Tip: move over the painting to use the lens.
Lute Player
Valentin de Boulogne · ca. 1625–26
- Artist
- Valentin de Boulogne French, Coulommiers-en-Brie 1591–1632 Rome
- Date
- ca. 1625–26
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Size
- 50 1/2 x 39 in. (128.3 x 99.1 cm)
- Where to see it
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Purchase, Walter and Leonore Annenberg Acquisitions Endowment Fund; Director's Fund; Acquisitions Fund; James and Diane Burke and Mark Fisch and Rachel Davidson Gifts; Louis V. Bell, Harris Brisbane Dick, Fletcher, and Rogers Funds and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 2008 · CC0 Public Domain · The Met · see it at the museum ↗
Slow Look
- The whole picture Let your eyes wander. Where do they want to rest?
- The light Find the brightest spot. What is it showing you?
- The edges Look at what is half cut off at the borders.
- One small detail Choose one tiny thing and stay with it for a while.
- The whole picture again Step back. Has it changed for you?
About Valentin de Boulogne
Valentin de Boulogne, sometimes referred to as Le Valentin, was a French painter in the tenebrist style.
What do you see?
Stand in front of it for a moment. Then tell us what you noticed or felt - there are no wrong answers.
Be the first to share a thought.
If you like this, stand in front of these
The MusiciansCaravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi), 1597
The Spanish SingerEdouard Manet, 1860
Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque)Georges Seurat, 1887–88
The Beach at Sainte-AdresseClaude Monet, 1867
The Herring NetWinslow Homer, 1885
The Fountain, Villa Torlonia, Frascati, ItalyJohn Singer Sargent, 1907
Fishing Boats with Hucksters Bargaining for FishJoseph Mallord William Turner, 1837–38
Equestrienne (At the Cirque Fernando)Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1887–88