A Soldier and a Girl Holding a Pipe c.1600
Oil on canvas | 99.1 x 87.9 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 405549
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Two half-length figures; the man, on the left, is bearded and wears armour. He is holding gloves in his left hand and turning towards the girl on the right, who holds a large pipe or flute and is wears a wreath on her head. The subject of the painting is difficult to define. It may be an allegory (of Love and War, for example), but it includes elements of particularization (the man must be left-handed, as he wears his sword on his right hip).
The painting is thought to be a good copy after an original in better condition by the young Dosso in the Cini Collection, Venice. The girl’s head is like others in ‘A Bacchanal’ in the National Gallery, London (NG5279), suggesting that the Cini painting similarly dates from c. 1515-20; this version is thought to date from somewhat later, c. 1600. It has been extensively overpainted at different periods and the girl’s ugly left hand seems to be Victorian.Provenance
Charles I collection; sent by Cardinal Francesco Barberini to England, 28 July 1635; sold for £30 from Somerset House to Edward Bass and others on 19 December 1651 as a Giorgione (no 131); recovered at the Restoration and listed in the King's Dressing Room at Hampton Court in 1666 (no 28)
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Creator(s)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
99.1 x 87.9 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
115.0 x 104.9 x 4.0 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)
Other number(s)
Alternative title(s)
A soldier and his wench