Simon de Vos

This particularly raucous musical company in an interior is a signed work by the Antwerp painter Simon de Vos. The scene is a delight for the ears as well as the eyes, as it features remarkably lively depictions of musicians playing bagpipes, fiddles, traverso flutes, clavichords, theorbos, not to mention a pair of singers at the front right. In this particular gathering the delights of music are joined by the ever-present temptations of drink. These themes are brought to life by finely dressed courtiers proudly showing off their courtly trappings and birds of prey.

It is likely that this composition dates to the 1640s. A version of the painting dated to 1646, which is completed onto canvas, is preserved at the Schottenstift, Vienna.¹ Another simplified version on copper set in an enclosed interior, with small variations in the figures, bearing the date 1640, was sold in 1993.² In addition to these variations, the detail of the spaniel was presumably taken from a surviving signed study by the artist, which appeared on the art market in 2015.³

¹ B. Bushart and S.E. Lee (eds), Johann Liss, exh. cat., Augsburg and Cleveland 1975–76, p. 174 , no. E83, reproduced fig. 158.

² Christie's, London, 13 December 1993, lot 38, for £22,000.

³ Dorotheum, Vienna, 21 April 2015, lot 51, for 81,250 euros.