The Old Violin

John Frederick Peto

National Gallery of Art

A violin, bow, and a tattered page of sheet music hang from a dark, forest-green, wooden door in this vertical painting. The string holding the violin hangs from a nail just above the sheet music. The violin hangs at an angle so the neck points slightly to our right. The bow hangs almost vertically behind the violin’s body. White powder coats the violin under the strings, one of which is broken. The sheet of music is titled “VIOLIN” and the musical notation is legible. The edges of the paper are chipped and wrinkled. Several pins are pounded into the wooden door, and a few small holes and vertical cracks mar its surface. The tip of one of two scrolling, gold hinges to are left is broken. A keyhole to our right is surrounded a brass plate, and a gold key hangs nearby. A scrap of newspaper is pasted on the door just below the violin to our right, but the text is illegible. The green paint is worn away on the left and right edges of the composition. The initials “JFP” appear to be carved into the door just above the violin to our left. The artist’s name is painted in black near the lower left corner, “John. F. Peto.”