Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/322

 298 GABRIEL METSU SECT. She holds a sheet of music in her left hand, and leans her right hand on the table. Behind the table and almost facing the spectator stands a man with long hair, wearing a cloak and a broad-brimmed hat ; he is tuning a violin. A bass viol lies on the table. To the right of the lady is a dog. Behind the dog is seen one -corner of a mantelpiece supported by a figure of Atlas ; on it are some pieces of china. On the wall at the back, behind the man, is a large picture. The figures are seen in the clear daylight from a window on the left ; the lower part of the window is closed with shutters, on which hangs a mirror partly hidden by the left-hand curtain of green stuff. The lady is thoughtfully gazing at her reflection in this mirror. The room has a boarded floor and a panelled ceiling. " Among the artist's best works" (Sm.). Signed in full on the wall to the left, "G. Metsu" ; panel, i6 inches by 14^ inches. Described by Waagen (i. 401). [A replica, or copy, was lent by W. Harvey to the Guildhall Exhibition, London, 1895 ; it was probably the picture numbered 657 in the Leeds Exhi- bition of 1868, which came from the collections of Franks and of White, Edinburgh.] Exhibited in the British Gallery, 1823. Engraved in the Choiseul Gallery. Sales. Due de Choiseul, Paris, April 6, 1772 (6800 francs). Due de Choiseul-Praslin, Paris, February 18, 1793 (6051 francs). P. Fouquet, Amsterdam, April 13, i8oi,No. 42 ; 1802 (3150 francs). Solirene, Paris, March 1 1, 1812 (4030 francs). Prince de Talleyrand, Paris, July 7, 1817 ; the sale did not take place because W. Buchanan bought the whole collection and imported it into England. In the collection of John Webb, London. In the Erard collection, Paris ; bought by Sm. (420). In the collection of Sir Robert Peel, Bart., 1833 (Sm.). Now in the National Gallery, London, 1906 catalogue, No. 836 ; purchased in 1871 with the Peel collection. 155. THE MUSIC-LESSON. Beside an open virginal sits a young lady in profile to the right, holding out a sheet of music in her right hand to a man who sits on the right facing her. The man holds a tall wine-glass somewhat unsteadily in his right hand, which he leans on the corner of the instrument, and points to the music with his left. On a small table covered with a Turkey carpet, to the man's right, is a violin ; a flagon stands on the floor by the table. On the wall at the back hang two pictures : to the right is a black-framed landscape by Ruisdael, to the left a larger "Twelfth Night Feast" by Metsu in a heavy gilt frame, partly hidden on the left by a curtain. The inner lid and lower edge of the virginal are inscribed respectively : " [I]n te D[o]mine speravi : [N]on conf[un]dar i[n] aeternu[m] " and " [O] mnis . . . [t] Dominum." The scene is brilliantly illumined with daylight from an unseen window to the right. Signed in full, "G. Metsu " ; canvas, 15 inches by 12 inches. Described by Waagen (i. 401).