A violin, bow, and a tattered page of sheet music hang from a dark, forest-green, wooden door in this vertical painting. The string holding the violin hangs from a nail just above the sheet music. The violin hangs at an angle so the neck points slightly to our right. The bow hangs almost vertically behind the violin’s body. White powder coats the violin under the strings, one of which is broken. The sheet of music is titled “VIOLIN” and the musical notation is legible. The edges of the paper are chipped and wrinkled. Several pins are pounded into the wooden door, and a few small holes and…
Gallery mode Full size at the museum

Window mode follows your eyes with your camera, in this browser only: no picture or position leaves your device.

The Old Violin

John Frederick Peto (American, 1854 - 1907)

c. 1890

Medium
oil on canvas
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
overall: 77.2 × 58.1 cm (30 3/8 × 22 7/8 in.) ; framed: 97.47 × 78.11 × 5.72 cm (38 3/8 × 30 3/4 × 2 1/4 in.)
Culture
American
Museum
National Gallery of Art, CAB
Credit line
Gift of the Avalon Foundation
Rights
Public domain (NGA Open Access, CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed

View at the National Gallery of Art

More by John Frederick Peto

See all

More like this

See all