Gustave Wappers (attributed To) - The Mandolin Player

Gustave WAPPERS (Attributed to) Anvers, 1803 - Paris, 1874 Oil on panel Trace of monogram lower right 42.5 x 31.5 cm (59.5 x 49.5 cm with the frame) XIXth century frame in carved wood and golden The Hollandandisant current precedes the Romantic current by drawing inspiration from the old Dutch masters of the 17th century such as Metsu, Cuyp and Vermeer. Our painting shows the taste for historical details, in particular a very beautiful musical instrument, a lute or more precisely a small theorbo or a small mandolin, but also multiple details in the decor, from the score to the carved bed and its sound. canopy, and costume, dress and jewelry. After studying at the Academy of Antwerp, Gustave Wappers went to Paris in 1826. In full romantic movement, Wappers exhibited “The devotion of the burgomaster of Leyden” had a great success at the Brussels Salon of 1830. In 1832, the city of Antwerp appointed him professor of painting and he exhibited at the Salon d'Anvers in 1834 his masterpiece “An episode of the Belgian Revolution of 1830” (Galerie de Bruxelles). He was then appointed painter to the King of the Belgians and on the death of Matthieu van Bree, he was appointed director of the Academy of Antwerp. Painter of history, he also produced some genre scenes. Among these famous works are "Christ in the tomb", "Charles I taking leave of his children", "Charles IX", "Camoens", "Peter the Great at Saardam" and "Boccaccio at the court of Joan of Naples. Louis Philippe commissioned him to paint a large picture for the Versailles gallery, "The defense of Rhodes by the knights of Saint John of Jerusalem", a work completed in 1844, when he received the title of baron from the King of the Belgians. .