REFLECTIONS
The painting "Reflections" is based on "The Music Lesson", one of the rare pieces by Johannes Vermeer. It is also known as "A lady at the virginal with a gentleman".
Vermeer painted 'The Music Lesson' around 1660-1663, about halfway through his career. In a room in which soft daylight falls through stained glass windows, a woman plays on a virginal, forerunner of the harpsichord. A young man, also beautifully dressed, listens attentively to the music with an arm leaning loosely on the instrument. The scene exudes harmony. Woman and man are undoubtedly lovers. The music connects them. On the virginal is MVSICA LETITIAE CO[ME]S MEDICINA DOLOR[VM], or 'music is a companion of joy, a medicine against sadness'. The painting on the right behind the man shows an image from the Classical Era.
Vermeer makes us believe that we are looking at a moment in the lives of prosperous Dutch citizens from the seventeenth century. Yet that is an illusion. What we see is a setting carefully composed by him. Every element in it has been well considered by Vermeer. The most fascinating part is the mirror above the virginal. It reflects the face of the woman, a corner of the table with the colorful Persian rug and also just the legs of Vermeer's easel. In doing so, he, the painter, suggests that he literally saw this scene in front of him. We are indeed inclined to see the painting as a photograph. But a mistake disturbs that photographic reality. We see the woman on her back. She plays standing and keeps her head slightly bent over. This way she can clearly see her fingers touching the keys. The mirror, however, shows her in a different pose. She turned her face towards the man next to her!
In the painting "Reflections" by Bart Ocket, "The Music Lesson" was accurately painted, and various playful changes were made. The young man was omitted. The text on the virginal was changed. The painting on the right was moved up a bit and replaced by the world-famous work "The Arnolfini Portrait" by Jan Van Eyck, the renowned Renaissance painter. Jan Van Eyck was probably the most famous painter in Europe during his lifetime and was mainly active in Bruges. In this painting we see in a bedroom a double portrait with a richly dressed man and an equally richly dressed woman reaching out to each other. In the foreground, in front of the pair, is a dog and a pair of outdoor shoes. In the background, very eye-catching, hangs above the sofa a round mirror, in which we see the couple from behind. Now it is generally believed that it is Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife Constanza Trenta, probably in their home in Bruges. The painting has been in the National Gallery in London since 1842.
In his work "Reflections", Bart Ocket also plays with various reflections: the reflection of the woman, the glass sphere hung from the ceiling by a blue ribbon (a reference to Vermeer's later painting: "The allegory of faith"), and the convex mirror in van Eyck's painting.
