Anonymous: 16th century – Recorder Home Page

Austrian

Hans Wagner, Kurtze, doch gegründte Beschreibung … (1568): Weddding Banquet in the Georg-Saal of the Munich Residenz for Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria and Princess Renée of Lorraine, 21 February 1568, etching, Austrian. New York: New York Public Library, Spencer Collection. Ref. Early Music 10 (4): front & back covers (1982, col.); Bowles (1989: fig. 25, 25a); Holman (1955, fig.); Rasmussen (2000–20002, Pipe & Tabor). In an elaborate banqueting Hall, guests surround the wedding table. Dancers are accompanied by an ensemble of pipe and tabor, string drum (?), and two woodwind instruments. In the foreground musicians play double basses, violins, lute and chamber organ. On a table behind the organ a number of instruments lie including trumpet, shawm, two flutes, and three recorders (one tenor and one alto).
Regal (ca 1580), case oak, ebony & ivory, Austrian. Vienna: Kunsthistoriche Museum, Inv. SAM 636. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2007); Wikimedia Commons (2010, col.) This regal made by one ‘SAM’ for Abbot Severin Blos of the Benedictine Monastery of Landbrach in Upper Austria has a line of seven ebony and ivory inlays along (under) the keyboard, of which the next to last on the right shows three women playing a trombone, alto cornetto and a contrabass recorder. The bocal of the recorder enters at the top of the windcap (so it is not a dulcian) and there is one long column, showing no details of finger holes or window/labium.
Entertainments of the Nobility, Austrian. Linz: Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum, Inv. G57. Ref. Villa i Tatti: The Harvard Centre for Italian Renaissance Studies, ML85 S35; Salmen (1980: 50); Paolo Biordi (pers. comm., 2000). Members of the nobility disport themselves around a fountain with eating, dancing, games, courting, and singing and playing music on pairs of instruments: cornetto and drum, harp, slide trumpet and kettledrums, lute and viol, and two pipes. The latter are played together by two men seated on an L-shaped bench. One of the pipes appears to be a reed instrument, but the other seems to have the windway/labium of a recorder.
Altarpiece: central panel: Coronation of the Virgin (16th century). Detail. Sankt Lambrecht: Schlosskapelle. Ref. Website, flickr: Monika & Manfred’s photostream (2017, col.) At the foot of the central panel three groups of musical angels play and sing. One group play harp,psaltery and lute; another sing from a score; a third play clearly depicted soprano, alto and tenor recorders. Panels on the wings of this gothic altarpiece depict various scenes from the life of Christ. The St Lambrecht Abbey is a Benedictine monastery located in the Austrian state of Styria.
Adam Gumpelzheimer (1591), Neue Teutsche Geistliche Lieder … …nach Art der welschen Villanellen, Title Page: The Nine Muses (1591) , woodcut. Ref. Website: Bruce Dickey: Cornetto Iconography (2002, b&w). The Nine Muses play musical instruments: lute, harp, ? bagpipe, organ, a staight slender and slightly flared pipe, trombone, viol, viola da braccio and regal. Dickey (loc. cit.) has included this image in his Cornetto Iconography, but a duct-flute (even a recorder) is another possibility. It seems to have too many finger holes for one player! Neue Teutsche geistliche Lieder … , a collection of songs for three voices, was publishedin Augsburg by Valentin Schönigg.

Czech

[Untitled] (1529), woodcut from a Bible. Prague: Národní knihovna. Ref. Editio Simiae Ludentes, Prague (cover). Crude depiction of grotesques of men and boys playing trios of duct flutes (or could be two duct flutes and a shawm, an unlikely combination). Three lower holes are visible on one of the instruments (the ?shawm).

English

Coat of Arms of the Vernon Family (ca 1500), wood panel. Bakewell (Derbyshire): Haddon Hall, Parlour. Ref. Hunter (1966: 18); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2008). Unquartered shield, showing the arms of the Margaret Swinfen (1418–1460), daughter of William Swynfen “Pipe” (1361–1421): two recorders forming a chevron, with mouthpieces close together, surrounded by eight small crosses of the type known in heraldry as ‘crosses crosslet’. Sir William Vernon of Haddon (1418–1467) married Margaret Swinfen in 1435, Her identity has been often confused, with various sources noting her as “daughter and heiress of Sir Robert Pype”; however, whilst she was an heiress of Pype, she was not his daughter, as her relation to the Pypes was through her paternal grandmother.
Coat of Arms of the Vernon Family (ca 1500), wood panel. Bakewell (Derbyshire): Haddon Hall, Great Chamber (above the Parlour). Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2008). Halved shield, the right side showing the arms of Margaret Swinfen (1418–1460), daughter of William Swynfen “Pipe” (1361–1421): two recorders forming a chevron, with mouthpieces close together, surrounded by eight small crosses of the type known in heraldry as ‘crosses crosslet’. Sir William Vernon of Haddon (1418–1467) married Margaret Swinfen in 1435, Her identity has been often confused, with various sources noting her as “daughter and heiress of Sir Robert Pype”; however, whilst she was an heiress of Pype, she was not his daughter, as her relation to the Pypes was through her paternal grandmother.
Coat of Arms of the Vernon Family (? early 16th century), stained glass. Bakewell (Derbyshire): Haddon Hall, Parlour, West-facing window. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2008); Website: flickr, Elliot Brown’s photostream (2014-col.; as “Chapel at Haddon Hall, Right hand corner of the Lower Courtyard” ). Unquartered shield, showing the arms of the Margaret Swinfen (1418–1460), daughter of William Swynfen “Pipe” (1361–1421): two recorders forming a chevron, with mouthpieces close together, surrounded by ten small crosses of the type known in heraldry as ‘crosses crosslet’. Sir William Vernon of Haddon (1418–1467) married Margaret Swinfen in 1435, Her identity has been often confused, with various sources noting her as “daughter and heiress of Sir Robert Pype”; however, whilst she was an heiress of Pype, she was not his daughter, as her relation to the Pypes was through her paternal grandmother.
Ceiling pendants (late 1520s), woodcarving, English. East Molesey: Hampton Court Palace, Chapel Royal. Ref. Pitkin Pictorials (1971: 5, col.); Williams (1971: 99, b&w); Lyndon-Jones (2000: 38–39 & pl,. b&w). There are some 25 of these pendants glittering in a relatively small space, each with four fat-cheeked angel-musicians blowing instruments, variously trumpet- , shawm-, cornetto- or recorder-like. No holes are visible in the cylindrical straight instruments and the mouth-piece end is somewhat indefinite, but this type of instrument predominates out of the 80 or so examples. The ceiling was designed (artist unknown) for Cardinal Wolsey for his ‘Cardinal College’ (now Christ Church) at Oxford, presumably during the late 1520s. After Wolsey’s disgrace and death, Henry VIII removed a lot of material and artifacts from the unfinished college at Oxford and, in 1536, the ceiling was re-jigged and put in place in his Chapel Royal. Wolsey’s sense of his own importance and magnificence, and his status as a Prelate, suggest the unclear instruments are more likely to be ceremonial cornetti rather than our ‘amorous flute’, but nevertheless they can (just) be regarded as possible recorders. Note by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm.)
Eglantine Table (1568), carved walnut, 90.0 × 30.2 × 129.0 cm English. Detail. Chesterfield: Hardwick Hall, High Great Chamber. Ref. Collins (1976); Michael Fleming ex Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2006); Website: National Trust Collections, Inv. 1127774 (2013, col.); Website: Lute Iconography LI-393 (2023, col.) The Eglantine Table was probably made to celebrate Elizabeth (“Bess”) of Hardwick’s marriage to the Earl of Shrewsbury in 1568, and the marriage of her own son and daughter (by her first marriage) to the Earl’s two children (a triple alliance). Its elaborate inlay is a mosaic of musical instruments, games, flowers and heraldic references. The musical instruments depicted include two viols (or possibly violins) with frets, a harp, a guitar, a lute, a cittern, two cornetti, a folded trumpet, a coiled trumpet, two shawms, a bagpipe, and a recorder. The recorder has holes for 5 fingers, the lowermost paired. The characteristic beak and window/labium are clearly depicted, and a recorder case can be seen in the top left hand corner of the drawing reproduced by Collins (1976: fig. p. 276). Eglantine is a white rose, one of the family emblems. There is one other inlaid Tudor table of this quality in existence, in the Burrell Collection, Glasgow.
Lutenist (1569), woodcut on paper, English. London: Royal Academy of Music, Spencer Collection. Ref. Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-2162 (2023, b&w). Standing on a rise beside a sapling, a man wearing extremely baggy pantaloons plays a lute. At his feet are a harp and an instrument case with three tubes of slightly different sizes, possibly for recorders. In the background are ploughed fields and what looks like a small castle. There is a monogram beneath the date on this print.
Apollo and the Nine Muses (1580), carved painted and gilt oak panel, 178.2 × 121.3 cm, ? English. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, A.12-1924. Ref. Palmer & Palmer (1980: 125, b&w); James Yorke, V&A (pers. comm., 2006). This panel formed part of the Temple of the Muses at the Grange, Hockliffe, Bedfordshire. It is said to have come from the Manor House, Toddington, Bedfordshire, which was built in the 1570s and demolished in 1745. Apollo plays his lyre surrounded by the Muses one of whom sings whilst the others play hurdy-gurdy, triangle, a slender shawm (or later baroque oboe), lute, guitar (with a distinctive sickle-shaped peg-box) , viola da braccio, lyre, and recorder. The foot of a larger shawm can be seen beside the singing muse. Pegasus flits across the background. The recorder is a perfectly depicted baroque alto, played right hand uppermost. Possibly intended as an overmantel or chimney-piece. “This carving is characteristic of English work of the 1580s and similar to the alabaster overmantel of Apollo and the Nine Muses in the library of Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire. The rocky landscape and ruins in the background are similar to prints based on engravings such as Hieronymus Cock’s Praecipua aliquot romanae Antiquitatis ruinarum monumenta (‘Some outstanding monuments of Ancient Roman ruins’). Cock’s work was published in Antwerp, Flanders (now Belgium), in 1551 and soon became widely available in England” (Victoria & Albert Museum). The recorder and oboe were probably added later, as both are of baroque design.

Flemish

Book of Hours: A Boating Party (ca 1500), illumination on vellum, 19.2 × 13.3 cm, Flemish. Cambridge: Fitzwilliam Museum, Ms 1058-1975 f5v. Ref. Fitzwilliam Museum Enterprises Ltd, Cambridge: postcards MED 7 & MEL 98 (col.); Bridgeman Art Library (2003: Image FIT133923, col.) Page for May. A couple stand on a bridge watching a punt carrying a party of musicians and a pair of lovers beneath. In the boat, a man plays the lute, a woman sings from a sheet of music, and a man plays an alto-sized recorder with a flared bell. The branches of new leaves decorating the boat celebrate the regeneration of spring. Cf. the very similar Boating Party by Simon Bening (1483–1561) in the Bibliothèque Royale, Brussels (see Moeck 1996: back cover), which shows a transverse flute accompanied by a lute and possibly a singer.
Book of Hours: May (ca 1500), illumination, Flemish. New Haven: Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library Ms, fol. 5v. Ref. Bowles (1983: pl. 110); Rasmussen (1999, Lute, 2000). “In a boat women sing and play a lute and a man holdss a recorder. There is also a proportionately tiny figure playing a pipe and tabor and a fool with a bagpipe” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
Figures in a Wood (c. 1498–1503), from a volume of masses and motets (ca 1500), Flemish. Rome: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Ms Chigi C.VIII.234, fol. 3v. Ref. Bowles(1983: pl. 103); Rasmussen (1999, Lute); Website: Digital Archive of Medieval Music (2014, col.) At the foot of a page of music – the Kyrie to the Missa Mi-Mi by Johannes Ockegem (1410–1497), two couples sit on the grass in a forest. At the left, a woman plays a lute and the man plays an alto-sized conical pipe. At the right, a woman plays a harp and a man plays a rebec. The pipe has a hint of a beak and the foot is somewhat flared. It is played right hand uppermost and the player’s fingers and thumb are perfectly disposed for recorder-playing.
