Thomas van der Wilt’s portrait of Dirck Scholl of Delft at his double-manual and pedal clavichord

Abstract

This article examines a Dutch genre painting from the second half of the 17th century portraying a musician in a private interior next to a large clavichord with two manuals and pedals—the only known depiction of this instrument type today. The musician holds a recorder and is surrounded by various musical instruments. A four-part canon by the composer and theorist Dirck van der Hooch positioned on the clavichord’s music stand, along with a large poster on the wall (presumably a calendar or a musical diagram) further enhance this sophisticated domestic tableau. Three different versions are documented through historical photographs, yet none of the paintings remains extant today. The sitter can now be identified as the composer, organist, and carillon expert Dirck Scholl (1641-1727), who began his career at the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft. Rather than Pieter de Hooch, to whom art historians have attributed the painting, probably mislead by the musical inscription, we propose instead the authorship of Thomas van der Wilt (1659–1733), who worked in Delft for several decades and created Scholl’s portrait engraving of 1699, a painted version of which recently (2022) reappeared on the art market as a portrait of an unknown musician, whose identity can now likewise be established.

https://www.lim.it/it/imago/7096-imago-musicae-xxxiv-97855435024.html#/2-tipo_prodotto-libro