A Concert

A Concert at the National Gallery in London is one of the most intimate and musically evocative works in Costa's surviving output, depicting a small gathering of figures engaged in music-making. Music occupied a central place in the humanist culture of fifteenth-century Italian courts: Isabella d'Este at Mantua, where Costa later worked, was a passionate musician and patron of musical performance. The concert subject allowed Costa to paint figures in close physical proximity engaged in a shared absorbing activity, creating a psychological intimacy unusual in his usually more formal compositions. The National Gallery's holding places this small gem within the context of its outstanding Italian Renaissance collection.

The concert format created a challenge of depicting concentrated attention — each figure focused on their part or their instrument — within a compact pictorial space. Costa renders the figures' absorption through posture and eye direction, using a warm palette suited to the musical intimacy of the scene.