Chansonnier: Boating Party (1511), illumination, Flemish. Brussels: Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, MS IV.90, fol. 9v. Ref. Bowles (1983: 147); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). In a boat women sing and play a lute and a man holds a pipe with a flared bell but only three finger holes showing, possibly a recorder. This is the Altus partbook from a set of of four manuscripts.
Breviary Of Eleanor Of Portugal: Musicians in a Boat (ca 1495–1525), illumination, 23.4 × 16.9 cm, Flemish. New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M.52, folio 4, at the foot of the page. Ref. Ford (1988: #1051, fig.); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). “A couple, playing a lute (woman) and a transverse flute or cornetto (man)” (Ford, loc. cit.) “To me, the instrument looks more like a recorder and should be compared to similar illustrations by Simon Bening. The recorder and lute are usual in boat-party representations of May, both being symbols of love and regeneration” (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.) In this example, there is a lion standing in the prow of the boat, and the customary wine flask is hanging over the side to keep it cool!
Breviary Of Eleanor Of Portugal: The Raising of Lazarus (ca 1495–1525), illumination, 23.4 × 16.9 cm, Flemish. New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, M.52, folio 398v, border. Ref. Laborde (1932, 2: pl. LXV); Bowles (1983: 132-133, pl. 100); Ford (1988: #1052, fig.); Rasmussen (1999, Lute); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). “A woman plays a lute, a man plays a long, narrow wind instrument. The scene appears to be a funeral procession” (Ford, loc. cit.) “The wind instrument could possibly be a recorder. If so, it provides an interesting example of an association with death. The upper part of the page illustrates the raising of Lazarus from the grave. I think the lower scene represents what went before – his funeral” (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.) In the central scene the dead man, partially shrouded, sits up with joined hands raised beside two crosses. He is flanked by two men: one representing Christ, the other possibly Judas Cyriacus who covers his nose with his right hand. A crowd of men and women looks on. The main scene is framed by a historiated border with in which a couple playing musical instruments in boat are rowed by an oarsman. They are followed by second boat rowed by two men. In the background is a landscape with the buildings of a village beside the river. Surely this is an example of the association of the recorder as much with a miraculous event as with death!
The Camp of the Gypsies (early 16th century), tapestry, wool & silk, 386 × 343 cm, Flemish. Glasgow: Burrell Collection. Ref. Marks et al. (1983: 106-107, fig. 12, col.); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm.); Burrell Collection, Postcard (2012, col.) Amid the countryside a group of rather well-dressed men and women enjoy themselves, variously hunting, gathering fruit, eating, conversing, having their fortunes told, playing music and lovemaking. To the right a young woman admonishes a man who arrives to the party late leading a donkey by its halter, his wife seated on its back feeds two toddlers and two babies, the later seated in a pannier. A couple in the lower right hand corner already have one baby and seem about to make some more; nearby, in the foreground an exhausted looking rabbit seems to be trying to sleep. Towards the top left corner a man uses a pike to separate two coupling dogs. In the background are a castle and a number of buildings. One of the men holds a lute in one hand as he passes a sheet of music to his girlfriend behind him. Another man plays a tenor-sized, cylindrical recorder, the beak, window-labium and six finger holes clearly visible and a 7th covered by the index finger of the lowermost (right) hand; the foot of the recorder has a narrow, turned bead. Surely these are depraved courtiers rather than gypsies! Small rectangular areas in the top right and left corners seems to have come from other tapestries. Marks et al. (1983) attribute this to the workshop of Arnold Poissonnier (15th century).
The Court of Love (ca 1510–1520), tapestry, Flemish (Brussels). Private collection. Ref. Collection of Frederick W. Schumacher, Columbus, Ohio (1955: 185); Rasmussen (1999, Lute; 2005, Flute). “In a foreground group a woman plays a dulcimer, a woman tunes a lute, and three men play recorders. In a background group a woman holds a lute and a man plays a flute” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
Concert of the “Five Orders” [Musical Clerics in a Garden] (1522), Flemish. Detail. London: British Library, MS. Add. 15426 f. 86). Ref. Bowles (1983: 143, pl. 111); Thomson & Rowland-Jones (1995: 35, pl. 11b, b&w); Recorder Magazine 16 (10): front cover – detail (1996); Postcard: Alamire C5 (1996); Archiv Moeck; Website: Ikonographie der Renaissanceflöte (2006, col.) Decorated initial in a Psalter for use the Abbey of Tongerloo, written in 1522 by Frans Weerth. Monks amuse themselves in a garden playing an ambiguous pipe which may be a duct flute (flageolet or recorder) with a flared-bell, accompanied by rebec, psaltery, flute and lute; a small harp lies on the ground.
The Victory of the Virtues Over the Vices: Humanity Surprised by the Seven Deadly Sins (Tapestry of the Dance) (1519–1524), tapestry, woven in Brussels. Brussels: Brussels: Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis; formerly at the Cathedral in Palencia, Spain. Ref. Palencia Cathedral (1946: pl. 215); Thomson & Rowland Jones (1995: 39, pl. 13, detail), Rowland-Jones (1998b: 15, fig. 8, b&w; 1999a: 7-11, fig. 8, b&w); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). Pleasure-loving humanity is represented partly by a group of six musicians including two female singers, a female lutenist and three men playing large, near-cylindrical recorders accompanying some lightly clad dancers whose circle has been infiltrated by the figure of Lust. A cartoon for one of the tapestries in this series has been attributed to Jean van Roome (fl. 1509-1521).
The Victory of the Virtues over the Vices: Humanity Surprised by the Seven Deadly Sins (Tapestry of the Dance) (1519–1524), tapestry, woven in Brussels. East Molesey: Hampton Court Palace, Great Watching Chamber. Ref. Rowland-Jones (2002, pers. comm.); Website: gallica (2012, b&w) Pleasure-loving humanity is represented partly by a group of six musicians including three female singers and three men playing large, near-cylindrical recorders accompanying some lightly clad dancers whose circle has been infiltrated by the figure of Lust. Verses are woven beneath and the names of some of the allegorical personages are marked beside them. A cartoon for one of the tapestries in this series has been attributed to Jean van Roome (fl. 1509–1521).
The Victory of the Virtues over the Vices: Humanity Surprised by the Seven Deadly Sins (Tapestry of the Dance) (1519–1524), tapestry, woven in Brussels. Saragossa: Museo de Tapices de la Seo. Ref. Abbad Rios (1957: fig. 193); Mirimonde (1977: pl. 122b, detail); Torra da Arana et al. (1985), Rowland-Jones (1998b: 12, fig. 3 b&w; 14, fig. 7, b&w; 1999a: 7-11, fig. 3, b&w, fig. 7, b&w); Rasmussen (1999, Lute); Wilfried Praet (pers. comm., 2010). Pleasure-loving humanity is represented partly by a group of six musicians including two female singers, a female lutenist and three men playing large, near-cylindrical recorders accompanying some lightly clad dancers whose circle has been infiltrated by the figure of Lust. A cartoon for one of the tapestries in this series has been attributed to Jean van Roome (fl. 1509-1521).
The Victory of the Virtues over the Vices: The Prodigal Son (1519–1524), tapestry, woven in Brussels. Brussels: Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis; formerly at the Cathedral in Palencia, Spain. Ref. Rowland-Jones (1998b: 14, fig. 6, b&w; 1999a: 7-11, fig. 6 & 10, b&w). Musicians in the background sing and play dulcimer, lute (plucked with a quill) and duct flute (flageolet or recorder); one of the singers holds a near-cylindrical recorder upside down. A cartoon for one of the tapestries in this series has been attributed to Jean van Roome (fl. 1509–1521).
The Victory of the Virtues over the Vices: The Prodigal Son (1519–1524), tapestry, woven in Brussels. Minneapolis: Institute of Art. Ref. Slim (2002: 11, pl. 5); Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). In the background, top-right, a woman sings from a scroll of music (or she may be holding it out for the psaltery player), another woman plays a psaltery with a pair of long quills, and a man plays a duct flute with a clear window/labium but his upper (right) hand is hidden so that no finger holes show. Two other women are in the same group; they could be conversing, or possibly singing. One holds, in a vertical position, a beaked flute of alto size. No window/labium is visible, but six finger holes in line can be seen clearly and a seventh could be hidden by the holding hand near the bottom of the instrument before a very slight bell-flare. A cartoon for one of the tapestries in this series has been attributed to Jean van Roome (fl. 1509–1521).
The Victory of the Virtues over the Vices: The Last Judgment (1519–1524), tapestry, woven in Brussels. Brussels: Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis; formerly at the Cathedral in Palencia, Spain. Ref. Garcia & Rafael (1946: pl. 216); Recorder & Music Magazine 1 (11); 342, b&w, detail); Braggard & Hen (1967: plates III-1&2, detail); Linde (1991: cover, detail); Dinn (1974: cover, detail); Brisk, The Sacred Organ’s Praise, Erasmus Muziek Producties CD WVH125 (cover, detail); Rowland-Jones (1998b: 12, figs. 4 & 5, b&w; 15, fig. 9, b&w; 16, fig. 10, b&w; 1999a: 7-11, figs. 4, 5 & 9, b&w); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). On the far right, a lady plays the organ whilst musicians gathered around her play long pipe and tabor, lute and harp. To their right, three play near-cylindrical (‘wide-bore’) recorders, one small and two large. Centre-stage Justice, brandishing a murderous-looking sword, pursues a musician who attempts to defend himself with a near-cylindrical duct flute (flageolet or recorder). Another fleeing musician has dropped his duct flute, only the head of which is visible, the beak of which is of a most peculiar construction. Elsewhere in this tapestry, two three-holed pipes are identifiable from the fingering position or the presence of a tabor. A cartoon for one of the tapestries in this series has been attributed to Jean van Roome (fl. 1509–1521).
The Victory of the Virtues over the Vices: The Last Judgment (1519–1524), tapestry, woven in Brussels. Saragossa: Museo de Tapices de la Seo. Ref. Abbad Rios (1957: fig. 193); Dufourcq (1965, 1: 181); Arana et al. (1985); Rowland-Jones (1998c: 11, fig. 1, b&w; 12, fig. 2, b&w; 1999e: 7, fig. 1, b&w; 8, fig. 2, b&w); Rasmussen (1999b); Wilfried Praet (2010). On the far right, a lady plays the organ whilst musicians gathered around her play long pipe and tabor, lute and harp. To their right, three play near-cylindrical (‘wide-bore’) recorders, one small and two large. Centre-stage Justice, brandishing a murderous-looking sword, pursues a musician who attempts to defend himself with a near-cylindrical duct flute (flageolet or recorder). Another fleeing musician has dropped his duct flute, only the head of which is visible, the beak of which is of a most peculiar construction. Elsewhere in this tapestry, two three-holed pipes are identifiable from the fingering position or the presence of a tabor. A cartoon for one of the tapestries in this series has been attributed to Jean van Roome (fl. 1509–1521).
The Victory of the Virtues over the Vices: The Last Judgment (1515–1524), tapestry, woven in Brussels. Detail 1. Detail 2. East Molesey: Hampton Court Palace, Great Watching Chamber. Ref. Rowland-Jones (1998b; 1999a); Website: alamy, stock photos (2016, col.) On the far right, a lady plays the organ whilst musicians gathered around her play long pipe and tabor, lute and harp. To their right, three play near-cylindrical (‘wide-bore’) recorders, one small and two large. Centre-stage Justice, brandishing a murderous-looking sword, pursues a musician who attempts to defend himself with a near-cylindrical duct flute (flageolet or recorder). Another fleeing musician has dropped his duct flute, only the head of which is visible, the beak of which is of a most peculiar construction. Elsewhere in this tapestry, two three-holed pipes are identifiable from the fingering position or the presence of a tabor. It is possible that a woman in the top right of this version of the tapestry is holding a recorder, though but one finger hole shows, a feature not present in the Brussels or Saragossa versions, but see the Lamego version below. Verses are woven beneath and the names of some of the allegorical personages are marked beside them. (Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm.)
