A boisterous group of musicians confronts the viewer. The figures in shabby clothes and disarray are pushed forward in the shallow space. A young man on the right and one behind the woman are barely perceptible in the shadows. The lively painting technique is perfectly in keeping with the bawdy subject depicted, the lack of moral intent, and the sexual connotations of the instruments played. Bernardo Strozzi successfully conveys the loud street music they must have played. Given the exaggerated perspective of the shawm (or pipe), the painting most likely would have been hung high on the wall, not at eye level.

Strozzi was from Genoa, a crossroads city with a vital seaport. Caravaggesque painters passed through, and the Flemings Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony Van Dyck painted portraits there in the 1620s. Strozzi’s low-life subject, chiaroscuro, three-quarter length figures, and dark tonalities show the Caravaggesque influence, while the free brushwork and thickly applied paint reflect lessons from Rubens.