The Strolling Musicians (c. 1635): Art, History and Details

The Strolling Musicians (c. 1635) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669).

The work and its context

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

Although 17th-century Holland produced neither noteworthy composers nor renowned performers, rarely has another culture produced so many visual images of music as the Dutch. In this depiction of a pair of itinerant musicians wearily shuffling from door to door, Rembrandt reveals his compassionate understanding of human frailties. The hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes, as depicted here, were frequently associated with itinerant beggars and blind street singers in paintings and prints of the period.

Object facts

• Title: The Strolling Musicians
• Date: c. 1635
• Creator attribution: Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669)
• Culture: Netherlands
• Type: Print
• Technique: etching and drypoint
• Dimensions: Sheet: 14.5 x 11.8 cm (5 11/16 x 4 5/8 in.); Platemark: 14.1 x 11.5 cm (5 9/16 x 4 1/2 in.)
• Collection: PR - Etching
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1976.54

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

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.