The Victory of the Virtues over the Vices: The Last Judgement (1519–1524), tapestry, woven in Brussels. Lamego Museo de Lamego. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). On the far right, a lady plays the organ whilst musicians gathered around her play long pipe and tabor, lute and harp. To their right, three play near-cylindrical (‘wide-bore’) recorders, one small and two large. Behind the organist and to the right a man holds another recorder, though only the head shows, a feature not present in the Brussels or Saragossa versions, but see the Hampton Court version above. Centre-stage Justice, brandishing a murderous-looking sword, pursues a musician who attempts to defend himself with a near-cylindrical duct flute (flageolet or recorder). In this version there is no sign of a recorder on the ground. The cartoon for this tapestry has been attributed to Jean van Roome (fl. 1509–1521).
Breviary of Queen Eleanor of Portugal: Boating Scene with Music, (1495–1525), illumination, Bruges. New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M.52, fol. 398v. Ref. Laborde (1932, 2: pl. LXV); Bowles (1983: 132–133, pl. 100); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). At the foot of the page, an elegant couple in a boat play lute and a tapered duct flute (? tenor recorder). The latter is not clearly depicted and the man clutches it at the bottom and middle, not fingering it seems. Not well drawn and small (Rowland-Jones, pers. comm.)
Title page: Willem Vorstermans, Livre plaisant et tres utile … (1529), Antwerp. Seville: Biblioteca Capitolare Colombina. A man sits playing a lute; on either side of him are two giant recorders clearly copied from Virdung (1511), complete with the latter’s numbering of the finger hole; above him is a clavichord.
Friedrich von der Pfalz in Puttenumrahmnung with Coat of Arms (1535-1545), tapestry, 345 × 280 cm, Flemish. Munich: Bayerische Nationalmuseum, Inv. T 6657. Ref. Munich RIdIM (2002: Mbnm – 121); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). In the centre of the tapestry is a coat of arms of Kaiser Friedrich II von der Pfalz (1482–1556), Frederick of the Palatinate. A decorative border comprises putti, some of whom play musical instruments, including viol, lute and a cylindrical duct flute (probably a recorder). The window/labium is clearly depicted, and three finger holes show below the uppermost (left) hand; the bell end is hidden.
Frontispiece, Des chansons reductz en tabulature de lut a deux, trois et quatre parties … Livre premier, published by Pierre Phalèse, Louvain (1547): Apollo and the Muses, woodcut, Flemish. Ref. Westen (1921: No. 24); Bessler (1931: 255); Walther Pudelko, ed. Spielstüsticke für blockflöten … Barenreiter 417 (1930: front cover); Blume (1949–, 2: 1075–1076; 10, col. 1182); Closson & van Borren (1950: 103); Peter (1958: 44); Il Flauto Dolce 2: 11 (1972); Komma (1961: 93); Dufourcq (1965, 1: 124); Rasmussen (2002, Lute; 2007, Flute); Stephen Barber & Sandi Harris (n.d., accessed 2016). “A lute player crowned with a laurel wreath is sitting surrounded by a group of musicians: on his right [actually on his left] side is a female harpist and beside her a female singer, holding a sheet of music, and also a female recorder player. On the other side of the lutenist are seated ladies who are playing the viola da gamba, transverse flute, crumhorn, shawm and psaltery …” (Peter, loc. cit.) Only the top half of the ‘recorder’ is visible.”Passe-partout vignette of the Louvain publisher Pierre Phalèse. A rather un-Apollonian Apollo plays a lute, surrounded by Muses singing and playing an unusual bass viol with a sickle-shaped peg-box, harp, bladder pipe, crumhorn, flute, recorder and cornetto” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.)
Frontispiece, Hortus Musarum …,published by Pierre Phalèse, Louvain (1552): Apollo and the Muses, woodcut, Flemish. Brussels: Bibliothèque du Conservatoire. Ref. Wangermée (1968: 263, pl. 94); Stephen Barber & Sandi Harris (n.d., accessed 2016). . Identical to the above.
Frontispiece, Luculentum Theatrum Musicum …, published by Pierre Phalèse, Louvain (1568): Apollo and the Muses, woodcut, Flemish. Ref. Website: Stephen Barber & Sandi Harris (n.d., accessed 2016). Identical to the above.
[Musical Company]. (16th century). ? Flemish. A coloured full-page drawing pasted in the Nederlands Muziekinstituut, The Hague, copy of Phalèse’s Luculentum theatrum musicum (Louvain: 1568), NL-DHnmi, NMI Kluis A 26. A couple seated at a table are served refreshments by a woman. A young woman plays a slender flared bell pipe with plenty of finger holes, probably a recorder. She is accompanied by a young man playing a lute. In the foreground, a second couple are passionately embracing, the man casting aside a similar but larger pipe. In the background are a city gate and townscape. A statue of Venus regards the scene. On the steps behind the serving woman is a nasty looking reptile of some sort – a warning, perhaps.
Part-book: Tenor, Musician Riding a Pig (1542), ? print, Flemish. Location unknown. Ref. Website: gallica (2012, b&w). A musician with a snarl on his face and holding a harp rides a pig. A bearded figure plays a small pipe with a flared bell which could represent a duct flute, but no confirmatory details are visible.
Virgin and Child (early 16th century), wood, 126 × 87 cm, Flemish. Lisbon: Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga. Ref. Gusmão (1957); Paris RIdIM (1999); Silva (2001, col.); Website: gallica (2012, b&w). The Virgin and Child, enthroned, are entertained by a rebec-playing angel on one side and a recorder-playing angel on the left. The former plays without music and has his eyes closed; the latter plays from a book. The musical book has been painted carefully and it shows staves, music notes and an incipit for a piece that is almost readable, the wavy form of the score suggestive of divisions. The recorder is long and slender with a flared bell, its window/labium clearly shown. Formerly located at the Convento do Paríso, Évora.
Virgin and Child with Angel Musicians (16th century), painting, Flemish. Location unknown. Ref. Website: gallica (2012, b&w). On a hillside overlooking a walled city the Virgin and Child are entertained by two musical angels. The one on the left plays a small lute. The on on the right plays a tenor-sized cyldindrical recorder with a slightly flared bell.
The Planets: Mercury (1565-1595), tapestry (silk, wool, silver & gold), 425 × 550 cm, Flemish. Munich: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Inv. T 3851. Ref. D’Hulst (1967: 249); Munich RIdIM (2002: Mbnm – 101); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). A richly embroidered composition in which Mercury is pulled across the sky in a chariot drawn by two cockerels. Beneath him are figures and scenes representing his atributes. The god Mercury conferred genius, and awakened knowledge of mathematics and science, and skill in the arts and music. Organ builders went about their work under his influence. Musica, a lute leaning against the wall beside her, plays an organ the bellows of which are operated by a young man wearing armour. The organ is viewed end on, and a decorated panel depicts a trophy of musical instruments including three cylindrical duct flutes (probably recorders) and a small shawm. Across the front of the trophy is an open book; above is a shining sun.
Book of Hours of Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg: The Triumph of David, Flemish. Private collection (1962). Ref. Aachener Kunstblätter 24/25 (1962/63: 51); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). “Bas-de-page. The Welcoming Women play harp, lute and woodwind (recorder)” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
Musica dulce laborum levamen (1581): decorated inside lid of double virginals by Hans Ruckers the Elder (1540s–1598). New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Inv. 1929 (29.90). Ref. Buchner (1961: pl. 211); Website: Metropolitan Museum of Art (2016, col.); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-1671 (2023, col.) The inside lid reveals a painted interior opening into a pleasure garden scene, by an unknown artist. The theme of the outdoor garden party, the buitenpartij or fête champêtre, of which this is an early example, became a popular genre in the seventeenth-century Netherlands, reviving the age-old artistic tradition of the Garden of Love. Particularly charming in this garden scene is the way in which the elegantly dressed members of the upper class are amusing themselves in the meadows of the adjoining, moated castle. Their activities range from dining and playing musical instruments in the central pergola, to gentle promenades, embarking on a boat ride, or playing the game of kolf, forerunner of today’s golf. The text painted on the drop-board of this virginal, MUSICA DULCE LABORUM LEVAMEN (“sweet music eases work”), not only refers to the playing of this keyboard instrument, but also to the musicians in the painted garden of leisure who are playing shawms. On the ground are a lute, a crudely drawn shawm and four very narrow, flared recorders, the window/labium of each clearly indicated.
The Three Marys at Home (early 16th century), tapestry, Flemish. London: Duveen Bros (1933). Ref. Ackerman (1933: pl. XVIII); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). “Several musical angels, including a group playing rebec, lute, recorder and one more” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
The Court of Love (early 16th century), tapestry, Flemish. London: Sotheby’s, 7 July (1961). Ref. Sotheby’s: Sale Catalogue, 7 July 1961; Burlington Magazine 103: xlii (1961); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). “A man and a women sing, a woman plays a lute and a man sort of plays a recorder. There may be a background figure with another recorder. The presence of Children of Sun (the wrestlers) suggests that the musicians are Children of Venus” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
Allegory of Courtly Life (early 16th century), tapestry, Flemish. London: Sotheby’s, 4 December 1959. Ref. Burlington Magazine 101, December: iv (1959); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). “A woman plays a lute and a man plays a recorder. They both seem to read from a music book held up by another woman.” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
Scenes of Country Life/La vie pastorale, tapestry, early 16th century, Flemish (Tournai). New York art market (1923). Ref. Göbel (1923-1924, I/2: no. 240); Kettering (1983: fig. 194); Rasmussen (1999, Horn). “A hunt in the background includes two mounted figures with curved horns, one played, the other hanging from a strap. There are ‘shepherds and shepherdesses’ in the foreground. One of the shepherds has a small woodwind instrument (recorder or flute) at his belt” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
Book of Hours: May, (early 16th century), Flemish. Geneva: Collection F. Engel-Gros (1925). Ref. Ganz (1925: Mss enlum. 59, pl. 95); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). “Bas-de-page. In a boat figures sing (?) and play lute and woodwind (recorder?)” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
Figures in a Garden (? early 16th-century), ? Flemish. Vienna: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, cod. 1877. Ref. Hass (1931/1949: 121); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). “Bas-de-page. A woman sings and another plays a harp. A man may play a recorder. There is a lute lying on the ground. It seems like a poor copy” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
Adoration of the Shepherds (16th century), tapestry, Flemish (Brussels). Dresden: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister. Ref. Göbel (1923-1924, I/2: 2, no. 379); Rasmussen (2002, Bagpipe). “Includes shepherds playing a woodwind (recorder?) and a bladder pipe and holding a bagpipe” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
Duck Pond, Buildings and Seated Figures, drawing, Flemish, 16th century. Chatsworth House: Devonshire Collection. Ref. Mielke (1996: 225, no. A46-47, as Meister der Kleinen Landschaften); Visual Collection, Fine Arts Library, Harvard University (2002: 374.1d.B635.80[e], as ? Hans Bol); Rasmussen (2002, Lute; 2007, Flute). “Includes figures playing lute, flute, and treble recorder (?)” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
Landscape (? 16th century), canvas, 87 × 103 cm, Flemish. Collection C. de Winter. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999). In front of a large tree, two women sit, one playing a pipe which could be recorder. In the background are pastures and stone building, probably a church.
Apollo and the Muses (16th century), oil on panel, 64 × 92 cm, Flemish. Milan: Porro Art Consulting, Dipinti e Disegni Antichi dal XV al XIX secolo, 6 June 2006, Lot 45. On a hillside above a town, Apollo plays his fiddle surrounded by the Muses playing organetto, viol, tambourine (with jingle rings), and a pipe only the head of which is visible but which has a beak and thus probably represents a recorder. Putti and three women look on. Pegasus takes off from near the top of the hill. This painting was originally the cover of a spinet and then, with a later addition of the part at top right, placed above a door. Formerly in a private collection, it was attributed in the past to the Italian artist Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614), but this seems highly unlikely, given its crudity.
Untitled (early 16th century), tapestry, Flemish. Avignon: Musée Calvet. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2007). The museum has several large Flemish milles-fleurs tapestries. At the far left of one of them a nobleman entertains two ladies with his pipe, or rather has just finished playing as he holds it a little away from his lips with his left hand near the bottom. This clearly shows a beaked mouthpiece and window/labium. It is of tenor size but the cloth is badly worn so it is impossible to see which marks are finger holes. By perspective or otherwise the instrument is very slightly outwardly conical. This is probably a tenor recorder.
