After scouring the Cummer Art Gallery from stem to stern, I found the piece of art I wanted to write this paper on. The portrait I chose is a baroque, oil-on-canvas painting located in the rear of the Semmes Gallery. The artists name who painted this portrait is Theodor Rombouts. The reason I picked this painting was one, there was a postcard I could buy, and two the subject matter in the painting.
My first impression of this piece was that, the name really did not match the actual painting itself. Personally, as a music major I cannot conceive how five musicians in a small room with one window can be considered a concert. Another thing I noticed within the first few seconds of staring at this painting is that the violinist has a sword strapped to his hip. .
"The Concert" was painted in Flemish on the year 1620, during the Baroque period. Like I stated earlier, the name does not completely match the art. I have been a musician for the most part of my life, and my personal opinion is that the title aught to be "The Rehearsal". .
The painting is three and a half feet tall by six feet wide. This landscape style portrait fits well with the subject matter portrayed. The way the portrait is set up, the artist makes it look like the musicians left the doors wide open into their music studio for you to see into their world. The picture tends to bring you up close and personal into the moment of this painting, and puts within listening distance to the tunes they play.
There is much to be seen in this portrait. There are many things going on in there as well as some hiding meanings or subliminal messages. For one, the info tag on the side of the painting states that the artist represents the five bodily senses in his portrait. Even though there are five senses and there are five musicians, it is stated that the sense "Taste" is not visually represented on the canvas but referred, but yet the fife player has his instrument to his mouth, interesting.
