Lute-Player and a Standing Man
17th century
Medium
Mezzotint; second state of two
Dimensions
plate: 10 5/8 x 8 1/8 in. (27 x 20.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1980
Accession Number
1980.1077.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the intimate print *Lute-Player and Standing Man*, Wallerant Vaillant captures a moment of quiet musical companionship after a painting by David Teniers the Younger, masters of 17th-century Northern European art. Teniers, a Flemish genre painter renowned for his lively depictions of everyday life—peasants, taverns, and musicians—provided the original composition, while Vaillant, a Dutch innovator, translated it into print Created in the Baroque era, the scene reflects the era's fascination with domestic music-making, where lutes symbolized refinement and leisure among the middle class. Thi...
About the Artist
Wallerant Vaillant|David Teniers the Younger · 1623–1677
Wallerant Vaillant (1623-1677) was a French-born Dutch Golden Age painter and printmaker who pioneered the mezzotint technique in printmaking. Born in Lille on May 30, 1623, he died in Amsterdam on August 28, 1677, leaving behind a significant legacy as both a portraitist and innovator in graphic arts. Vaillant holds a distinguished place in art history as one of the first professional artists to...