A Young Woman Playing the Tambourine 1793 - 1796

Cornelius Høyer painted this miniature of a young woman with watercolour on ivory. The tambourine she holds is more than a musical instrument; it echoes ancient rites. Consider the Maenads of Dionysian cults, who, frenzied and liberated, wielded the tambourine as they roamed the wilderness. This symbol of ecstatic ritual surfaces in different guises throughout history, even Christian art. Think of Miriam, Moses’ sister, leading the women of Israel in dance with timbrels after crossing the Red Sea, a symbol of liberation and triumph. Here, the tambourine is subdued, domesticated. The woman’s gaze is knowing yet gentle. There's a latent energy, a hint of Dionysian frenzy beneath the surface, a reminder of the potent, timeless undercurrents of human emotion and expression. These resurface and echo through the ages.