Dimensions: support: 1016 x 1270 mm
Copyright: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: So, this is "A Musical Assembly" by Marcellus Laroon the Younger. I’m really drawn to the intimacy of this gathering, all these people seemingly caught in a shared moment. What do you see in this piece that I might be missing? Curator: For me, it whispers of Laroon’s own life amongst artistic circles in London. There’s a candid feel to it, don’t you think? Almost as if he's captured a fleeting moment rather than a staged portrait. Does it make you wonder what music they're playing? Editor: It does! It feels like we’re eavesdropping on a private concert. Curator: Exactly! And notice the casual placement of instruments—that cello draped across the cushion. It suggests a relaxed atmosphere, a genuine love of music rather than a formal performance. Editor: That's a good point. Thanks, I feel like I can almost hear the music now. Curator: My pleasure! Art is at its best when it brings the senses to life.
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This is Laroon’s earliest-known oil painting. Trained as an artist by his father, also a painter, he specialised in social genre scenes, particularly the world of actors and painters around Covent Garden in London. The gentleman standing behind the table in semi-profile wearing a blue garter sash and star is Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough (1658–1735). The gathering may be at his house in Fulham. The woman at his side is possibly Anastasia Robinson, a distinguished singer then at the outset of her operatic career. Gallery label, February 2016
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