Antonio Stradivari, his life and work (1644-1737) . ustom commonamong early portraitists—one which is well worthy of beingkept alive—tried to indicate by the accessories of hispicture the calling of his subject. On the wall we areshown an alto viol with its bow. A viol-da-gamba is beingused ; while on a table is displayed a piece of vocal music,an ink-bottle with a quill pen in it, and a case for these things indicate the latter part of the sixteenthcentury, or a little later. The painting represents a young man of about twenty-five, with light brown hair somewhat curly, a promisingm
Antonio Stradivari, his life and work (1644-1737) . ustom commonamong early portraitists—one which is well worthy of beingkept alive—tried to indicate by the accessories of hispicture the calling of his subject. On the wall we areshown an alto viol with its bow. A viol-da-gamba is beingused ; while on a table is displayed a piece of vocal music,an ink-bottle with a quill pen in it, and a case for these things indicate the latter part of the sixteenthcentury, or a little later. The painting represents a young man of about twenty-five, with light brown hair somewhat curly, a promisingmoustache, and indications of whiskers and beard. Thewell-opened brown eyes have a thoughtful, far-away lookvery characteristic of great musicans ; the complexion hasa pleasing ruddiness: the mouth is slightly open, as if themusician were in the act of singing. The dress consists ofa close-fitting doublet of a dull greenish cloth—probablybrighter once. The doublet has a number of smallbuttons close together down the front, and its short skirt. The Supposed Portrait of Stradivari. SUPPOSED PORTRAIT OF STRADIVARI 297 s tabbed. The sleeves are cut close, and have a line)f decorative braid down the inner sides. On the shoulders:here are epaulet pieces tabbed to match the skirt. Theleck of the doublet is cut rather loose, and there folds over broad, stiff white collar rising almost ruff-wise behind,vhich has evidently been edged with lace-work of an early<ind, though unfortunately injudicious cleaning has re-noved most of it. The cuffs have white ruffles of softermaterial than the collar. Returning to the accessories, which are important, theDody of the viol on the wall is obviously that of a sixteenth-:;entury instrument—suggestive of the Brescian sound-holes are vigorous and well-defined, the finger-board has a geometrical (probably) inlaid pattern, andbelow this is a lozenge-shaped geometrical quatrefoliateornament. The belly is double purfled. The body of th
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondonmacmillanand
