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This painting typifies the so-called "juste-milieu" (middle path) for which Gallait was so admired during his lifetime. The subject is Romantic in its idealization of the poor but virtuous itinerant musician, who bows to no authority but his own artistic muse. At the same time, it is restrained in its emotional tenor and painted with great technical assurance in the rendering of the body and in the carefully described details of the musician's dress. This is a reduced version of this subject now at the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts of Belgium. When the larger version was exhibited at the Salon of 1851, critics praised the composition for its masterful drawing and melancholic dignity.

Page data

Page
1
Source index
0
Type
photo
Media ID
0fe082d9a945e5af
Size
unknown

Document data

ID
6365
Core
obj
Type
drawing
DTO data
{
    "id": "6365",
    "sourceUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/37.78",
    "contentType": "drawing",
    "stage": "normalized",
    "title": "Art and Liberty",
    "description": "This painting typifies the so-called \"juste-milieu\" (middle path) for which Gallait was so admired during his lifetime. The subject is Romantic in its idealization of the poor but virtuous itinerant musician, who bows to no authority but his own artistic muse. At the same time, it is restrained in its emotional tenor and painted with great technical assurance in the rendering of the body and in the carefully described details of the musician's dress. This is a reduced version of this subject now at the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts of Belgium. When the larger version was exhibited at the Salon of 1851, critics praised the composition for its masterful drawing and melancholic dignity.",
    "provenance": "Probably Ernest Gambart, London, from ca. 1860; H. D. Hooft van Woudenberg van Geerestein Sale, Amsterdam, 1880, no. 41; William T. Walters, Baltimore, 1880, by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.",
    "date": "1859",
    "citationUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/37.78",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Painting & Drawing",
        "oil paintings (visual works)",
        "panel paintings"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PL2_37.78_Fnt_BW_C80.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PL2_37.78_Fnt_BW_C80.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PL2_37.78_Fnt_BW_C80.jpg",
    "imageCount": 2,
    "pageCount": 2,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensions": [
        {
            "units": "cm",
            "width": 86,
            "height": 65
        }
    ],
    "dimensionsRaw": "H: 33 7/8 x W: 25 9/16 in. (86 x 65 cm); Framed H: 39 3/4 x W: 34 x D: 1 3/4 in. (101 x 86.4 x 4.4 cm)"
}

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Document identity
{
    "localId": "6365",
    "label": "Art and Liberty",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "drawing",
    "citationUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/37.78"
}
Document source metadata
{
    "id": "6365",
    "sourceUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/37.78",
    "contentType": "drawing",
    "stage": "normalized",
    "title": "Art and Liberty",
    "description": "This painting typifies the so-called \"juste-milieu\" (middle path) for which Gallait was so admired during his lifetime. The subject is Romantic in its idealization of the poor but virtuous itinerant musician, who bows to no authority but his own artistic muse. At the same time, it is restrained in its emotional tenor and painted with great technical assurance in the rendering of the body and in the carefully described details of the musician's dress. This is a reduced version of this subject now at the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts of Belgium. When the larger version was exhibited at the Salon of 1851, critics praised the composition for its masterful drawing and melancholic dignity.",
    "provenance": "Probably Ernest Gambart, London, from ca. 1860; H. D. Hooft van Woudenberg van Geerestein Sale, Amsterdam, 1880, no. 41; William T. Walters, Baltimore, 1880, by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.",
    "date": "1859",
    "citationUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/37.78",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Painting & Drawing",
        "oil paintings (visual works)",
        "panel paintings"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PL2_37.78_Fnt_BW_C80.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PL2_37.78_Fnt_BW_C80.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PL2_37.78_Fnt_BW_C80.jpg",
    "imageCount": 2,
    "pageCount": 2,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensions": [
        {
            "units": "cm",
            "width": 86,
            "height": 65
        }
    ],
    "dimensionsRaw": "H: 33 7/8 x W: 25 9/16 in. (86 x 65 cm); Framed H: 39 3/4 x W: 34 x D: 1 3/4 in. (101 x 86.4 x 4.4 cm)"
}
Document source extras
{
    "inscriptions": "[Signature] Lower left: Louis Gallait/; [Date] Lower left: 1859",
    "med": "oil on wood (mahogany) panel",
    "creator_ids": [
        "2937"
    ],
    "collection_ids": [
        "EAN"
    ],
    "exhibition_ids": [
        "2674"
    ]
}
Page context
{
    "seq": 1,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/raw/PS1_37.78_Fnt_DD_T12.jpg",
    "mediaId": "0fe082d9a945e5af"
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