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Provenance: Probably J.W. Meil, Aschenbornsches Haus, Neuer Grünstraße, Berlin, by 1769;
His deceased sale, Berlin, Sonnin, 3 March 1806, as Honthorst;
Alex Mackenzie, Commercial Bank of Scotland, 1874;
Mrs Wilson, Hambleden;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 20 December 1922, lot 52 (as 'Jordaens'), for 17 guineas 17 shillings to Richeton;
Dr. Heinrich Beckmann, Bremen, 1922 or shortly after;
Thence by descent in Bremen until 1981;
By inheritance to the Beckmann heirs, Berlin-Zehlendorf;
By whom sold, London, Christie's, 13 December 1985, lot 104, for £1,080,000;
With Bruno Meissner, Zurich, 1986, from whom bought by the present owner.

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Exhibited: Probably Aschenbornsches House, Berlin, 1769 - circa 1806 (temporary public access to the private collection of J.W. Meil);
Berlin, Gemäldegalerie der Staatlichen Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, on loan 1978 - 1985;
Utrecht, Centraal Museum, Nieuw licht op de Gouden Eeuw, 13 November 1986 - 12 January 1987, no. 17;
Braunschweig, Herzog Anton-Ulrich-Museum, Holländische Malerei in neuem Licht, 12 February - 12 April 1987, no. 17;
Cremona, Museo Civico a la Ponzone, "Dipingere la Musica" Strumenti in posa nell'arte Quattrocento al Settecento, 12 December 2000 - 18 March 2001, no. 25;
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Palais Harrach, Dipingere la Musica. Musik in der Malerei des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts, 4 April - 1 July 2001, no. 25.

