Power of Music. Louis Gallait
letter written by the artist to William Walters dated July 20, 1860 illuminates the subject of this painting. It shows a brother and sister resting before an old tomb. The brother is attempting to comfort his sibling by playing the violin, and she has fallen into a deep sleep, "oblivious of all grief, mental and physical." This composition exists in at least one other version, now preserved at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. A closely related reduced replica was given to the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique by a descendant of the artist. The melancholic subject's popularity is attested by its reproduction on a porcelain plaque manufactured by the Royal Porcelain Factory, Berlin.
1852 (?)
oil on wood (mahogany) panel
Height: 57.2 cm (22.5 in). Width: 43.3 cm (17 in). ; Framed Height: 77.15 cm (30.4 in). Width: 64.77 cm (25.5 in). Depth: 7.62 cm (3 in).
Walters Art Museum
Accession number 37.134
Place of creation Belgium
Object history
William T. Walters, Baltimore, prior to 1878 [mode of acquisition unknown]
1894: inherited by Henry Walters, Baltimore
1931: bequeathed to Walters Art Museum by Henry Walters
Exhibition history
Salute to Belgium, Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 1980 Commons-logo.svg
The Taste of Maryland: Art Collecting in Maryland 1800-1934. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1984.
Credit line Acquired by William T. Walters, before 1878
Inscriptions [Signature] Lower left: Louis Gallait
----
Fine Art Prints | Greeting Cards | Phone Cases | Lifestyle | Face Masks | Men's , Women' Apparel | Home Decor | jigsaw puzzles | Notebooks | Tapestries | ...
----
