Title of Artwork: “The Serenade”
Artwork by Judith Leyster
Year Created 1629
Summary of The Serenade
The Rijksmuseum has an oil work by Judith Leyster called The Serenade. For generations, it was credited to Frans Hals until Wilhelm von Bode saw it in the Six collection in 1883 and recognised it as his.
After seeing a large j, Jan Hals came to his mind, and so he gave the signature his name: One of seven paintings by Leyster that Hofstede de Groot correctly ascribed ten years later, in 1893.
All About The Serenade
Pieter van Winter’s daughter married Hendrik Six van Hillegom, a Dutch art collector, and the picture was transferred into the Six collections. For Van Winter, Frederik Christiaan Bierweiler created a mezzotint of this painting in 1803 and inscribed it with “F. Hals pinxit… fecit 1803”.
The Rijksmuseum obtained the works from the Six heirs of Jhr. P.H. Six van Vromade and 38 other paintings from the Vereniging Rembrandt in 1908, after they were assigned to Leyster. The picture bears the signature and date “1629 / J*” on it.
He claims that the lute player is shown in the “Honthorst style,” which is characterised by indirect lighting from below. Once again, Leyster is striking his signature upward and leftward gaze.
Information Citations
En.wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/.
