A Music Party

A young woman, leaning nonchalantly on a parapet, looks out at the viewer. Her extravagant headwear, topped with a flourish of white feathers and a medallion, is matched in its decadence by her voluminous sleeve that dominates the foreground. The characterful heads of two male figures fill the shallow background space. The group fits with a trend for ‘concert paintings’ in sixteenth-century northern Italian art. Reflecting the contemporary fashion for musical gatherings, these works depicted an ensemble of characters involved in singing or music making. Here, the silent female figure is holding a musical score for the male singers to follow, her index finger extended to follow the notes or beat time as they sing.  

There has been much debate about the attribution of this painting. After its acquisition by Dulwich Picture Gallery’s founders, it was believed to be the work of Venetian artist, Giorgione (1477-1510), though this attribution has since been revised. A connection to the Italian city of Venice may help to reveal more about this painting’s subjects. The city’s sumptuary laws dictated that women could only wear a single colour silk, ‘without a cut or banded pattern’. This woman’s obvious flouting of these rules, with her enormous striped sleeve, may suggest she is benefiting from the liberties afforded to courtesans.