Virgin and Child with Angel Musicians (16th century), Flemish. Location unknown. Ref. Walter Bergmann, photograph (ex Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm., 2003); Website: gallica (2012, b&w). A detail, possibly from a Book of Hours. In what is evidently a depiction of the Nativity, two angels play lute and a flared-bell alto/tenor recorder. The beak, window/labium, pinched thumb of the uppermost (left) hand, and offset hole for the little finger of the lowermost hand are all clearly visible. To the left the Virgin and Child can be partially seen.
Virgin and Child with Angel Musicians (16th century), Flemish. Location unknown. Ref. Website: gallica (2012, b&w). The Virgin and Child enthroned are flanked by two angels, one playing a small lute, the other playing a cylindrical duct flute, possibly a recorder.
Virgin Between Two Virgins (?early 16th century), painting, Flemish. Location unknown. Ref. Website: gallica (2012, b&w). The Virgin with the Child on her lap sits between two suitably pious-looking women, one with a lamb on a leash, the other with a goblet. Behind the Virgin are four musical angels who sing and play fiddle, lute and a very slender pipe possibly intended to represent a recorder.
Angel Musicians (?16th century), stained-glass window, Flanders (Wallonie). Liège (Luik), Wallonia, Eglise St-Jacques. Detail. Ref. Website, flickr: Anges musiciens (2013, col.) Angels sing and play fiddle, psaltery, trumpet, shawm, side-drum, and a large slightly flared-bell recorder, beak, window-labium and finger holes clearly depicted.

French

[Music] (ca 1500), cartoon for a tapestry, French. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, MS fr. 24461, fol. 31r. Ref. Ripin (1977: fig., b&w); Angelo Zaniol (pers. comm., 2003). A female figure (Music) stands before a town playing an almost hemispheric lute. At her feet lie an open music book, a clavichord, a harp, a drum, a triangle with jingle rings, and three cylindrical recorders with slightly flared bells. Each recorder has holes for seven fingers, that for the lowermost finger doubled; and the internal bore is very wide at the foot of each.
La Vie Siegneuriale: The Concert (ca 1500), tapestry, Pays-Bas du Sud. Paris: Musée National du Moyen-Age Thermes de Cluny, Cl. 2178–2183. Ref. postcard MU 959 (col.); Bowles (1977: pl. 15); Sargent (1974/1976: 30, detail, b&w); Ausoni (2009: 197, col., gives the location as Louvre, Paris); Website: gallica (2012, b&w). Surrounded by birds, flowers and fruit in a garden, an aristocratic man plays a tenor recorder, a damsel plays on a porcine hammered dulcimer, and another sings from a sheet of music. A third woman with a long stick tends the hortus deliciarum.
La Vie Seigneuriale: The Bath (ca 1500), tapestry, 287 × 265 cm. Detail. Paris: Musée National du Moyen-Age Thermes de Cluny, Cl. 2178–2183. Ref. Thomson & Rowland-Jones (1995: 33, pl. 10A); Website: Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris 1988, CL 3600; Rowland-Jones (1999a: fig., b&w); Bridgeman Art Library (2003: Image XIR94931, col.); Website: gallica (2–12, b&w); Lasocki (2023: 119); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-2303 (2023, col.) Shows a a lady apparently singing in her bath to an accompaniment of flared-bell recorder and a lute. And with good reason: she is surrounded by the sensual trappings of the good life – music, delicacies, gorgeous clothes and jewellery, beautiful gardens ..
The Dance (ca 1500), tapestry, 300 × 355 cm, Pays-Bas (Tournai). Location unknown: offered for sale; formerly Wesleyan University, Ohio. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999). In a garden rich with flowers, three couples dance to the music of bagpipes watched by a women and two men holding staves. One of the dancing men in the foreground has stuck through his belt a long cylindrical flared-bell pipe which has an indefinite number of finger holes. One of the holes near the top may represent the window/labium of a duct flute, but the mouthpiece seems to have a small reed and pirouette.
The Dance (16th century), tapestry, France. Lot: Château de Montal. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999). In a garden rich with flowers and fruit, couples dance to the music of a bagpipe-player who stands on a circular mound. One of the dancing men has stuck through his belt a cylindrical pipe which may represent a duct flute.
Heures à l’usage de Machon: May (1502), metal engraving, printed by Philippe Pigouchet for Simon Vostre, French (Paris). Paris: Bibliothéque Nationale. Ref. Revue de l’Art 22 (1973); Berthail (1986: 83, fig. 48); Paris RIdIM (1999); Card, Musica Pretiosa MPV-PK 0019, Vilsbiburg (2004). Border of a calendar depicting three couples in a garden: one promenading, a second sitting talking whilst she makes a wreath, and a third sitting with her holding a blossom and him playing a flared-bell recorder, the beak and window of which are clearly illustrated. This engraving was used earlier by Philippe Pigouchet in Heures à l’usage de Nantes, also printed for Simon Vostre (late 15th century).
Advertisement for a memoir by Gauvain Caudie (1504), French (Savoy). B Br [?British Library, London] 10984/10985, f. 3. Ref. Boragno (1998: 14, b&w). A man in a hat and breeches holds a large flared bell recorder – the window and the paired holes for the lowermost finger are clearly visible.
Annunciation to the Shepherds (1505), French (Paris). New York: Public Library, Stuart Collection. Ref. Walter Bergmann (ex Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm. 2003). Four shepherds look and point up at the Angel Gabriel. One shepherd, seated on the left, holds an alto or tenor-sized flared-bell recorder which has rather too many finger holes, the lowermost paired.
Chateau de Chaumont Tapestry Set: Time, (1500–1510), wool & silk tapestry, 338.9 × 439.1 cm, French (Loire Valley). Cleveland: Museum of Art, 1960.176.3. Ref. Ford (1991: #143); Paris RIdIM (1999); Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001); Website: Cleveleand Museum of Art (2016, col.) This tapestry is one of a set of four that also includes Youth, Love, and Eternity. The tapestries hung in the Chateau de Chaumont in the Loire Valley and may have been commissioned by Charles II d’Amboise (died 1511), who built much of the existing castle, presumably represented in Youth and Time. Derived from the 14th-century Italian poet Petrarch’s Triumphs, a work that was widely known and very popular throughout the 15th century, they reflect the idyllic but disillusioned life of the French nobility in the early 16th century. Petrarch’s main theme in Triumphs was that all worldly things are impermanent, and that only eternity triumphs. In the centre of Time a young man holds flowers out to a courtly group of young people accompanied by a lutenist; behind, a fool watches, possibly symbolizing the folly in believing that youth lasts forever. In the far background is a beautiful castle, a knight, and a peasant happily fishing in a pool. But the central figure’s outstretched left hand points to a very different scene in which someone threatens a crippled old man as a woman looks on, while a peasant labors before a crumbling ruin in the background).”A man plays a lute (about 5 pegs on one side of the pegbox). Below: A boy plays a pipe and tabor” (Ford, loc. cit.) In actual fact, the “boy” is a plump man in a wig! Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.) notes that the pipe looks rather like a small recorder. “Tabor pipes are generally more slender. It could be a recorder with the upper holes filled with wax. The position of the left hand and fingers is a recorder-playing one, not the common tabor-pipe position with the two lower fingers underneath.”
Chateau de Chaumont Tapestry Set: Eternity (1500–1510), wool & silk tapestry, 328.9 cm × 392.4 cm, French. Cleveland: Museum of Art, 1960.176.1 Ref. Cleveland Museum of Art (2007). This tapestry is one of a set of four that also includes Youth, Love, and Time. The tapestries hung in the Chateau de Chaumont in the Loire Valley and may have been commissioned by Charles II d’Amboise (died 1511), who built much of the existing castle, presumably represented in Youth and Time. Derived from the 14th-century Italian poet Petrarch’s Triumphs, a work that was widely known and very popular throughout the 15th century, they reflect the idyllic but disillusioned life of the French nobility in the early 16th century. Petrarch’s main theme in Triumphs was that all worldly things are impermanent, and that only eternity triumphs. The triumph of Eternity is represented by the Coronation of the Virgin. Wearing an opulent brocaded velvet shawl, the Virgin is seated in the center as two angels hold a crown over her head. She is surrounded by five angels, one of whom sings from an open music book whist the others play organ (20 pipes), harp (7 strings), lute (3 pegs), and two somewhat curvaceous conical pipes. The pipe on the left has a window/labium clearly marked, and the player’s embouchure seem quite relaxed, so perhaps both these are recorders. A Latin verse in a banner states:
Nothing triumphing by due authority
Remains permanent and durable.
Nothing is permanent under the heavens,
But above, eternity triumphs.
Title Page, Jehan de Brie le bon bergier (1505–1511), woodcut, 12.8 × 8.4 cm, France (Paris). Paris: Sotheby’s, Books and Manuscripts, 19 November 2012, Lot 4. Ref. Berthail (1986: 39, fig. 31; 59); Anthony Rowland-Jones (2009: 220, fig. 3). A script over this print reads ‘Jehan de Brie le bon bergier’. It was printed by the widow of Jean Trepperel, a Paris printer, whose wife continued the business and in 1511 became a business partner of the printer Jean Jehannot. This print illustrates the title page of an edition of Jehan de Brie’s book Le bon bergier, first published in 1379; the conceit was that shepherds and shepherdesses had in their pastoral life built up a model of a regime of government to be commended to other rulers. Jehan therefore shows himself as a shepherd, presenting his book to Charles V. The engraver shows the characters in the garb of Charles V’s time. The shepherd is identified by his recorder, signifying harmony, peace and pleasure, by his crook representing control and power, and by his loyal dog. The recorder (stuck in his belt) is an alto and has, to be sure, more than its required number of finger holes – as many as ten. The same woodcut was used in the edition published by Simon Vostre before 1522 (see below).
Musica 1 and Musica 2 (1509–1512), fresco, French. Albi: Cathêdral Sainte-Cécile, ceiling. Ref. Website: Lute Iconography, Images LI-1980 & 1981 (2023, col.) The vault frescoes are the largest (97 × 28 m) work of Italian Renaissance painting to be found anywhere in France. Commissioned by Louis II d’Amboise, the frescoes were carried out by a team of Italian painters from Modena and Bologna. Set against a background of deep blue sky, they depict various designs, pastoral scenes, and major characters and events from the Old and New Testaments. Two sections are dedicated to St Cecilia, patroness of the cathedral. Amongst them, angels play lute, rebec and straight and sigmoid trumpets. Two four-winged cherubim play duct-flutes (probably recorders) with slightly flared bells. There are also various garlands comprising: two crossed lutes; a crossed shawm and a duct-flute; two crossed curved horns; and just a harp. St Cecilia plays a pipe organ which is pumped by an obliging angel. Jubal is working at his anvil.
Leaf from Book of Hours printed by Phillipe Pigouchet for Simon Vostre (c.1515): Adoration of the Shepherds, coloured metal-cut, French. Private collection James Tanis. Ref. Pumroy et al. (2001, col.) With Joseph standing behind them, the Virgin and the Christ-child are visited by shepherds and shepherdesses. In the foreground two shepherds kneel. ‘Le beau Roger’, the shepherd on the right with a dog on a lead and his crook in his left hand, holds what must be a tenor recorder up to the Christ-child in his right.By the late 15th century, much of the demand for Books of Hours was being met by printers who used woodcuts, or in this case metal-cuts, instead of hand-drawn illustrations. Among the most successful producer of books of hours was the Parisian publisher Simon Vostre [d.1522?] who issued numerous editions from the 1490s until his death. While most of Vostre’s trade was in less-expensive books on paper, he also produced volumes for wealthy patrons who wanted books of hours that looked like the manuscript ones. These luxury copies might be printed on vellum and contain hand-decorated prints, such as the leaf noted here. The gold and paint on this page cover a print from the same block as that used for the (unpainted) page of the book noted below.
