A Man and a Woman Seated by a Virginal

Gabriel Metsu completed this elegant musical scene around 1665, showing a woman at a virginal handing a musical score to her companion. Instead of his violin bow, he offers her a glass of wine. The exchange suggests flirtation beneath the surface of polite music-making.

A painting on the back wall, partially covered by a curtain, depicts a rowdy Twelfth Night celebration. This detail hints that the refined scene before us might lead to something less chaste. Biblical inscriptions on the instrument warn against losing virtue. Metsu was a master of such layered domestic scenes. The work hangs at the National Gallery in London.