The Musician (Bartholomeus van der Helst painting)

The Musician (1662) is an oil on canvas painting by the Dutch painter Bartholomeus van der Helst. It is an example of Dutch Golden Age painting and is part of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The woman is looking at the viewer and according to art historian Walter Liedtke, "spills out of her dress". Liedtke goes on to make this a case for considering it a genre work rather than a portrait, comparing it with other scantily clad lute players that may have influenced the painter, such as the earlier works of Gerrit van Honthorst and contemporary work such as by Ferdinand Bol:

The Vermeer was donated to the MET's collection in 1900, and the Ter Borch in 1914, both of which had been recently imported to the US, probably also based on the popularity at the time of this painting.