End Notes
Emerging from Obscurity: Georges de la Tour’s Musicians’ Quarrel
[1] See our article Philip McCouat, “The Sphinx of Delft: Jan Vermeer’s Demise and Rediscovery”, Journal of Art in Society, www.artinsociety (2020)
[2] La Tour would go on to depict such blind hurdy-gurdy players many times
[3] Technically known as a “shawm”
[4] Philip Conisbee, Georges de La Tour & His World, NGA, Washington, Yale University Press, 1977, at 52ff
[5] Getty Museum Collection, “The Musicians’ Brawl” https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/103RCX
[6] See our article Philip McCouat, “Murder, Caravaggio and ‘The Taking of Christ’”, Journal of Art in Society (2025) https://www.artinsociety.com/murder-caravaggio-and-the-taking-of-christ.html
[7] Rose-Marie and Rainer Hagen, “Courtly delight in the vagrant life”, in What Great Paintings Say, Vol 2, Taschen, Koln 2003, 215 at 216
[8] Hagen at 216; Santos-Bueso E, Sáenz-Francés F, García-Sánchez J. “Eye pathology in the paintings of Georges de la Tour: Simulation in ophthalmology: musician's brawl”, Archivos de la Sociedad Espanola de Oftalmologia, 2011 Dec; 86(12):424-425. See also our article Philip McCouat, “Bruegel’s The Blind Leading the Blind: Perception and Blindness in the 16th Century“, Journal of Art in Society https://www.artinsociety.com/perception-and-blindness-in-the-16th-century.html
[9] Polyxeni Potter, “The Iconography of Vermin”, Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2013;19(2):350-351
[10] Hagens, op cit at 218; Christopher Wright, Georges de la Tour, Phaidon, Oxford, 1977
[11] Christopher Wright, Georges de La Tour, Phaidon, Oxford, 1977 at 5; Potter, op cit
[12] Jacques Thaillier, Georges de La Tour, Flammarion, 1993, at 7
[13] Pierre Rosenberg, Marina Mojana, Georges de La Tour, Catalogue Complet des Peintures, at 33
[14] Thaillier, op cit at 283
[15] Getty Museum Collection, “Georges de La Tour” https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/person/103JY0
[16] Richard E Spear, Book Review of Georges de la Tour, by Benedict Nicholson and Christopher Wright (1974), The Burlington Magazine, Vol 118, No 877 (April 1976), pp. 233-235
© Philip McCouat 2025
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[2] La Tour would go on to depict such blind hurdy-gurdy players many times
[3] Technically known as a “shawm”
[4] Philip Conisbee, Georges de La Tour & His World, NGA, Washington, Yale University Press, 1977, at 52ff
[5] Getty Museum Collection, “The Musicians’ Brawl” https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/103RCX
[6] See our article Philip McCouat, “Murder, Caravaggio and ‘The Taking of Christ’”, Journal of Art in Society (2025) https://www.artinsociety.com/murder-caravaggio-and-the-taking-of-christ.html
[7] Rose-Marie and Rainer Hagen, “Courtly delight in the vagrant life”, in What Great Paintings Say, Vol 2, Taschen, Koln 2003, 215 at 216
[8] Hagen at 216; Santos-Bueso E, Sáenz-Francés F, García-Sánchez J. “Eye pathology in the paintings of Georges de la Tour: Simulation in ophthalmology: musician's brawl”, Archivos de la Sociedad Espanola de Oftalmologia, 2011 Dec; 86(12):424-425. See also our article Philip McCouat, “Bruegel’s The Blind Leading the Blind: Perception and Blindness in the 16th Century“, Journal of Art in Society https://www.artinsociety.com/perception-and-blindness-in-the-16th-century.html
[9] Polyxeni Potter, “The Iconography of Vermin”, Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2013;19(2):350-351
[10] Hagens, op cit at 218; Christopher Wright, Georges de la Tour, Phaidon, Oxford, 1977
[11] Christopher Wright, Georges de La Tour, Phaidon, Oxford, 1977 at 5; Potter, op cit
[12] Jacques Thaillier, Georges de La Tour, Flammarion, 1993, at 7
[13] Pierre Rosenberg, Marina Mojana, Georges de La Tour, Catalogue Complet des Peintures, at 33
[14] Thaillier, op cit at 283
[15] Getty Museum Collection, “Georges de La Tour” https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/person/103JY0
[16] Richard E Spear, Book Review of Georges de la Tour, by Benedict Nicholson and Christopher Wright (1974), The Burlington Magazine, Vol 118, No 877 (April 1976), pp. 233-235
© Philip McCouat 2025
Return to Home