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Woman Playing the Virginal
Also titled De virginaalspeelster
Jan Miense Molenaer (Haarlem, ca. –1668)
c. 1637
- Medium
- panel, oil paint (paint)
- Classification
- painting
- Dimensions
- support: height 38.6 cm x width 29.6 cm
- Museum
- Rijksmuseum
- Credit line
- On loan from the City of Amsterdam (A. van der Hoop Bequest)
- Rights
- Public Domain Mark, 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
About this work
During the 17th century, making music at home was very popular and many wealthy people played a musical instrument. Here, a woman plays a virginal while two children listen attentively. A man is just entering the room. The painting is full of love symbolism: making music was a common metaphor for love, while the chained monkey on the instrument serves as a warning against lust.
