New-York Historical Society's "Unidentified Gentleman with a Violin" (ca. 1720): A Re-Evaluation

"Unidentified Gentleman with a Violin seems" to be the first appearance of a violin in an Anglo-American painting. This paper discusses selected visual and musical aspects to unearth the complex iconography of a seemingly simple portrait. J[ohn?] Cooper's picture is deeply imbedded in the cultural changes of the early eighteenth century both in Britain and its North American colonies, which are characterized by a growing independence of the colonies, an increasing social mobility, and a lessening of cultural restrictions, all of which also influence the histories of manners, portraiture, and music. The key features of the picture discussed here are the physical appearance of the sitter, his attire, and the function of the instrument. The findings suggest that the painting may be the self-portrait of an early immigrant cultural entrepreneur who united art and music in the newly popular profession of the colonial dancing master.