The Concert

Johannes Vermeer's The Concert shows three people making music in a quiet Dutch interior. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston holds the painting in its collection, but it has been missing since it was stolen on the night of 18 March 1990. For now, visitors can study it only through reproductions.

Where to see it

The Concert cannot currently be seen in person. It belongs to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, but it was stolen on the night of 18 March 1990, along with 12 other works, and has not been recovered. Its current location is unknown. If you plan a visit to learn about the painting and the theft, check the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's official website for current information before you go.

What to look for in person

Three musicians at work

Start with the group at the centre of the room. A young woman sits at a harpsichord with her back partly turned to us. Beside her, a man plays the lute, and a standing woman sings. Vermeer arranges them closely together, so the eye moves from the seated player to the lutenist to the singer. Notice how each figure is absorbed in the music rather than looking out at the viewer. The scene reads as a private moment that we happen to witness from across the room.

A picture within the picture

Look at the back wall, where two framed paintings hang. The one on the right is The Procuress by Dirck van Baburen, a work owned by Vermeer's mother-in-law, Maria Thins. Its lively, crowded composition sits just above the calm group of musicians, and the contrast is worth taking in slowly. On the left hangs a pastoral landscape, a much quieter image. Comparing these two pictures helps you see how Vermeer used furnishings and wall decoration to build the mood of an interior.

Instruments and painted landscapes

Music fills the room beyond the three performers. Look down at the floor, where a viola da gamba lies, and at the table in the foreground, where another string instrument rests. These unplayed instruments add depth to the space and lead the eye into the scene. Then look at the raised harpsichord lid: its inside is decorated with an Arcadian landscape. Together with the pastoral painting on the wall, it brings a second outdoor world into this enclosed domestic setting.

About the painting

The Concert is an oil painting on canvas by Johannes Vermeer, dated 1663 and measuring 72.5 by 64.7 centimetres. It shows a man and two women performing music in a domestic interior: one woman plays a harpsichord, a man plays the lute, and a second woman sings while standing.

The painting's early history has gaps. It was offered for sale in Amsterdam in 1669, after which nothing is known of it until 1780. In that year it appeared at auction in Amsterdam, already attributed to Vermeer of Delft. It later entered the collection of Thoré-Bürger. In 1892, Isabella Stewart Gardner bought it at auction in Paris for $5,000, and it became part of the collection of the museum in Boston that bears her name.

On the night of 18 March 1990, thieves disguised as police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and took The Concert, together with 12 other works. The painting has not been recovered, and its whereabouts remain unknown. The museum is still the last recorded holder of the work.

For anyone interested in Vermeer, the painting still repays close study in reproduction. Its carefully placed figures, the instruments scattered through the room, the landscape inside the harpsichord lid and the two paintings on the back wall all show how Vermeer built a scene out of everyday objects. Among them is The Procuress by Dirck van Baburen, a work that belonged to Vermeer's mother-in-law, Maria Thins.

Key facts

Artist	Johannes Vermeer
Date	1663
Size	72.5 × 64.7 cm
Medium	oil paint, canvas
Collection	Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Current location	Unknown since 1990-03-18

More by Johannes Vermeer

Sources

Wikidata Q1169395
Wikipedia (en) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Wikipedia (ja) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Wikipedia (it) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Wikipedia (fr) (CC BY-SA 4.0)