red robes: a lute player, a youth reading music, a horn player and Cupid with grapes; a violin and sheet music in front.
- Original: c. 1595, oil on canvas, 92.1 x 118.4 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
- Ours: hand-painted to order in oils on canvas, 8 landscape sizes from 52 x 42 to 190 x 150 cm or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: probably the first work Caravaggio painted expressly for the music-loving Cardinal del Monte.
