Music and visual arts are intrinsically linked. They share expressive tools designed to evoke a specific mood or elicit particular emotions in the viewer or listener—a melody can easily «paint» varied scenes in the listener’s mind, just as fine painting can translate into music.
Visual art is color and line that evolve into a form, silhouette, or recognizable image. Music is a melodic line that achieves similar imagery using analogous techniques. Both possess rhythm, which profoundly influences the overall perception of the work; major or minor tonality sets the mood of a melody just as color relationships determine that mood in a painting.
Mark Rice, in his article on the interaction between music and painting in European art, also notes the importance of the concept of up and down:
«The upper register was typically symbolized with light, pure imagery, while the lower register represented baseness and evil. In music, this referred to the upper tones of a melody; in painting, it was the upper portion of the composition. In both instances, these symbolic elements must be emphasized.»
The musical space is alive and in constant motion: sometimes it resonates with a single, indivisible, confident voice, and other times it unfolds in vibrant combinations of sounds, intervals, and chords—it is striking for its changes in timbre and shifts in tonality, much like a canvas rich with color and chromatic variation.
Furthermore, these two art forms share a remarkably long history of interaction. Both disciplines developed in parallel, constantly intersecting with each other and sharing a fundamental core—the diversity of human life experience. When examining the Medieval period, one can observe that the church held a unique position within the social structure, dictating the primary direction of the society’s spiritual aspirations, which inevitably influenced art. The Roman Catholic Church served as the unifying force: it was the main patron of artistic works, and its liturgical music, particularly the Gregorian chant, constitutes a significant part of Early Music. Of course, there were also secular movements that paved the way for further milestones in artistic development, such as the music of the Renaissance.
Another, and perhaps more significant, example for this research involves instances where artists created musical works inspired by paintings they saw, or conversely, when music transformed into magnificent canvases under the master’s brush. Frequently, the same events or phenomena served as inspiration for both paintings and music, ultimately generating complementary works of art. Furthermore, it is not uncommon to find depictions of musicians on canvases that reference specific works, which form the emotional core of the painting. The goal of this research is to trace the history of the relationship between music and visual arts and to examine how that relationship has evolved.
Musicians captured in paintings
A common phenomenon in fine art, which references music, is the depiction of people playing musical instruments. What is remarkable is the meticulousness and precision with which masters rendered musical notation on their paintings—a detail that is, in essence, not that significant on the canvas. This long-standing tradition of detailed musical reproduction existed in the Netherlands. Furthermore, what is striking is the meticulousness and precision with which masters sometimes inscribed musical notation onto their paintings, a detail that is, in reality, not particularly significant on the canvas. This ancient tradition of detailed note reproduction originated in the Netherlands, starting with Hugo van der Goes’ painting, «The Kneeling Sir Eduard Bonkiel before an Angel Playing the Organ.»
Hugo van der Goes, «Knelt Sir Edward Bonkil Before an Angel Playing the Organ»
Hugo van der Goes himself was a Dutch painter, one of the key masters of the Northern Renaissance. On the organ stand in the painting, there is «O Lux Beata Trinitas» written in Gregorian notation—a hymn to the Holy Trinity. The painting is also part of a diptych featuring the Holy Trinity.
Hugo van der Goes, «The Knelt Sir Edward Bonkil Before an Angel Playing the Organ, ” fragment
Hugo van der Goes, Diptych with the Holy Trinity
This tradition of precisely capturing notes continues—an example of which is the massive canvas by the Dutch artist «The Legend of St. Lucy, ” where every minute detail is rendered with incredible accuracy, including the vocal performance.
«The Legend of Saint Lucy»
«Legend of Saint Lucy, ” fragment
This tradition continued into the Baroque era. Musicians were a fairly frequent subject in the paintings of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. While in Rome, the artist met a cardinal who was a fervent music enthusiast and a collector of musical instruments. This cardinal commissioned paintings with musical themes from Caravaggio, depicting performers playing for a select audience. [6]
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, «The Concert»
A common thread among most of the paintings examined is the depiction not only of musical instruments from the Baroque era but also of authentic and real sheet music.
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio — «Musicians»
In his painting, «Musicians,» several young men are depicted, along with the artist himself—positioned to the right of the lutenist. The figure of Amur, standing behind everyone else, is even more interesting, though it is difficult to say precisely what this image refers to. On one hand, he holds a cluster of grapes—a comparison between music and wine, both of which are intended to elevate the spirits. On the other hand, the deity of love might allude to the nature of the music the people in the painting are about to perform—likely a madrigal of a lyrical and romantic character, the notes of which one of the figures in the canvas is probably holding. [6, 14, 15]
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio — «The Lute Player»
«The Lutenist» is another Caravaggio painting whose subject matter is music. There are three versions of this painting, each one personally created by the artist for different patrons. Caravaggio painted the first «Lutenist» for the aforementioned cardinal, though the differences between the canvases are not vast. [3]
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio — «Lutenist, ” fragment
From a musical perspective, this painting is interesting because one can precisely identify the piece the youth in the painting is playing—the sheet music records the bass line of the madrigal «Voi Sapete Ch’io V’amo» («You Know That I Love You»), composed by Jacopo Arcadelt. This is a four-part vocal piece, but its arrangement for the lute can still be heard today—all the madrigal parts are remarkably well-preserved. [4, 5]
Following the traditions of Caravaggio was Niccolo Reni, whose work also reveals a connection to musical art. For instance, one of his paintings depicts two young women and musical instruments characteristic of the Baroque era. In 1625, Reni moved to Venice, an event that undoubtedly influenced his paintings.
Baroque instruments: lyre, viola, lute, violin, guitar. Niccolò Renieri, «Divine Inspiration Born from Music, ” 1640.
As was known, in Venice, someone in every house played a musical instrument or sang. Opera was the dominant, lavish, and fantastical form—a source of wonder. Claudio Monteverdi was the most celebrated, whose opera The Coronation of Poppea still captivates audiences today, along with Francesco Cavalli and Benedetto Ferrari. Here, the instrumental ensemble came alive and was celebrated.
The canvas, created by Rieneri, conveys the details of his divine musical inspiration: two ladies and sheet music, two violins, a viola, a long-necked lute known as a theorbo, and possibly a half-hidden Italian citarra, a type of mandolin. Rieneri reproduces these instruments with such brilliance that he manages to convey the dynamic energy of this musical world. Unfortunately, the specific works written on the sheet music could not be determined.
At the Hermitage, where one of the versions of Caravaggio’s «Lutenist» is also housed, you can see another painting of a similar subject—this one depicts three girls—but the author of the canvas is unfortunately unknown, so it is called the master of female half-figures—the subject, which we will discuss, is far from rare in his work.
Master of Women’s Half-Figure, «Musicians»
As was the case with previous canvases, this one depicts not only musical instruments of the era for the contemporary master but also the notes of a real work—this time, not a madrigal, but an aria by Claude de Sermisy and poems by Clément Marot:
I shall give you joy, My friend, and lead you where Your hope strives to go; As long as I live, I shall not leave you, Even when I die, My soul shall keep the memory of you
Many draw a parallel between the refined and delicate beauty of the young women depicted in the painting and the words of the music they perform. [1, 10]
Masterclass: Women’s Half-Figure, «Musicians,» Excerpt
