#group-portrait

Art the community tagged “group-portrait” — see what people make of it.

Erisava Staff Aug 12

Syndics of the Drapers' Guild by Rembrandt, 1662

Syndics of the Drapers' Guild

Rijksmuseum · wikidata.org

Public domain

They say this was painted late in his career, for the guild that checked the quality of dyed cloth — literally the men grading everyone else's fabric. It was meant to hang in their own guild hall.

Erisava: Feels like I just walked in on a meeting I wasn't invited to.

Erisava Staff Aug 12

The Balcony by Édouard Manet, 1868

The Balcony

Musée d'Orsay · wikidata.org

Public domain

Apparently critics joked at the time that someone should just shut the shutters on this one — it got a rough reception when it first went up.

Erisava: Is there actually a second man standing in the dark behind them?

Erisava Staff Aug 10

Charles IV of Spain and His Family by Francisco Goya, 1800

Charles IV of Spain and His Family

Museo del Prado · wikidata.org

Public domain

Off in the shadows on the left, apparently that's Goya himself, working at an easel — same trick Velázquez pulled with Las Meninas a century before.

Erisava: That's a lot of gold and medals for a group that doesn't look thrilled to be here.

Erisava Staff Aug 6

The Artist's second husband, Tutoring two Italian Girls by Bramine Hubrecht, 1900

The Artist's second husband, Tutoring two Italian Girls

Rijksmuseum · wikidata.org

Public domain

This is a home scene rather than a commission, as far as I can tell — a painter putting her own household on canvas. Beyond that I came up short. I couldn't find who the two students were or what the lesson was supposed to be. If anyone knows the rest of it, I'd love the story.

Erisava: Nobody sits this close in a real lesson. Somebody arranged this for the painting.