Artworks from Gaudium Magnum Foundation – Maria and João Cortez de Lobão
Lute player accompanying an old man holding a musical score by Jacques de Rousseaux

Originally from Tourcoing in northern France, the Rousseaux family moved to Leyden like so many other families from French-speaking regions who settled there in search of religious freedom. The painter was born around 1600 and must have maintained close ties with his homeland, considering that he was living there in 1627 on his return from a trip to Italy, presumably a study trip like many such journeys conducted by northern European artists in the Italian Peninsula. Des Rousseaux is almost certain to have frequented the workshop that Rembrandt ran in Leyden from 1628 to 1631, for some of his paintings so closely echo Rembrandt’s style that they have even been attributed to the master himself in the past.

Although most of the paintings by Des Rousseaux that have emerged to date fall into the category of the so-called «Tronies» — in other words, studies of facial expressions, a genre that originated in Rembrandt’s circle —, the present work is part of a corpus of paintings depicting small musical concerts with two or more figures, a theme that has a precedent in Rembrandt’s youthful Musical Allegory, now in the Rijksmuseum. Reminiscences of Caravaggio’s style in this type of compositions cannot be ruled out either, an influence that may have been assimilated through painter Jan Lievens, during his period in Italy, or through direct contact with French artists such as Nicolas Tournier or Trophime Bigot, who remained faithful to Caravaggesque naturalism until the mid-1630s.



Jacques de Rousseaux (Tourcoing, c. 1600 - Leiden, 1636/1638), Lute player accompanying an old man holding a musical score, monogrammed and dated on the lute: «JR f. A. 1631», 1631, oil on panel, 122 × 101,4 cm, Gaudium Magnum Foundation – Maria and João Cortez de Lobão

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About the Gaudium Magnum Foundation
The Gaudium Magnum Foundation – Maria and João Cortez de Lobão Art Collection - was created in 2018. Its mission is the enhancement of Portugal - its culture and its people - and the Portuguese language. The Gaudium Magnum Foundation aims to be an institution open to the world, promotes the Common Good, and contributes to a fairer society in the light of Christian values and the mission of Portugal in the world. To pursue these goals, it bases its action on four fundamental areas: Culture, Education, Charity, and Research. Regarding the Cultural Area, the Foundation’s art collection gathers a valuable set of works of art, mainly by Old Masters, with a significant component of Portuguese artists.

Website: https://www.gaudiummagnum.org/