Medieval Trio

Of this magnificent trio of musicians, portrayed by the Ferrarese painter Lorenzo Costa towards the end of the 15th century, very little is known. The painting was most likely commissioned to decorate the music room of a noble palace or to illustrate a cycle of allegories concerning the Arts.

At the center of the scene is a young lute player who sings a polyphonic song together with two characters who accompany him. The lips of the three singers are open in different ways, a clear sign that they are singing different notes. Moreover, the woman and the man on the left are holding a hand on the table to keep the rhythm, which adds a level of realism to the whole scene comparable to that of contemporary Flemish painters, even in thematic choice.

In the book "Vite de' Pittori e Scultori Ferraresi" by the 18th-century scholar Girolamo Baruffaldi, the commentator Giuseppe Boschini suggests that the character with the lute is Lorenzo Costa himself, who, in addition to painting, also seems to have been dedicated to music.

In 1910, the painting became part of the collections of the National Gallery in London, where it is still on display.