Book of Hours, Hore Marie virginis scd[u]m vsum Saru[m] … printed for Simon Vostre, Paris (1515): Adoration of the Shepherds, uncoloured metal-cut, French. Bryn Mawr, Philadelphia: Bryn Mawr College Library Special Collections. Ref. Pumroy et al. (2001, col.) With Joseph standing behind them, the Virgin and the Christ-child are visited by shepherds and shepherdesses. In the foreground two shepherds kneel: the one on the right with a dog on a lead and his crook in his left hand holds a recorder up to the Christ-child in his right. See above.
Les Bucoliques de Virgille Maron, avec cinq autres livres par luy composez, c’est assavoir : Virgille, du Vergier et de la Lectre Pythagoras y “grecum”, de l’Invention des muses, du Chant des seraines et de la Rose ; tous par rime translatez nouvellement de latin en françois par Guillaume Michel dit de Tours, avecques l’exposition et comment en prose, nouvellement imprimez à Paris pour Jehan de La Garde… Ilz se vendent sus le pont Nostre Dame, à l’enseigne sainct Jehan l’Évangéliste, ou au Palais, au premier pilier: Tityrus and Meliboeus (1516), print, ? artist and/or provenance. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département Réserve des livres rares, RES M-YC-453. Ref. Websiste: gallica (2013, b&w). An illustration to accompany a French translation by Michel Guillaume of the Eclogues and other works by Virgil. Seated beneath a tree, the shepherd Tityrus holds his houlette in his left hand and a flared bell recorder in his right. Opposite him, stands Meliboeus, also with a houlette. The recorder has paired holes for the lowermost finger clearly shown. This is a scene from the First Eclogue.
Les Bucoliques de Virgille Maron, avec cinq autres livres par luy composez, c’est assavoir : Virgille, du Vergier et de la Lectre Pythagoras y “grecum”, de l’Invention des muses, du Chant des seraines et de la Rose ; tous par rime translatez nouvellement de latin en françois par Guillaume Michel dit de Tours, avecques l’exposition et comment en prose, nouvellement imprimez à Paris pour Jehan de La Garde… Ilz se vendent sus le pont Nostre Dame, à l’enseigne sainct Jehan l’Évangéliste, ou au Palais, au premier pilier: Dametas, Pelenion and Menalcus (1516), print, ? artist and/or provenance. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département Réserve des livres rares, RES M-YC-453. Ref. Websiste: gallica (2013, b&w); Girolamo Frescobaldi (ed. Colin Stern), Canzona for soprano or tenor recorder & basso continuo, American Recorder Society/Galliard, London (front cover – includes Dametas and Menalcus only). An illustration to accompany a French translation and commentary by Michel Guillaume of the Eclogues and other works by Virgil. Seated beneath a tree, the shepherd Dametas – identical to Tityrus (see above) – holds his houlette in his left hand and a flared bell recorder in his right. Opposite him, sits Menalcus who holds a recorder with one hand and points towards a third shepherd (identified as Palemon) standing between them who also has a recorder stuck in his belt and is judging between his two companions. The two recorders have paired holes for the lowermost finger clearly shown; Palemon’s instrument has only five finger holes. This is a scene from the Third Eclogue.
[Bas-relief] (1508-1521), wood carving, French. Guincamp (N. Brittany): Église à Grâces, bell-tower door. Ref. Michel et al. (1959, 2: 62, fig.); Zaniol (1985: 9, footnote 37).Michel et al. (loc. cit.) give this a 14th century dating, in error. “One of the oldest documents is the ‘Ganassi’ recorder clearly distinguishable in the bas-relief decorating the door of the bell tower of the church of Graçes (C.-du-N. France) dating from the thirteenth century” (Zaniol, loc. cit.)”The figure is carved on the wood door inside the church which leads to the stairway going up to the clock tower of the church of Grâces. The whole church dates from the early 16th century; the foundation stone was laid on 12 March 1506, the roof timbers were reported as complete on 5 February 1508, and the church was completed in 1521. The style of the carving matches some figures on the roof-corbels, and the leaf-moulding found on the door is similar to that elsewhere in the church.””Identification of this instrument is difficult because at one point the door was very thickly painted with blue paint and this has damaged the surface, particularly affecting the detail where the player’s lips, which are relaxed, not tensed in any way, touch the instrument’s mouthpiece. There is, however, a hole in the wood roughly opposite where the player’s little-finger touches the side of the instrument, although this could be caused by wear and damage rather than representing the ‘ninth-hole’ of the renaissance recorder. But the probability is that this does represent a recorder rather than a shawm” (Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm.)
Title Page, Le bon bergier: Jehan de Brie le bon bergier (a. 1522), woodcut, France (Paris). Paris: Bibliotheque Nationale; Location unknown: Offered for sale by Sotheby’s, Paris, Books, Manuscripts (PF4006), 30 June (2004), Lot 7. Ref. Sotheby’s, Paris, Archived Sales (2004). This rare edition of Jehan de Brie’s Le Bon Bergier was printed by Simon Vostre, Paris. Only these two copies are known. A script over the title page reads ‘Jehan de Brie le bon bergier’. The conceit was that shepherds and shepherdesses had in their pastoral life built up a model of a regime of government to be commended to other rulers. Jehan therefore shows himself as a shepherd, presenting his book to Charles V. The engraver shows the characters in the garb of Charles V’s time. The shepherd’s alto recorder has – to be sure – more than its required number of finger holes, up to ten. The same woodcut was used in the earlier edition published by the widow of Jean Trepperel in 1511 (see above).
Jesse Tree (1521), fresco, French. St Seine l’Abbaye (Côte d’Or). Ref. Yves Impens (2004). This badly damaged work bears the arms of Durestal and Monspey. Amongst the musician Kings there may be a recorder player.
Geoffroy Tory, Offices of the Virgin for the use of Bourges: Annunciation to the Shepherds (1524), miniature, French. Washington DC.: Library of Congress, Rosenwald Collection. Ref. Miner (1949: pl. 221, b&w). A prayer-book ascribed to Geoffroy Tory (ca 1480 – ca 1533), because of the fine Roman script. At the top of the miniature, within a Renaissance semi-circular arch, two small angels hold a scroll. Beneath, much larger in scale, a landscape with a fortress and church on a bluff is well-populated with sheep and shepherds. One, with a shepherdess, looks up, a bagpipe beside him; and the largest figure, a shepherd at the left with tattered clothing, points upwards. Tied to his belt is an alto-sized recorder, with fairly widely flared bell and bore. The window/labium and seven in-line finger holes are show. (Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm., 2005).
Hours of the Virgin, use of Paris (1524): Compline: Coronation of the Virgin, miniature on vellum, 8.1 × 4.6 cm, French. The Hague: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, MMW, 10 F 33, Fol. 112v: full-page miniature. Ref. Website: Koninklijke Bibliotheek: Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts (2002). Made for Françoise Brinnon by her husband Jehan de Luc, Lord of Fontenay and Marilly and secretary to the French King. Mary and the Christ Child, enthroned, are surrounded by angels singing and playing harp, vielle, lute, ?shawms and (bottom right) a more or less cylindrical pipe (possibly a recorder).
Hours of the Virgin, use of Paris (1524), Compline: Christ (Represented as ‘Salvator Mundi’) Blessing Mary after Coronation in Heaven; Angels Playing Music miniature on vellum, 8.1 × 4.6 cm, French. The Hague: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, MMW, 10 F 33, Fol. 64v: full-page miniature. Ref. Website: Koninklijke Bibliotheek: Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts (2002). Made for Françoise Brinnon by her husband Jehan de Luc, Lord of Fontenay and Marilly and secretary to the French King. Mary kneels before Christ enthroned whilst two angels play pipes, one of which is clearly a recorder with a clearly depicted window/labium and a flared bell, the fingers of the player’s lowermost (right) hand all in play.
Angel Musician (1527), stone carving, French. Dijon: Church of St Michel, South Portal, 4th rank. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2005). The West front of the Church of St Michel has a highly decorated late flamboyant Gothic style group of three portals, with many statues and many angel-musicians among them, particularly the South Portal. Each portal has nine ranks within the arch. Near the point of the fourth rank of the S. portal is an angel playing a likely recorder of alto/soprano size, cylindrical, all fingers down, right hand lowermost. The French sculptor Nicolas de La Cour worked on the central tympanum Last Judgement; however, for a work of this magnitude and opulence many craftsman must have been employed.
Musical Trophy (1527) Chartres: Cathèdral, Choir. Ref. André (1996: 39 ff); Website: Ikonographie der Renaissanceflöte (2009: b&w). Depicts a slender shawm crossed with a cylindrical recorder. The latter has what appears to be a window/labium, and three finger holes are visible beneath a panel inscribed ‘1527’ which covers the body of the instrument. There is also a second trophy of similar design depicting a shawm crossed with a transverse flute.
Title page: S’ensuyvent plusieurs basses dances tant Communes que Incommunes (ca 1530–1538), woodcut, probably published by Jacques Moderne in Lyon. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, Collection Rothschild, VI-3 bis-66. Ref. Kinsky et al. (1930: 96); Brown & Lascelle (1972: 88–89); Early Music 45, fig. (1974); Zaniol (1984, November: 7, footnote 13); Thomson & Rowland-Jones (1995: 17, fig. 8), Recorder & Early Music 20: 1 (1996); David Lasocki (pers. comm.); Rowland-Jones (2003: 8, fig. 3). Four men play cylindrical recorders (alto, two tenors and a direct blown basset) reading from a music book open on a bench in front of them. Their plain dress suggests that they are professional musicians.
Stained Glass (1536, restored 19th century), French. Pont-Audemer (Normandy): Pont-Audemer: Église Saint-Ouen, Chapel 11, glass in flamboyant tracery above a window dedicated to St Honoré, Bishop of Amiens, patron of bakers and pastry-cooks. Angel musicians play various instruments including a duct flute (flageolet or recorder) or shawm, probably the former (Rowland-Jones, pers. comm.)
Graduale van de Abdij van Sint-Truiden (1540–1542): Nativity, illumination, French. Limburg: Provinciale Bibliotheek. Ref. Website: Alamire C4 (1996); Website: Flandrica.be (2014, col.) A nativity scene in which a shepherd is playing a small duct flute (flageolet or recorder) whilst the Three Kings present their gifts. This choir book is from the Benedictine Abbey of St Truiden. It was written by Prior Thierry Breedzip in the period 1540-1542 and commissioned by Abbot Georges Sarens. Two anonymous illuminators were responsible for the illuminations and copper engravings, probably working in a studio in another city.
From Le grand calendier et compost des bergers, published by J. Cantarel, Lyon (1551): Cy parle le bergier et fait ung prologue …, woodcut, French. Ref. Mortimer (1964, I/1: 158, no. 126); Rasmussen (2002, Bagpipe). “Their leader holds a bagpipe and another holds a recorder” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.)
Untitled (ca 1570), woodcut, French. Ref. Angelo Zaniol ex Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). A well-dressed woman plays what appears to be a very slender, more or less cylindrical basset recorder with a bocal (the window/labium is not seen) and what appears to be a key and fontanelle for the lowermost finger.
From Vincenzo Cartari, Imagines deorum, Qui Ab Antiquis Colebantur: Portrait of Antoine Du Verdier (1544–1600), engraving, French. Ref. Mortimer (1964: 161); Rasmussen (2002, Lute). to the left of the portrait “Minerva holds a harp, and on the base beneath her there is a trophy of viola da braccio, lute, recorder (?), music book, compass and square (emblems of the arts and sciences). Opposite is Mars, and his trophy includes an S-shaped trumpet, drum, armor and halberd” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.)
Coronation of the Virgin (early 16th century), right-hand panel of a triptych, French. St Petersburg: Hermitage. The triptych shows (left) death, (centre) burial, and (right) coronation of the Virgin. In Coronation of the Virgin, angel musicians in two groups, one with portative organ and fiddle. The other group includes viol, two singers and large pipe (? tenor recorder) with fontanelle, played left-hand down. The latter is unlikely to be a shawm as all others are soft instruments and the mouth-piece appears beaked. Another angel in this picture appears to play a small duct flute, but this needs closer examination of the original (Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm.)