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Literature: Probably F. Nicolai, Beschreibung der Königlichen Residenzstädte, Berlin and Postdam, aller daselbst befindlicher Merkwürdigkeiten und umllegenden Gegend, Berlin 1769; 2nd ed. Berlin 1779; 3rd. ed. Berlin 1786, vol. I, p. 842 (as Honthorst);
F. Baumgart, "Beiträge zu Hendrick Terbrugghen", in Oud-Holland, 1929, pp. 224, 225, 232, reproduced p. 222, fig. 1;
A. von Schneider, Caravaggio und die Niederländer, Marburg 1933;
G. Isarlo, Caravage et le Caravagisme Européen, Aix-en-Provence 1941, p. 243;
B. Nicolson, "The Rijksmuseum 'Incredulity' and Terbrugghen's Chronology", in The Burlington Magazine, vol. XCVIII, April 1956, pp. 108-110;
B. Nicolson, "Terbrugghen repeating himself", in Miscellanea Prof. Dr. D. Roggen, Antwerp 1957, p. 200;
B. Nicolson, Hendrick Terbrugghen, London 1958, pp. 11, 51-52, no. A. II, reproduced plate 67;
B. Nicolson, "Second thoughts about Terbrugghen", in The Burlington Magazine, vol. CII, November 1960, p. 469;
R. Judson, "Review of Benedict Nicolson, Hendrick Terbrugghen", in The Art Bulletin, 43, 1961, p. 346;
L.J. Slatkes, Dirck van Baburen (c. 1595-1624; A Dutch Painter in Utrecht and Rome, Utrecht 1965, p. 164;
W. Stechow, Hendrick Terbrugghen in America, exhibition catalogue, Dayton 1965, p. 26;
J.S. Held, Ponce Art Museum, European and American Paintings, Ponce 1965, p. 174;
A. von Schneider, Caravaggio und die Niederländer, 2nd ed., Amsterdam 1967, p. 140;
B. Nicolson, The International Caravaggesque Movement, Oxford 1979, p. 99;
J. Held et al, Museo de Arte de Ponce. Paintings and Sculpture of the European and American Schools, Ponce 1984, p. 298;
Christie's Review of the Season, London 1986, p. 30, reproduced;
M. Vermeer, P. van Kooij, in A. Blankert and L.J. Slatkes, Holländische Malerei in neuem Licht: Hendrick ter Brugghen und seine Zeitgenossen, (Dutch edition with identical pagination entitled Nieuw Licht op de Gouden Eeuw. Hendrick ter Brugghen en zijn tijdgenoten), exhibition catalogue, Utrecht and Braunschweig 1986, pp. 119-122, cat. no. 17, reproduced p. 121;
R. Klessman, Hendrick Ter Brugghen und die nachfolger Caravaggios in Holland, Beiträge eines Symposions aus Anlass der Ausstellung, Braunschweig 1987, pp. 69 and 75, reproduced p. 66;
C. Herchenröder, "Zum Verhältnis Handel-Auktionen", in Kunst und Antiquitäten, vol. 2, 1987, p. 10;
B. Schnackenburg, "Holländische mallerei in nuem light: Hendrick ter Brugghen und seine zeitgenossen", in Kunstchronik, April 1987, p. 172;
C. van der Wurf-Bodt, Van lichte wiven tot gevallen vrouwen ..., Utrecht 1988, p. 28, reproduced fig. 16;
Pan, January 1988, pp. 20-21, reproduced p. 7;
J. Bruyn, "Jung und alt - Ikonographische Bemerkungen zur tronie", in R. Klessmann (ed.), Hendrick ter Brugghen und die Nachfolger Caravaggios in Holland, Braunschweig 1988, pp. 69, 75, n. 7, reproduced fig. 76;
F.J. Duparc, review of Albert Blankert, Leonard J. Slatkes et al, "Niew Lichte op de gouden eeuw", in Simiolus, 18, 1988, p. 175;
B. Nicolson (revised and edited by L. Vertova), Caravaggism in Europe, Turin 1989, vol. I, p. 193, cat. no. 1176, reproduced vol. III, fig. 1176;
O. Le Bihan, L'or et l'ombre. La peinture hollondaise du XVIIe et du XVIIIe siècles au Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux, Bordeaux 1990, pp. 74, n. 20, 75;
U. Middendorf, "origine d'amore", in Weltkunst, 15 August 1994, p. 2069, reproduced fig. 4;
A. Blankert, "Caravaggio e i Paesi Bassi settentrionali," in I Baldriga & S. Danesi Squarzina, `Fiamenghi che vanno e vengono non li si ouol dar regola.' Paesi Bassi e Italia fra Cinquecento e Seicento, Rome 1995, p. 135, reproduced fig. 30;
J.J. Briels, Peintres Flamands au berceau du siècle d'or hollandais, Antwerp 1997, pp. 97-98, reproduced p. 96, fig. 129 (as painted circa 1624);
P. Huys Janssen, Jan van Bijlert 1597/98-1671; Catalogue Raisonné, Amsterdam-Philadelphia 1998, pp. 66, 158, reproduced fig. 18;
G.G., in S. Ferino-Pagden, Dipingere la Musica. Strumenti in posa nell'arte del Cinque e Seicento, exhibition catalogue, Cremona 2000, p. 233, no. 25, reproduced;
G.G., in S. Ferino-Pagden, Dipingere la Musica. Musik in der Malerei des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts, exhibition catalogue, Vienna 2001, p. 263, no. 25, reproduced;
M. Dekiert, Musikanten in der Malerei der niederländischen Caravaggio-Nachfolge. Vorstufen, Ikonographie und Bedeutungsgehalt der Musikszene in der niederländischen Bildkunst des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts, Münster 2003, pp. 233-4, 287, 287-8, reproduced fig. 139;
A. Blankert, "Hendrick ter Brugghen and Dutch Caravaggism", in A. Blankert, Selected Writings on Dutch Painting, Zwolle 2004, p. 168, reproduced fig. 153;
L.J. Slatkes & W. Franits, The Paintings of Hendrick Ter Brugghen (1588-1629. Catalogue Raisonné, Amsterdam-Philadelphia 2007, pp. 58, 189-90, Cat. A74, reproduced plate 73.

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Notes: This is one of the finest paintings by Terbrugghen left in private hands, and an outstanding example of his virtuosity. Terbrugghen was arguably the most inventive and independent of the Utrecht Caravaggisti, and this picture displays to the full his genius in combining dramatic Caravaggesque lighting with an arresting and original use of colour, delivered with breathtaking verve.

We do not know exactly when Terbrugghen went to Rome, but it was probably as early as 1605, when he was only 16 or 17 years old, and when Caravaggio was still active there. His first known work however, was not painted until 1616, shortly after his return to Utrecht, and his stylistic development, initially rapid, can only be charted from that point, leading to a full maturity by about 1624. Thereafter, until his early death in 1629, his style evolved much more slowly. While we know nothing of his painterly activities in Rome, echoes of his Roman experience occur in many of his later works. As Benedict Nicolson noted on several occasions, this picture, while thoroughly Northern in spirit, reveals a clear recollection of Orazio Gentileschi's frescoes in the Casino of the Muses adjoining the Palazzo Pallavicini Rospigliosi in Rome, painted before 1614.

