# The Music Party [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van Rijn]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Oil on wood, 64 x 48 cm ## Commentary <a href="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/database/glossary/note03.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=300,height=400'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return false">Catalogue number:</a> Bredius 632. This is an early work by Rembrandt from 1626. He made it when he was twenty years old and signed it with the monogram RH: Rembrandt Harmensz. Led by a young woman, a group of people are playing music in a room. She is reading the music from the sheet, singing and beating time. The two men are accompanying her on their instruments - the young man on the harp and the older man on a viola da gamba. An older woman is reading over the girl's shoulder, listening attentively with her hand on her chin. In the foreground is a violin, a lute and a pile of books. The subject of this painting is a mystery: is it an exhortation to praise God through singing and string music, or a scene of seduction with the old woman as a procuress? In any case, in this early work Rembrandt used elements from his own surroundings: his mother modelled for the old woman, and Rembrandt's own features can be recognized in the young man. <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 \(streaming mp3, 10 minutes\):<br><a href="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/music1/17\_cent/monteverdi\_madrigal.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return true"><b>Claudio Monteverdi: The Charming Angioletta, madrigal</b></a> </td></tr></table> ## Related artworks - [A black drummer and commander mounted on mules; riding in profile]() - [A child being taught to walk]() - [A cottage beneath trees]() - [A girl sleeping]() - [A Man Laughing]() - [A man making water]() - [A Peddler Selling Spectacles \(The Allegory of Sight\)]() - [A Polish Nobleman]() - [A Scholar]() - [A two-humped camel]() - [A woman in Zeeland costume, from the back]() - [A woman in Zeeland costume, from the front]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()