3-002-725 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Italian Boy with Hurdy-Gurdy, c1853. In Woodville's painting, a young boy in worn clothing rests on a stone balustrade, holding his instrument and gazing out from under hooded eyes. The background is a crumbling wall exposing a brick underlayer. The gargoyle over the boy's shoulder is a menacing presence to the boy's independence and a lewd pendant to his self-assured and seductive gaze. The boy's left hand is worked in the tiny brushstrokes and rich detail associated with this artist, down to the dirt under the thumbnail. At the same time, the right hand holding the instrument is clearly unfinished. The hurdy-gurdy so central to the composition, which the artist added at a late stage, was developed in the medieval period and popular in the Renaissance. It produces sound with a crank-turned rosined wheel rubbing against strings, and by Woodville's time, was associated with street musicians.