Oil Painting on Canvas of “The Blind Fiddler” After Sir David Wilkie in the Tate Museum

The original early work by Scottish-born Sir David Wilkie, (1785–1841) depicts a blind, old fiddler on the left, playing to a large family; an old woman by the hearth holding a small child in her lap, two children watching the fiddler including one imitating the fiddler by playing the bellows, a man and woman behind them playing with another child. The original painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1807 when the artist was just 22 years old and some critics thought the bust on the shelf represented a dissenting minister, and concluded that the family were nonconformists. The power of music to stir the passions of those supposedly suspicious of pleasure was thought to add to the painting’s subtlety.

There are many engravings made of this work including ones held in the British Museum and National Galleries of Scotland.

This excellent copy would date from the early to mid 19thC.

Dimensions: 38″W (97cm) x 31″H (79cm)

Ref:DM LW2088