The Terrace
Dutch
c. 1660
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
106.9 × 87.4 cm (42 1/16 × 34 3/8 in.); Framed: 128.9 × 109.2 × 5.4 cm (50 3/4 × 43 × 2 1/8 in.)
Classification
oil on canvas
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
62460
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
The military gear, musical instruments, and songbooks scattered throughout this composition hint at worldly and romantic pursuits, but the chief subject of the painting is the illusionism of the near and far objects framed by the window. Optical challenges were particularly intriguing to artists working in the Dutch city of Delft. This painting would have blurred the boundaries of indoor and outdoor when hung in a collector’s home.