[Untitled] (16th century), woodcarvings, France. Angers: Façade of Maison d’Adam, place Ste-Croix, casing of the window above the door. Ref. Fullerton: Walter Bergmann Collection 79; Revue Musique Bretonne 5 (May 1981: photo); Matte & Matte (2001-, col.) On the right hand side of the window is a bagpiper. On the left, a man with a wide-brimmed hat plays a large wind instrument (? ca 75 cm long), left-hand down. His inflated cheeks suggest a shawm, but there is only a slight bell flare and there is no sign of finger holes or window. There are three decorative turned rings at the mouth-piece. There could a fontanelle, but the lower hand (left) is below it! (Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm.) This work has been restored and the figure on the left is a replacement. Matte & Matte believe this to represent a flûte. See before and after photographs.
Angel Musicians from a Jesse Tree (ca 1515), stained glass, French. Autun: Cathedral Saint-Lazare, side chapel, north side, tympanum above a Jesse tree. Ref. Postcard (col.): Editions Gaud 77950, Moisenah-le-Petit; Matte (2001-, col.) Angel musicians play bagpipe, lute, vielle, harp and trumpet and a long narrow, gradually flared recorder, the window/labium of which is clearly shown; others play shawm and rebec. Donated in 1515 by Canon Celse Morin.
Stained glass window (ca 1550), French. Paris: Eglise de Saint-Etienne-du-Mont, western-most window of aisle on north side of church. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2005). In the flame-shaped lights of the top arched section, and close to where the arch starts at the left, an angel with blue wings plays an ambiguous pipe of alto size, cylindrical with no detailing. Left hand is uppermost and all fingers are on. The position suggests a duct flute, possibly a recorder, especially as the other angels all play soft instruments such as lute, cittern, psaltery, fiddle and a triangle with a ring. St Entenne du Mont was built early in the 16th century to house St Genevieve’s tomb. The glass is likely to have been of Paris manufacture.
Stained-glass window (ca 1550), French. Paris: Eglise de Saint-Etienne-du-Mont, window in aisle on ? south side of church. In the flame-shaped lights of the top arched section, and close to where the arch starts at the left, an angel with blue wings plays an ambiguous pipe of alto size, cylindrical with no detailing. Left hand is uppermost and all fingers are on. The position suggests a duct flute, possibly a recorder, especially as the other angels all play soft instruments such as harp, gittern, psaltery and cornetto. St Entenne du Mont was built early in the 16th century to house St Genevieve’s tomb. The glass is likely to have been of Paris manufacture.
Angel Musician (1553), carved stone porch, French. Pencran, Finistère (Brittany): Eglise Notre Dame. Ref. Website: Anges musicales (2012, col.) An angel plays a stout pipe, a duct flute (probably a recorder) with a very clearly depicted window/labium. Unfortunately, the bottom part of the instrument has broken off.
The Triumph of Love (early 16th century), tapestry, French (? Tours). Vienna: Kunsthisorisches Museum. Ref. Réau (1947: cat. 203, figs. 127 & 129); Jarry (1969: 127, col.); van Marle & van Marle (1932, 2: 124); Rasmussen (2005, Flute). From a Triumphs of Petrarch series. “Urania, playing a harp, leads the procession. Several musical instruments hang from her waist: rebec/fiddle, and two woodwinds (difficult to tell what, perhaps flute and recorder)” (Rasmusse,n loc. cit.) Not seen.
The Huntsman King: The Legend of St Giles (16th century). Saint-Léger-Vauban: Abbaye Sainte-Maarie de la Pierre-qui-Vire. Ref. Thomson (1968: title page). One of the tableaux on the Montiéramey Cope. Framed by dragons standing upended on their tails, the Muses play symphony (Melpomene, Muse of tragedy), psaltery (Polyhymnia, Muse of sacred hymns), lute (Terpischore, Muse of dance and song), triangle (Urania, Muse of astronomy), cymbals (Clio, Muse of history), organ (Euterpe, Muse of music and lyric poetry ), fiddle (Erato, Muse of lyric and erotic love poetry), trumpet (Calliope, Muse of epic poetry), and cylindrical pipe (Thalia, Muse of comedy and pastoral poetry). The latter’s instrument is possibly a recorder since there is the hint of a window.It is usually Euterpe who plays the flute. But Thalia is sometimes shown with one (as in this example), perhaps because of her association with pastoral poetry. This same image appears at the foot of the title page of a 1529 edition of Dante’s Commedia published in Venice (see below).
Organ case (16th century), bas-relief in wood, French. Rouen: Église (? St-Maclou) Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999). An angel plays an enormous wind instrument with bocal, a key for the little finger of the lowermost hand, and a fontanelle. It really does look like an F contrabass recorder.
Nativity, tapestry, French 16th century. Detail. Saumur: Église Notre Dame de Nantilly Shepherds play bagpipe and a duct flute, the beak and window clearly depicted and the foot somewhat flared. The player of the latter, very distracted by the sound of the bagpipe in front of him, holds his own instrument with one hand and his snood with the other. The first finger hole is visible, and there are none below the player’s hand.
Wood carving, French 16th century. Hondouville (Eure): Église Saint-Saturnin, Ref. Website: Iconographie de la cornamuse en France (2009). Depicts musicians with a bagpipe and a duct flute (possibly a recorder).
Memento Mori (16-century), wood-cut, French, 16th century). ? Location. Ref. Website: Ikonographie der Renaissanceflöte (2009). Holding a scythe and leaning an a ball on which the word ‘Mobilité’ is written and to which two monkeys are chained, a skeleton lies on the bank of a river. Before him putti sing and play transverse flute, lute, a viol and a flared-bell pipe, possibly a recorder. Two putti climb a tree from which hangs a hurdy-gurdy and a fiddle. On the opposite bank is a town. A verse in a panel above reads:
Mort au mylieu de tout plaisir mondain:
Sus Boule ronde, semble tres fort dormir,
Mais son resveil est mobile et soudain.
Donc faut-ilz estre tousiours prest de mourir
Theologie (ca 1575), carved wood, France. Grand Andely: Église de Notre Dame, organ case. The organ case is elaborately decorated with carved panels depicting the Seven Liberal Arts as musicians. Musique plays a lute; Phisique plays a lye; Retorique plays a viol; Dialectique plays a horn; Geometrie plays a triangle (with rings); Theologie plays cymbals. Beside Theologie is a lute on a draped table, and on the ground are two books behind which a pipe and a duct flute are partially hidden. Only the head of the duct flute is visible, its beak and window/labium clearly depicted. Other figures play a long straight trumpet and a pommer. The organ was built by Nicholas Dabenet.
Dormition and Coronation of the Virgin (1546), stained glass, French. Detail. Spézet: Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Crann. Ref. Website: Glad, le portail des patrimoines de Bretagne (2010, col.); Website: Anges Musiciens (2010, col.) Below the Virgin’s throne, five angels look upwards prayerfully, one playing a widely conical pipe with a window/labium just visible, and double holes for the finger of the lowermost (right) hand, so this probably represents a recorder. Above and beside the central scene, other musical angels play bowed lutes, plucked lutes, organetto and bagpipe. The Chapel of Our Lady of Crann (Cram or Cran-Huel) was built between 1535 and 1540 on the site of an earlier 13th-century chapel. It is most famous for its eight stained-glass windows which are beautifully preserved, amongst them the Dormition and Coronation of the Virgin. These windows have been repaired on numerous occasions, notably in 1741 by Rougeron, a glass painter from Quimper, and from 1914-1918 by the glass painter Paris Bonnot.
Angel Musician (16th century), stained glass fragment, 27 × 22 cm, French. Autun: Musée Rolin, CH389. Ref. Website: Joconde (2011). An angel plays a duct flute (probably a recorder), the window/labium and several finger holes clearly visible. Although the foot of the instrument is broken off, all fingers of both hands and the thumb of the upper (left) hand seem to be covering holes.
Trophy of Musical Instruments (16th century), intarsia, 8.5 × 58.5 cm, French or German. Düsseldorf: Kunstmuseum, Inv. 20160. Ref. Munich RIdIM (2009 – DÜk 124). Viol, crumhorn, recorder, cornetto, flute, lyre, shawm, drum, trumpet, hammered dulcimer, lute, psaltery, harp, tambourine & various pipes. Not seen.
Angel Musicians (16th-century), painting on wood, French. Detail. Flavacourt: Eglise paroissiale Saint-Clair, sacristie (ancienne Chapelle St-Jean Baptiste, ceiling vault. Ref. Website, flickr: Wilfried Praet’s photostream (2016, col.) An impressive concert of musical angels (38 are still visible, some having disappeared with time). Two angels plays a basset-sized pipes, each with a bocal: they may represent basset recorders, though dulcians seem more likely. Constructed in 1333, the church became a sacristie in the 17th century.

German

Standing Virgin and Child (ca 1500), oak-wood sculpture, 70.2 × 46 cm, German. Frankfurt: Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Inv. 12 097. Ref. Munich RIdIM (2009, Fmk – 90). Centerpiece of a domestic altar. The Virgin and Child in an enclosure surrounded four angels playing harp, lute, fiddle and shawm or alto recorder. Not seen.
An Argument Between Corydon and Thyrsis (1502), woodcut on paper, 8.6 x 13.5 cm, printed and published by Johann Grüninger (1455–1532/1533). Stanford: Stanford University, Cantor Arts Center, Inv. 1988.253.2. Ref. Website: RIdIM, Record 5153 (as”Musicians from Virgil, “Aeneid”). An illustration to accompany the seventh of Virgil’s Eclogues concerning the singing contest between Corydon (a goatherd) and Thyrsis (a shepherd), presided over by Daphnis who sits against the trunk of a holly tree. Here, Corydon is depicted holding a flared-bell recorder and Thyrsis with a bagpipe. Daphnis sits before them apparently offering Corydon the victor’s wreath which hangs from his staff. Sheep and goats graze about them, and bees fly to and fro from their hives on a rack to the side. A village can be seen on a hill in the background. In the story, Meliboeus is called in to judge the bout from which Corydon emerges the winner. A coloured version of this image was published by Jodocus Badius in 1517 (see below).
From Publius Vergilius Maro Opera published by Johann Grüninger, Strassburg (1502): Daphnis ego in silvestris, woodcut, German. Ref. Frings (1999: 178, pl. 19, b&w); Michael Fleming (pers. comm., 2007). Depicts the death of Daphnis, from the fifth of Virgil’s Eclogues. Three of the shepherds mourn by his tomb. Behind them, Mopsus plays recorder, and Menalcus plays ? harp. Mopsus plays one-handed holding a second recorder (possibly Daphnis’ own) in the other hand. A coloured version of this same woodcut published in 1517 by Badius in Lyon was recently offered for sale on eBay (see below) Similar if not identical to Opera omnia innumeris pene locis ad veterum Petri Bembi … et Andreae Naugerii … castigata, published by Giunta, Venice (1552) which seems to have used the same woodblocks.
[Title unknown] (1503), German (Nuremberg School). Nuremberg: Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Print Collection 5576. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999 – Ngnm 531). In each corner are one of the four elements – Mercury, and Diana (Luna) are associated with water, hunting, shooting and fishing. In the bottom right hand corner, Mercury is playing a duct flute (flageolet or recorder) of which the window/labium is clear, with three fingers down, then two holes showing. The bell is slightly flared and turned. Mercury’s left hand is needed to hold his caduceus. He has in his belt a curious instrument resembling a tenor cornetto. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 1999).
From Melopoeae sive Harmoniae tetracenticae super xxii genera carminum by Petrus Tritonius, published by Erhart Öglin, Augsburg (1507), German. Ref. Fraenkel (1968: pl. 2). Melopoeae is the first-known mensural music book printed in Germany with movable type. The Austrian composer Tritonius (real name Peter Treibenreif or Traybenreiff), in association with the Viennese humanist Conrad Celtes, produced these simple note-for-note polyphonic settings of Horatian odes that respect the original Latin metres. This plate is one of a number of leaves inserted into the musical portion of the book. Apollo plays his fiddle to entertain an assembly of divinities and others on Mount Parnassus, amongst them Pegasus, Bacchus, and Silenus. Two bands of minstrels provide backing to Apollo’s fiddling. On the right (in front of the temple of Diana from which Acteon is emerging) a quartet of satyrs play bagpipes, shawm, bladder pipe and curved trumpet. On the left (in front of the temple of Mercury) the Muses sing and play harp, straight trumpet (or shawm), psaltery, ?cymbals, lute, sackbut, organetto and a cylindrical pipe (possibly a duct flute). The latter is probably played by Euterpe (Muse of music and lyric poetry). Rabbits frolic in the foreground.
