Musicians in Art

Street performers, court ensembles, and solitary players — music's makers caught mid-note by artists who could paint what cannot be heard.

599 public-domain artworks from six world museums · free to view and download

작자미상 범천왕을 중심으로 한 신중도 조선|作者未詳神衆圖朝鮮|Brahma with Attendants and Musicians

Unidentified artist, late 16th century

A Lady Playing the Tanpura

Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)

Amasis Painter, ca. 550–530 BCE

Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque)

Georges Seurat, 1887–88

The Spanish Singer

Edouard Manet, 1860

"The Eavesdropper", Folio 47r from a Haft Paikar (Seven Portraits) of the Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja

Maulana Azhar|Nizami|Unknown, ca. 1430

The Musicians

Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi), 1597

Monteith with the Gibbs and Nelthorpe coats of arms

Armorial Plate (tondino): The story of King Midas

Nicola da Urbino, ca. 1520–25

Musical Clock with Spinet and Organ

Veit Langenbucher|Samuel Bidermann, ca. 1625

Lute Player

Valentin de Boulogne, ca. 1625–26

Turquoise Bowl with Lute Player and Audience

Marble seated harp player

Wall painting from Room H of the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale

Merry Company on a Terrace

Jan Steen, ca. 1670

"The Story of the Princess of the Blue Pavillion: The Youth of Rum Is Entertained in a Garden by a Fairy and her Maidens", Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Amir Khusrau Dihlavi

Manohar|Muhammad Husain Kashmiri|Amir Khusrau Dihlavi, 1597–98

Julius Caesar (from the Heroes Tapestries)

The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux, Queen of France

Jean Pucelle, ca. 1324–28

隋彩繪陶持鼓伎樂女俑|Female musician with drum

Ewer

Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory, ca. 1761

A Quartet of Singers, Lute players, and Bell Ringers Playing in a Tavern by Candlelight

Leonaert Bramer, mid to late 17th century

唐彩繪陶樂伎女俑|Female musician

Guitar Player

Fred Becker|WPA, 1935–39

Trombone Player

Fred Becker|WPA, 1935–40

Village Violinist

Anders Zorn, 1904

Bandmaster, from the Occupations of Women series (N502) for Frishmuth's Tobacco Company

Frishmuth's Tobacco Company, 1889

The Harp Player (A Solo)

Kenyon Cox, 1888

Bandmaster, from the Occupations for Women series (N166) for Old Judge and Dogs Head Cigarettes

Goodwin & Company, 1887

Violinist, Study for "The Dance Lesson"

Edgar Degas, ca. 1878–79

[Photo Collage: Musician Playing Trumpet]

Juan Pedro Chabalgoity, ca. 1875

The Bagpiper

Johann Christoph Erhard|Ferdinand Kettner, 1817

Drummer

Astbury-Whieldon, ca. 1750

Plate 16: Ship of musicians with the sea god Claucus and tritons (Barcha di musici rapra Clauco dio marino e Tritoni), from the series 'The magnificent pageant on the river Arno in Florence for the marriage of the Grand Duke' (Le Magnifique carousel fait sur le fleuve de l'Arne a Florence, pour le mariage du Grand Duc), for the wedding celebration of Cosimo de' Medici in Florence, 1608

Anonymous|Giulio Parigi|Remigio Cantagallina|Jean Sauvé, 1664