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1 of 253523 objects
David Teniers the Younger (Antwerp 1610-Brussels 1690)
A Woman Playing the Guitar c.1645-49
Oil on panel | 37.2 x 26.7 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 406637
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This painting was believed by George IV to depict the artist’s wife (personal pictures of this kind were always sought after). It is more likely to be a generic young lady, suggesting the vanity of earthly beauty and pleasure; the boys blowing bubbles remind us how iridescent is pleasure but how soon it pops! The young lady may represent the sense of hearing.
Provenance
Purchased by George IV before 1806; recorded in the anti-room to the Dining Room at Carlton House in 1816 (no 103); in the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace in 1841 (no 5)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on panel
Measurements
37.2 x 26.7 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
53.5 x 43.3 x 5.0 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)
Other number(s)
Alternative title(s)
"The Guitar: Portrait of the wife of Teniers", previously entitled