Musical Angel (ca 1510), stained glass, 15 × 11 cm, Cologne: Schnütgen-Museums, Cat. 105. Ref. Lyment (1982: 172–174). One of three heads from an Adoration of the Magi. An angel plays a duct-flute (probably a recorder) only the head of which is shown. The window/labium is clearly depicted.
Coronation of the Virgin (ca 1510), German (Lübeck School). Hanover: Niedersächsisce Landesgalerie, 166. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999: HAnl – 64). The Virgin is crowned to music performed by musicians playing two lutes, straight trumpet, ? shawm, mute cornetto and duct flute (flageolet or recorder).
Wing of an altarpiece: Job on the Dung Heap (ca 1510), German (Lower Saxony). Hanover: Niedersächsische Landesgalerie, Inv. 247 (WM XXIII, 17 ex Riestedt, Kreis ülzen, Kirche). Ref. Dorner (1930: 154, no. 196); Gmelin (1974: 196, cat. no. 40); Rasmussen (1999, Lute); Munich RIdIM (1999 HAnl – 64). Job (a leper) is is nursed by a man in an exotic hair-net and elaborately embroidered cloak and a man in livery with a huge sword playing a flared (conical) recorder the window/labium and finger holes of which are clearly shown. The striped costume of the musician is associated with professional livery. A third man holding what appears to be a plate of some kind, looks on, though he seems to be part of the medical team. Job is holding out a coin: presumably he has neglected to pay his medical insurance! Further information is given in Reinhold Hammerstein’s article ‘Hiob’ in the new edition of MGG; there is also an article in the New Grove.
Natura fovet quae necessitas urget (1501–1515), bronze plaquette, 17.3 cm diameter, German. Berlin: Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, 20/61. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999 – Bsg 132). Silenus and a nymph face each other; she holds her breast with her left hand and a mace of some kind in her right; he points upwards with his left hand. Beneath them, a bust of Bacchus presides over the inscription. Between them is a trophy comprising a syrinx and two crossed recorders. There are copies of this work in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London and in New York.
Frontispiece, Arnolt Schlick Tabulaturen etlicher lobgesang und lidlein uff die orgeln un lauten: Allegorical Figure of Music, published by Peter Schöffer (1512), woodcut, German. Leipzig: Deutsches Nationalbibliothek, Deutsches Musikarchiv Archiv. Ref. Dufourcq (1965, I: 186, fig.); Wiese (1988: fig. 51a); Archiv Moeck; Rasmussen (1999, Lute); Wikimedia Commons (2009, b&w). Seated on a swan, the personification of Music plays a cylindrical recorder with a distinctive beaded foot-piece strongly reminiscent of the ‘Dordrecht’ recorder, the beak and foot of which have turned tenons for just such additions. At her feet lie a rebec, harp, lute, and organetto. This bears considerable resemblance to drawings of Musica after Baldini (1465, 1470), and Capella (1532).
Altarpiece, right wing: Mercury (1510-1517), painted panel, German. Danzig: Marienkirche. Ref. Drost. (1963: fig. 21, after p. 81); Rasmussen (1999, Horn). “The central panel is a carved wood Coronation of the Virgin. Mercury has a curved horn. The planet Mercury is associated with the birth of Christ” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Drost (loc. cit.) suggests that the horn is a poor copy of the recorder in Burgkmair’s Planet series (ca 1520). But Rasmuusen notes another depiction of Mercury with a horn by Burgkmair.
From Publius Vergilius Maro Opera, published by Jodocus Badius and printed by J. Sacon & Sacon for C. Hochperg, Lyon (1517): Daphnis ego in silvestris, hand-coloured woodcut, leaf 28.8 × 18.8 cm, image 11.9 × 14.6 cm, German. Detail. Leipzig: Antiquariat Neumann Walter, auctioned on eBay August 2007. Ref. Michael Fleming (pers. comm., 2007) . Depicts the death of Daphnis, from the fifth of Virgil’s Eclogues. Three men mourn by his tomb. Behind them, a shepherd plays recorder, and Menalcus plays ? harp. The recorder player holds a second recorder (possibly Daphnis’ own) in one hand. An uncoloured version of this same woodcut appeared in an edition published in 1502 by Johann Grüninger in Strassburg (see above).
From Publius Vergilius Maro Opera, published by Jodocus Badius and printed by J. Sacon & Sacon for C. Hochperg, Lyon (1517): An Argument Between Corydon and Thyrsis, hand-coloured woodcut, leaf 28.8 × 18.8 cm, image 11.9 × 14.6 cm, German. Detail. Leipzig: Antiquariat Neumann Walter, auctioned on eBay August 2007. Ref. Michael Fleming (pers. comm., 2007). An illustration to accompany the seventh of Virgil’s Eclogues concerning the singing contest between Corydon (a goatherd) and Thyrsis (a shepherd), presided over by Daphnis who sits against the trunk of a holly tree. Here, Corydon is depicted holding a flared-bell recorder and Thyrsis with a bagpipe. Daphnis sits before them apparently offering Corydon the victor’s wreath which hangs from his staff. Sheep and goats graze about them, and bees fly to and fro from their hives on a rack to the side. A village can be seen on a hill in the background. In the story, Meliboeus is called in to judge the bout from which Corydon emerges the winner. An uncoloured version of this same woodcut appeared in an edition published in 1502 by Johann Grüninger in Strassburg (see above).
From Publius Vergilius Maro Opera, published by Jodocus Badius and printed by J. Sacon & Sacon for C. Hochperg, Lyon (1517): Damon and Alphesiboeus, hand-coloured woodcut, leaf 28.8 × 18.8 cm, image 11.9 × 14.6 cm, German. Detail. Leipzig: Antiquariat Neumann Walter, auctioned on eBay August 2007. Ref. Michael Fleming (pers. comm., 2007) . An illustration to accompany the eighth of Virgil’s Eclogues concerning the shepherds Damon and Alphesiboeus who sing of their rival love for their companion Daphnis who has deserted them for the pleasures of town. Here, surrounded by their sheep, Damon sings whilst Alphesiboeus pipes on his flared-bell recorder. In the distance is a town, before which stand Daphnis and a woman. An uncoloured version of this same woodcut appeared in an edition published in 1502 by Johann Grüninger in Strassburg (see above).
Matthew Swarz’s Prayer Book, f. 35r: Man with a Recorder (ca 1520), German. Berlin: Kuperfestichkabinett (West), Print Collection HS. 78 B. 10. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999, Bkk – 744). A bearded man in a cape, and elaborate feathered cap with a chain around his neck and a sword in his belt, plays an alto-sized recorder with a flared bell. The fingers of his upper (right) hand are not covering their holes, but those of the lower (left) hand are covered, including the little finger, so this probably represents a recorder.
Musical Group with a Dancing Bear (1520), coloured print, German. Lithographer R. Hücker; printer Aug. Kürth. Berlin: ? Gemäldegalerie. On a platform in the foreground musicians play two shawms, trumpet, bagpipe, drum, and a tenor-size conical pipe; two hold lutes, another a tromba marina. Beside them two men look on, and a woman on the left drinks as a servant offers her more from a jug. Behind the musicians, three men and a woman encourage a bear chained to a pole to dance. The pipe is placed in the corner of the mouth and held up in the air, but it lacks a reed and is clearly different from the shawms so a recorder seems very likely. Curiously, one of the lutenists is holding the tromba marina player’s bow!
Altarpiece: The Life of Mary (a. 1525), German. Hannover: Landesmuseum. Ref. Website, flickr: Anges Musiciens (2014, col.) Detail 1. In a scene depicting the life of the Holy Family in Egypt musical angels sing and play lute, harp, organ and two cylindrical pipes which may represent recorders. Detail 2. In a border putti play lute, rebec and a slender cylindrical pipe which may represent a recorder. From the Johannesaltar of St.-Pauli-Kirche in Hildesheim.
Adoration of the Child (ca 1520-1530), Southern German (Allgäu). Sonthofen: Friedhofskapelle SS Sebastian und Afra. Ref. Petzet (1964: 836, fig.); Kasper (1969: 32 – fig.); Rasmussen (1999, Lute); Website: Bildindex der Kunst und Architektur (2012, b&w). Four junior angels surrounding the Christ Child sing and fourth others play waisted fiddle, harp, lute and a pipe with a slightly flared bell which could be a recorder, though there is no sign of a window/labium. The little piper’s cheeks are consicuously inflated, but so too are those of his companions.
Rhetoric vnnd Teutsch Formular in alle[n] Gerichts Hendlen [Rhetoric and German Forms in all court cases.] Kunst, Regel der Notarie[n] vnd Schreiber, das vor in de[n] andern nit angezeigt ist, Titel vnd Cantzley Büchlin : instruction wie gegen treftlichen Personen … Ehrbietung zu halten sey (1537), woodcut, German. Published by Valten Schumann, Leipzig. New Haven: Lilian Goldman Law Library. Ref. Website: Bowed Strings Iconography bsip2508 (2022, col.) The title page depicts a notary at his desk surrounded by his tools, amongst which are a violin and a clearly depicted duct-flute with only six finger holes but possibly intended to represent a recorder.
Frontispiece: Discantus, Symphoniae iucundae by Georg Rhau (1544), German. Ref. Fraenkel (1968: pl. 7). Identical to the Discantus part of Rhau’s Der neuen deudtchen geistlichen lieder (1544) – see below. Includes an arrangement of musical instruments and leafy decorations. The instruments include mute cornetto, a small shawm, drum, bagpipe, lute, viol, flute, harp, crumhorn and a flared-bell recorder. The latter has finger holes for five fingers. visible including paired holes for the lowermost finger, and the beak and window/labium are clearly depicted.
Der Castalische Brunn / Delphi die Statt / Mt Parnassus [Allegory of Music] (1540), oil on canvas, 160 × 270 cm, South-west German. Detail. Basel: Historisches Museum, Inv. 1906.2901. Ref. Konrad et al. (1985: 141, fig. 10); Rasmussen (1999-2004, Lute; 2003-2004, Hurdy-Gurdy); Website: Historisches Museum Basel (2007, col.); Website: Lute Iconography LI-73 (2023, col.) A large sized painting, originally owned by the Basle physician Felix Platter (1536–1674), depicting in encyclopedic detail German music practice of the Renaissance. In the background, in the town of Delphi, Apollo and the nine Muses play harp, fiddle, viol, hurdy-gurdy and several pipes (possibly recorders). In the foreground, Bathsheba is observed bathing in the well by king David accompanied by ladies and gentleman playing lutes, viol, sackbut, psaltery, regal, organetto, and a conical pipe with all four fingers of the player’s lowermost (right) hand covering their holes, so this may be a recorder rather than a cornetto, though there is no sign of a window/labium.
Allegory of Music (ca 1540), painting, South-west German. Herrliberg: Seestrasse, Landgut zur ‘Schipf’. Ref. Rasmussen (2003-2004, Hurdy Gurdy). Nearly identical to the above, but with the addition of an angel concert in the sky.
Speculum Humanae Salvationis: Heaven: Christ Enthroned Together with Mary, Angels and the Blessed (ca 1450), pen drawing, 7.9 × 7.9 cm, Frater Nycolaus (scribe), German (Cologne). The Hague: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, MMW, 10 B 34, Fol. 42v: column min. Ref. Koninklijke Bibliotheek: Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts (2002). To the left and right of Christ enthroned angels play lute and a flared recorder. The beak and window/labium of the later are clearly depicted and all fingers of the player’s lowermost (left) hand are covering their holes.
