The Strolling Musicians
Medium
etching and drypoint
Dimensions
sheet: 14.5 × 11.8 cm · platemark: 14.1 × 11.5 cm
Classification
Department
Prints
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1976.54
Tags
male
About this artwork
Although 17th-century Holland produced neither noteworthy composers nor renowned performers, rarely has another culture produced so many visual images of music as the Dutch. In this depiction of a pair of itinerant musicians wearily shuffling from door to door, Rembrandt reveals his compassionate understanding of human frailties. The hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes, as depicted here, were frequently associated with itinerant beggars and blind street singers in paintings and prints of the period.