Musical Party in a Hall

By the time Pieter de Hooch painted this musical gathering, around 1664, he had left Delft for Amsterdam, and his work had changed with the move. The quiet brick courtyards and modest kitchens he was known for gave way to interiors like this one, a spacious hall with a Persian carpet from Isfahan thrown over the table and oranges set out as a small luxury. Three figures make music together: a man draws a bow across a cello, another lifts a flute, a woman sings. Amsterdam in these years was the richest city in Europe, and its merchant families wanted paintings that reflected the lives they were building. The carpet alone, imported across half the world, told a visitor exactly how far this household had come.