Lutes and Love: Exploring Eroticism in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting

        Seventeenth-century Dutch genre paintings explored the everyday, placing subjects in natural, domestic settings that emphasized their humanity. Though naturalistic, these paintings were also injected with symbolism, in order to hint at deeper meanings. Dutch artists of the seventeenth century often included the theme of music in their work, whether through depictions of people singing, playing instruments, or both. These musical elements symbolized love, since music traditionally requires at least two people to create harmony. Also, lutes and other instruments were common props of courtesans in the wooing of their lovers. In fact, many seventeenth-century Dutch and European works of women holding lutes imply that the women are courtesans.

          But the types of love symbolized in the women and lute paintings seem to vary. Generally, lutes, because of their connection to courtesans, indicated a sensual and erotic kind of love. Many of these works do carry very strong sexual undertones, tying the woman and her instrument to eroticism. On the other hand, a few appear to point to a love that transcends eroticism. The formal elements of these few focus viewers on the woman and her deeper emotions, rather than what she can offer physically. This collection contains Dutch and European genre paintings that contrast each other in their portrayal. Those that push against the traditional seventeenth-century view of female eroticism hint at a purer form of love. They challenge the stereotype of a woman in love, and they give her new meaning beyond sensuality.

Lady Playing the Lute

Hendrick van Steenwyck the younger

c. 1610s

Oil on oak

National Museum (Stockholm), NM 1520

          Steenwyck depicts an upper-class woman, dressed finely and wearing a lace collar, strumming  a lute. In this painting, the lute, though possibly a symbol of love, points more toward the woman's genteel status, as do the other instruments and the well-furnished and well-lit surroundings. She studies the song book laid open before her, exhibiting intellect and refinement. The woman is not a passionate courtesan, but a lady of artistic talent. Instead of being de-humanized, she is elevated through emphasis on her depth of character.

Young Woman Tuning a Lute
Hendrick ter Brugghen
ca. 1626 - 1627
Oil on canvas
The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, PD.41-2010

          Brugghen's painting shows a woman more fitting to the erotic courtesan stereotype. Though preparing to play a lute, her face turns toward the viewer, and her slightly gaping mouth suggests desire. The paleness of her exposed neck and shoulders contrasts the black background, and it adds to the sensual overtones. Though dressed in rich-looking fabric of blue and red, the woman's hands, her connection between herself and the lute, appear rough and are darker than the rest of her skin. Throughout the painting, Brugghen means to symbolize the less rational, unrestrained side of love.

Self-Portrait as a Lute Player

Artemisia Gentileschi

1615-18

Oil on canvas

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, 2014.4.1

           Although Artemisia was not a Dutch painter, Self-Portrait as a Lute Player provides a bridge between using female lute players to symbolize erotic love and using them to show a more complex form of love. Her self-portrait contains both seduction and seriousness. Even as she emphasizes her neck and breasts, Artemisia also highlights the self-portraits hands, placed elegantly on the lute, and the contours of her thoughtful face. In doing so, she reminds the viewer of her identity as a creator and thinker, not just an object of desire. Subtly, Artemisia hints at her ability to show deep and intellectual love, while still retaining a sense of passion.

A Woman Playing the Theorbo-Lute and a Cavalier

Gerard ter Borch the Younger

ca. 1658

Oil on wood

Metropolitan Museum of Art, 14.40.617

           A Young Woman Playing the Theorbo-Lute and a Cavalier portrays a young woman strumming a lute in a duet with her suitor. The songbook that lies on the table between them is a common gift between lovers for the time period, and the watch next to it is either a symbol of temperance or of the short time the couple has together. There is evidence of love in the way the woman and the cavalier lean toward and gaze at each other, but the scene does not have a sensual atmosphere. The blue of the woman's jacket, the watch, ribbon, and the table cloth, balanced with yellows and browns, creates a serene, tender mood.

The Musician

Bartholomeus van der Helst

1662

Oil on canvas

Metropolitan Museum of Art, 73.2

            In this painting, Helst uses an invitation to a duet to infer sexual invitation as well. It is implied, by the viola de gamba laying before the woman and the sheet music for two people, that the woman holding the lute is looking at a male viewer. With the slight smile on her face and her body leaning forward, she asks the viewer to join her. As in Brugghen's Young Woman Tuning a Lute, the woman's exposed skin stands out from a dark background. This contrast, combined with the rich red color of the cushion below her, as well as the clouded, vibrant sky behind her, heightens the sensuality of the painting.

A Woman Playing a Lute

Frans van Mieris

1663

Oil on panel

National Galleries of Scotland, NG 2795

             Van Mieris's painting, A Woman Playing a Lute, depicts a woman looking a sheet music while playing a lute. She is lit with golden light, while the background is dark, making her stand out in an almost ethereal way. The silk and lace on the woman's dress place her in a higher status, possibly the status of a courtesan. However, she appears focused on her music instead of a lover or the viewer. The golden tint of the scene and the woman's attentive gaze suggest purity, rationality, or modesty, not eroticism.

Young Woman with a Lute

Johannes Vermeer

ca. 1662 - 1663

Oil on canvas

Metropolitan Museum of Art, 25.110.24

             In Young Woman with a Lute, Vermeer captures a truer form of love in the picture of a woman watching out a window for her lover. The soft light falling on her face and torso makes her stand out among dark, heavy furniture. She is positioned farther away, as if the viewer is intruding on a private moment. The expectancy of the woman generates empathy from the viewer. Even the lute that she is tuning does not hold her attention. Vermeer uses light and shadow to make the young woman a beacon, and he shows her devotion through the expression and positioning of her body.