(Utrecht 1603–1671)
Musical company,
inscribed and dated lower left: GHonthorst 1626,
oil on canvas, 109 x 97 cm, unframed

Provenance:
Private collection, Vienna

We are grateful to Paul Huys Janssen, who examined the present painting in the original in December 2014, for confirming it to be a work by Bijlert and his workshop.

A second version of this composition with an attribution to Jan van Bijlert was sold at Sotheby’s, London, on 10 July 2002 as lot 32. Joachim von Sandrart reports that Jan van Bijlert entered the workshop of Abraham Bloemaert in 1616 after the death of his father who was a glass painter and his first teacher. Having completed his apprenticeship, he undertook an extensive study tour, which led him to Rome via France. In Rome he was first mentioned in 1621 as Giovanni Bilardo. Around 1623 he became a member of the Roman Schildersbent (Bentvueghels). He probably returned to Utrecht towards the end of 1624 and was back by May 1625. In 1626 he was among the founders of the Guild of Saint Luke in Utrecht, and functioned repeatedly as their chairman from 1632 onwards. As Houbraken notes, Bijlert was also a highly regarded teacher. By the time Biljert returned to his native town, Hendrick ter Bruggen, Dirck van Baburen, and Gerrit van Honthorst had already established themselves there as the most important proponents of Northern Caravaggism. Their impact on Biljert can also to be seen in the present painting. It is therefore not without reason that it bears a false Honthorst’s signature. The painting dates back to the period when, under Honthorst’s leadership, the style of the Caravaggisti in Utrecht developed from a strict naturalism to more of an academic classicism.

Comparable paintings by Bijlert are A Party Sharing a Meal of Waffles and Pancakes from around 1630 (Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig, inv. no. 1976/187; see P. Huys Janssen, Jan van Bijlert, Amsterdam 1998, p. 152, no. 140, fig. 85) and A Lute Player, dating from 1625/30 (private collection; see P. Huys Janssen, op. cit., p. 145, no. 124, fig. 60). These comparisons suggest that the present musicmaking company was painted in the early 1630s.

Genre scenes featuring soldiers, card players, or violinists rendered as half-length figures or merrymaking companies and depicted by candle light at night time are typical of such Utrecht Caravaggisti as Bijlert. The figures, depicted in lively, brilliant colours, are skilfully and effectively grouped around a light source, so that some figures are brightly lit while others appear in shadow. This play of light and shade is highly characteristic of the works by the Utrecht based painters.