Most of his output in his mature style consisted of genre subjects such as this picture of an amorous couple, which he painted in about 1625. In such genre pictures, Terbrugghen's approach to painting was refreshingly direct and uninhibited. In contrast to the oblique references to sexual encounter found so often in Dutch painting, there is no ambiguity here, with the young woman's leg, unclad to well above the knee, swung across that of the lutenist who jams his lute between her legs, and her breasts bared by design rather than chance. Both are low-life types true to the Caravaggesque tradition: she almost certainly a prostitute; he a ruffian; neither paragons of beauty, but both full of life. The two gaze at each other with an expression of unbridled lasciviousness, and the wine glass which she raises as if in a mocking toast, is emblematic of the picture's subject, and makes explicit the timeless and incontestable adage that wine plus music equals sex. Terbrugghen's physical manner of painting, with broad, vigorous strokes of the brush and fields of bright colour and strong lighting, could not be more suited to the subject he depicts.

In contrast with Caravaggio and his immediate Italian followers, Terbrugghen became a most distinctive and spirited colourist, as we see here in the bright metallic blue of the young woman's dress, and the strong red of the lutenist's cloak. Terbrugghen uses colour to complement the dramatic lighting, and to solidify the composition. The picture's visual force is in turn underscored by the composition, which is very concentrated, so that the two figures, who completely fill the picture frame except at the top, could not possibly be any closer to one another, despite the lute between them, except in the act of love. That he has finished playing the instrument, and appears to be pulling it away, suggests that this is the next step. The composition is also strongly symmetrical so that the roemer filled with red wine occupies the centre of the painting, directly underneath the narrowing space between their two faces, and the symmetry is further emphasized by their two arms, which are at an identical angle, and their interlocking legs.

Although Baumgart, who was the first to submit this picture to critical scrutiny in 1929, dated it circa 1628, there is a general consensus that Nicolson's dating of circa 1624-26 is correct.υ1 Most recently, Slatkes and Franits date it circa 1625.υ2 Several other versions of this picture are known, but the present work is the only one to be signed or dated, is the only version with pentimenti, and is certainly the prime version. Furthermore, it is the only version with the ribbon in the hair of the girl, which was not revealed until the picture was last cleaned. One of the other unsigned versions, formerly in the Museo de Arte, Ponce, Puerto Rico, has been considered by some to be an autograph replica of the present work, and was listed by Slatkes and Franits as a "good workshop production with some participation by the master.υ3 Another, formerly in the Michael T. Shen collection, Paris, was described by Nicolson, who confused its provenance with the present picture, as "partly ruined or drastically repainted." υ4 Slatkes & Franits also draw atttention to its poor state.υ5 Three further copies are recorded.υ6

PROVENANCE. Given the existence of other versions (autograph or not), several of which are of similar size (and the citing of incorrect measurements in the literature) the early provenance of the present picture cannot be stated with certainty, and has been published in at least three versions. This is not the picture sold in the Brunswick sale at the Dorotheum in Vienna in 1902 as Nicolson (1958) thought on the basis of incorrectly stated measurements. The Brunswick picture was almost certainly Nicolson (1989), version 3. It is clear, however, that the present picture is the one sold at Christie's, 20 December 1922, lot 52, as by Jordaens, since the measurements coincide exactly, as does the stock number on the reverse of the stretcher. It was probably also the picture in the collection of J.W. Meil in Berlin by 1769, since Friedrich Nicolai's description of that picture (see Literature), then given to Honthorst (to whom works by the Utrecht Caravaggisti were commonly assigned), corresponds precisely to the present one: 'Ein Mann mit einer Laute, liebtoset ein Mädchen, welches ihm im Schooße sißt und ein Glas voll Wein vorhalt, im Lebensgröße, von Ger. Honthorst.'1. See under Literature.
2. See under Literature, 2007, p. 189, and n. 1, p. 191.
3. See Held, 1984 under Literature, where reproduced, and Slatkes & Franits, 2007, p. 190, no. TW6, Version 1, reproduced plate 73a. TW denotes Ter Brugghen and workshop.
4. See Nicolson, under Literature, 1989, version 3.
5. See Slatkes & Franits, 2007, p. 190, no. TW7, Version 2.
6. See Slatkes & Franits, 2007, pp. 190-1, nos. R95-97, copies 1-3.