The Musicians (1524): Art, History and Details

The Musicians (1524) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Lucas van Leyden (Netherlandish, 1494–about 1533).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

A man tunes a lute with great concentration, plucking a single string with one hand and turning the tuning peg with the other. Close by, a woman bows a three-stringed rebec--an instrument tuned in fifths like a violin, usually used to play dance music. The costly braiding decorating the man’s coat, and his tight-fitting stockings and pointed wooden sandals suggest the clothing of the courtly class at end of the 15th century. The engraving has been interpreted as depicting marital harmony and longstanding fidelity.

Object facts

• Title: The Musicians
• Date: 1524
• Creator attribution: Lucas van Leyden (Netherlandish, 1494–about 1533)
• Culture: Netherlands, 16th century
• Type: Print
• Technique: engraving
• Collection: PR - Engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1930.530

Collection credit

Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.