# Supper Party [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [HONTHORST, Gerrit van]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 138 x 203 cm ## Commentary Supper Party c. 1619 Oil on canvas, 138 x 203 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence Honthorst's genre pictures of light-hearted gatherings had a great impact in Utrecht. He made such pictures while he was still in Italy. His Supper Party, painted during his last months in Italy, set a precedent for similar scenes done in the 1620s at Utrecht where artists favoured the erotic as well as the ascetic side of Baroque art. This is already evident in Honthorst's Supper Party where the person who covers the light has the effect of 'repoussoir': the large dark figure in the foreground causes, by contrast, the merrymakers behind him to recede in space, and thus enhances the illusion of depth. The second advantage is the vivid reflection of light thrown on the figures and, in particular, on their faces, which are painted in reddish-yellow colours. This helps Honthorst to overcome the harshness found in the work of other Caravaggio followers. <P> <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR="\#99CCCC"> <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE><TD><IMG SRC="/support/gif/listen.gif" BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE> Suggested listening \(streaming mp3, 2 minutes\):<BR><A HREF="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/music1/16\_cent/milano\_lute.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return true"><B>Francesco da Milano: Tre fantasie for lute</B></A> </TD></TR></TABLE> ## Related artworks - [A Merry Group behind a Balustrade \(detail\)]() - [A Merry Group behind a Balustrade]() - [Adoration of the Child]() - [Adoration of the Shepherds]() - [Childhood of Christ]() - [Christ before the High Priest \(detail\)]() - [Christ before the High Priest]() - [Concert on a Balcony]() - [Convival Fellow]() - [Frederick Hendrick, Prince of Orange, with His Wife Amalia van Solms and Their Three Youngest Daughters]() - [Granida and Daifilo]() - [Lute Player]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()