{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O124041"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O124041/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BH7721/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BH7721/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006BH7721","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O124041/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O124041","accessionNumber":"1618-1869","objectType":"Oil painting","titles":[{"title":"A Monk reading","type":""}],"summaryDescription":"Alfred van Muyden (1818-1898) was born in Lausanne. He became the pupil of Wilhelm von Kaulbach at the Fine Arts Academy in Munich in 1838. He continued his studies in Rome and later settled in Geneva before going back to Rome for six years. He came back definitively to Geneva in 1856. He married the sister of the painter Etienne Duval, who was also the grand-daughter of Wolgang-Adam Töpffer. Their three sons, Albert-Steven, Evert and Henri also became painters.\r\n\r\nThis painting is a fine example of Muyden’s genre scenes almost entirely taken from scenes of daily life in Rome. The humble life of the Capuchin monks, who followed St Francis in their ministry to the common people, was of a particular interest to him. By comparison with similar works, the painting may be dated in the 1850s. This type of pictures was particularly popular in the second half of the 19th century.","physicalDescription":"A monk seated in a chair next to a desk, reading a letter.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Muyden, Alfred van","id":"A17577"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"oil paint","id":"AAT15050"},{"text":"canvas","id":"AAT14078"}],"techniques":[{"text":"oil painting","id":"AAT178684"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Oil on canvas","categories":[{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"}],"styles":[{"text":"Swiss School","id":"x31273"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2006BH7721"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"A","id":"THES376827"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"oil paintings","id":"AAT33799"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Rome","id":"x29106"},"association":{"text":"painted","id":"x30138"},"note":"possibly"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1850s","earliest":"1850-01-01","latest":"1859-12-31"},"association":{"text":"painted","id":"AAT54216"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Bequeathed by Rev. Chauncey Hare Townshend","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"40","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"estimate","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"32.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"estimate","note":""},{"dimension":"","value":"","unit":"","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"Measurement taken at time of assessment prior to BH decant - Frame Dimensions (mm): H-530 W-455 D-75;\nPainting Dimensions (mm): not measured"}],"dimensionsNote":"Dimensions taken from C.M. Kauffmann, <i>Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, II. 1800-1900</i>,  London, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'A. van Muyden'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Signed by the artist, lower right"}],"objectHistory":"Rev. Chauncey Hare Townshend, listed in the 1868 post-mortem register of the contents of his villa in Lausanne (V&A R/F MA/1/T1181) as 'Oil on Canvas. A monk. By F. A. Van Muyden. In frame. Swiss. Present century'; bequeathed by Rev. Chauncey Hare Townshend, 1868.\n\nHistorical significance: Muyden was mostly a portrait and genre painter. The representation of the daily life of the Capuchin monks constitutes a significant part of his oeuvre. Two paintings, <i>Monks Playing Balls</i> (1852) and <i>Capuchins Playing Chess</i> (1859), both whereabouts unknown, are particularly close to the present work while a drawing, <i>Study for a Capuchin Monk Holding an Umbrella</I., Private collection, present a very similar figure. The artist was in Rome between 1842 and 1848 and again between 1851 and 1856 and had his studio in via del Babuino. It is not unlikely that this painting was executed there after sketches made after the motif in the streets of Rome.\r\nThe high degree of finish combined with rustic subject is typical of the generation of Swiss painters of the second half of the 19th century, who were to some extent still under the influence of the Biedermeier imagery.  \r\nThis painting was bequeathed by the Rev. Townshend who owned a large collection of 19th-century landscape paintings. It is not unlikely that Townshend, who resided part of the year in Lausanne, acquired this painting directly from the artist.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Oil painting, 'A Monk Reading', Alfred van Muyden, Swiss school, 1850s","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Kauffmann, C.M. <u>Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, II. 1800-1900 </u>, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973, p. 79, cat. no. 172."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"monks","id":"AAT25765"},{"text":"chair","id":"AAT37772"},{"text":"table","id":"x31811"},{"text":"books","id":"AAT28051"}],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"genre scene","id":"x45353"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["1618-1869"],"accessionNumberNum":"1618","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1869,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-08-14","recordCreationDate":"2006-05-18","availableToBook":true}}