Frontispiece: Discantus, Der Neuen Deudtchen Geistlichen Lieder by Georg Rhau (1544), German. Ref. Blume (1969: 45); Il Flauto dolce 2: 11 (1972); Angelo Zaniol ex Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). Identical to the Discantus part of Rhau’s Symphoniae iucundae (Wittenberg, 1538) – see above. Includes an arrangement of musical instruments and leafy decorations. The instruments include mute cornetto, a small shawm, drum, bagpipe, lute, viol, flute, harp, crumhorn and a flared-bell recorder. The latter has finger holes for five fingers visible including paired holes for the lowermost finger, and the beak and window/labium are clearly depicted.
Music (1554), print, South German School. Nuremberg: Germanisches Nationalmuseum. Ref. Ingrid S. Weber (1975: 480.6); Munich Munich RIdIM (1999, Ngm – 212). A musical allegory with many instruments, including a recorder.
Writing cabinet (after 1550), wood, 40.8 × 204.0 × 39.9 cm, South German (Tirol). Hamburg: Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Inv. 1970.121. Ref. Munich RIdIM (2009, Hmkg – 86). Fully inlaid box with doors and drawers and fold-out writing surface decorated with trophies of musical instruments, including drums, transverse flutes (including a case), recorders, fiddles, shawm, bagpipes, cornetto and timpani. Not seen.
Casket (ca 1560), wood with intarsia decoration, 15 × 25 × 15 cm, ? German. Freiburg im Breisgau: Städtisches Augustinermuseum, Inv. 1551. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999, FRa – 82). The inside of the lid is decorated with a trophy of musical instruments, including lute, drum, crumhorn, fiddle, bagpipes, small kettle drums, shawm and soprano and alto recorders. Not seen.
Recorder Player and Lutenist (1559), woodcut, German (Leipzig). Ref. Card: MPV-PK (X)17, Musica Pretiosa, Vilsbiburg (?2008). A couple seated on the grass beside a crenellated bridge sing and play flared-bell recorder. Opposite them, a man seated on a stump plays lute. Between them a dog wags its tail. Valentin Schumann (ca 1480–1542) was an important publisher in Leipzig. He published, among other things, hymnals with musical notation and various editions of the Leipzig hymnal.
Title page: Tabulae Musicae … (first book), by B. Jobin & C. Barbetta (1572), Strassburg. Ref. Archiv Moeck. A lute tablature book. The decorated margin shows musicians playing many instruments including lyre, lute, viol, harp, guitar and a large (tenor) recorder. Identical to the following.
Title page, Jobin & C. Barbetta Tabulae Musicae … Novae (1582), Strassburg. Ref. Blume (1949-1963, 1: 1239–1240); Archiv Moeck; Angelo Zaniol ex Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). A lute tabulature book. Decorated margin (mirror image of the preceding) shows musicians playing many instruments including lyre, lute, viol, harp, guitar and a large (tenor) recorder. A mirror image of the above.
From Hans Vredeman de Vries’ Panoplia (ca 1572), swag designs, German. Ref. Michael Fleming ex Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2006). A source of designs for carvers and other artists. Amongst the swags of musical instruments is a 2-foot recorder consort with four different sizes of recorders.
Cabinet (ca 1580), carved pinewood with intarsia, 70 × 70 × 50 cm, German. Cambridge: Private Collection. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2007); Exhibition catalogue, Colnaghi: Objects for a ‘Wunderkammer’, June/July (1981: 225). Cabinet of a type made in Augsburg (and Innsbruck) in the second half of the 16th century. The cabinet has large metal handles at each side. The front has 16 drawers in a variety of sizes, and a the centre a cupboard at the main middle level., set off by six Corinthian columns, with a rusticated round arch at the centre. All this is in intricately carved wood. The top, or lid, opens up to reveal an escritoire, again intricately carved with miniature drawers and hiding places. The centre panel of the cupboard, within the arch, has a marquetry or intarsia portrayal, against a cityscape with plants around, of a bearded fine gentleman playing a ? lute. All the drawers, except three very shallow ones, are decorated with cityscapes in intarsia in a variety of woods (no bone or ivory is used in this example).The top, sides and back are all decorated with fine intarsia. The centre of the lid has a circular scene of a running deer, a tree in leaf, and various plants, with buildings behind. All around it is a rather confused decoration of more plants and scrollwork within which can be made out various musical instruments. The left side matches the right side so each musical instrument appears twice. They are: a case of six flutes three of which protrude showing the lowest finger hole (enormous), a military drum with two beaters, a bagpipe with chanter and one drone, and the curved lower part of a tenor shawm, showing its large fontanelle.The six flutes in their (? black leather) case are of unequal lengths, or at least the three visible ones are. It is not impossible that these are recorders; the one finger hole shown is very low down the instrument. But in this medium one cannot expect organological accuracy. Intarsia designs with musical instruments within a border of architectural volutes also appear on the top surface of a cabinet made in Innsbruck in the second half of the 16th century.
Title page, Andreas Gundelfinger, De 19 Taffel (1580), ink & watercolour on paper, German. Munich: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Inv. Cgm 923, Fol. 53 r. Ref. Munich RIdIM (2009, Mbs – H 93). Gundelfinger was a schoolmaster and mathematician working in Nuremberg and Munich. The title page is elaborately decorated with scrollwork, grotesques, and musical instruments in two trophies. In the left-hand trophy a cornetto is crossed with a shawm beneath an open book. In the right-hand trophy a side-drum is crossed with a wind-instrument case and what appears to be a recorder, the flared bell, and window/labium and beak clearly depicted.
Broadside: Ist ein vermanung der Kirchen … [A Merging of Two Churches …] (c.1580), hand-coloured woodcut & letterpress print on paper, 16.8 × 28.3 cm (woodcut), German. London: British Museum, Inv. 1980, 0710.824. Ref. Website: British Museum (2012, col.); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-1863 (2023, col.) A broadside on devotional practice; with a hand-coloured woodcut showing King David playing the harp on the left and a group of children singing, and playing a one-piece cylindric recorder (beak, window/labium and finger holes clearly depicted), bagpipe, rebec, lute, pipes, bells, flute, hammered dulcimer, virginals, and (?) portative organ. Accompanied by letterpress verses in five columns. The doggerel verses begin like a version of Psalm 98 (O sing unto the Lord a new song), but continue in an unstructured way with many reminiscences of other Psalms praising God and calling for victory against unspecified enemies. This unknown sheet came from the library of Baron Wendelin von Maltzahn, a collector of German literary rarities, from which the British Museum acquired several broadsides in 1880.
? Minerva and the Muses (1581–1586), fresco, German. Munich: Residenz, Grotto Court, South side, East corner. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). “Unrestored and in poor condition (not very competently painted originally). Instruments played include organ, lute, small bagpipes (musette), bass viol and a very long (ca 100 cm), cylindrical pipe with no bell flare. Euterpe (Muse of music and lyric poetry) plays the pipe, sharing music on the ground with representational notes, with the bass viol player, elegantly stretches her right arm to finger the lower notes, and the fingers of her left-hand also cover their holes but an offset little-finger hole looks too far down the instrument for her to reach. There is no sign of a window/labium. The mouthpiece end simply touches her slightly pursed lips, the cheeks relaxed. A tabor-pipe of similar length was found on the Mary Rose, but here Euterpe uses both hands and there is no sign of a drum.
Mercury and Argus from an edition of Ovid’s Metamorphoses (book XV: 69), edited by Johanns Steinman, Leipzig (1582), German. Ref. Warburg Institute, London (2014). Argus sits dozily in the fork of a tree with his dog beside him. On a rock opposite sits Mercury in his petasos (winged helmet) and talaria (winged sandals), playing on a slightly flared pipe, possibly a duct flute (flageolet or recorder) though the window/labium is not visible. Io (as a heifer) stands warily behind Mercury, and sheep and goats can be seen in the background.
Procession in Dresden during Wedding Festivities for Balthasar Wurm and Anton von Sahlhausen, Two Noblemen at the Court of Saxony, 2 March 1584, German. New York: Spencer Collection, New York Public Library. Ref. Bowles (1989: fig. 47, detail). Four boys play cittern, treble and tenor viols, two riding piggyback on older men playing alto-sized cylindrical duct flutes (possibly recorders).
Virgin and Child (early 16th century), wood sculpture, S. German. Location unknown (formerly Braun Collection, Erkelenz). Ref. Rasmussen (1999, Lute). “Angels play fiddle, harp, lute and recorder. Very similar to the [late 15th century] Virgin and Child (Museum für Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt above” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
Coronation of the Virgin (early 16th century), German (Lübeck). Hanover: Niedersächsisches Landesgalerie (ex Uelzen, Stadtkirche). Ref. Gmelin (1974: 175, cat. 27, as ca 1515); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). “Two groups of angels, each playing a lute and three woodwinds (perhaps recorders)” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
Bowed Strings (16th century), German. Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie, Inv. SAM79. Ref. Ferino-Pagden (2001: 136, col.) A woman plays an elaborately shaped viola da braccio of almost cello size standing on a table. Beside the viola are a sheet of music and a small ?alto-sized cylindrical recorder with a slight contraction before the bell flare. No finger holes are visible, but the head end, in shade, has a mark which could represent the window/labium.
Decoration (16th-century), painted relief, German. Celle: Hoppenerhaus, Postrasse, Celle 1532. Restored at various times. In one of the triangular decorations above the lowermost lintel at the front of the building, to the left of the central panel, a man in a green shirt and hat plays a flared-bell pipe (possibly a recorder); he stands beside an enormous key on top of one of two monsters.
Mercury and Argus (16th century), engraving, German (Nuremberg School). Ref. Rowland-Jones (2000c: fig. 5). A very muscular-looking Argus in a loin-cloth leans wearily on his staff, his back to a tree, his dog at his feet. Mercury (in winged helmet and sandals) is seated before him, his caduceus on the ground at his feet, his sword ready at his side. In his hands Mercury holds a small markedly flared-bell recorder, the paired holes for the lowermost finger clearly visible. Behind them, Io (as a heifer) looks vacantly into the distance. Prominently in the foreground is a fleshy-leaved herb, probably meant to be the mercurialis of the Romans, possibly the garden weed and medicinal herb we know as Mercurialis annua (‘Dog Wort’). This illustration bears a striking resemblance to Mercury and Argus, a carved stone relief after Artus Quellinus the Elder (1609-1668), by Hubertus Quellinus (ca 1605 – 1688) adorning the Stadhuis (Town Hall), Amsterdam, formerly Koninklijk Paleis (Royal Palace).
Untitled woodcut (16th century), German. Ref. Rowland-Jones (2001a: fig. 8). Mercury (his sword at his side, his caduceus in his left hand), plays a long tapering pipe in his right hand to two merchants standing in front of their sacks. Between Mercury’s legs is the severed heard of Argus with its many eyes; in front of him is a cock, symbol of watchfulness. Beside the merchants, a thief holds a purse in one hand and a curved knife in the other, reminding us that Mercury was not only the god of merchants but also of pickpockets.
Devil with a Recorder and a Scolding Woman (?16th century), stone carving, German. Erfurt: [Gardinen und Teppichatelier], Haus Lange Brücke 18–20. Ref. Tibia (2002, 1: cover, col.). A wild-looking woman leans out of a window waving a tankard at a devil who sits on the cornice on the corner of an old house holding a large, flared-bell recorder. Tibia (loc. cit) doesn’t give a date for this. The building, and possibly the sculpture itself are probably 16th century: if so, they have been substantially ‘restored’, to judge by the sprayed stone treatment of the facade.
Altarpiece: Virgin and Child with St Anne (early 16th century), carved wood, German. Kalkar: Nicolaikirche. Detail. Ref. Pantheon 29: 469 (1971); Rasmussen (2002, Bagpipe). Mary and St Anne play with the infant Jesus. Above angels play lute, harp, bagpipe and flared recorder.
Koncz, also known as Fugger, a fool (16th century), coloured illustration on ?paper, German. Location unknown. Ref. Pinterest: Malcom Jones’ photostream (2023-col.) A portrait of the fool, Koncz, who was also known as Fugger (after his patron Joerg Fugger), who provided entertainment at weddings, etc. playing his pipe, dancing, and declaiming rhyming nonsense verse of his own composition . Koncz is dressed in a yellow tassled smock, a chain of office around his neck, a feathered cap on his head, a short sword and a long dagger on his belt. He is playing a flared bell alto recorder, the top three finger holes open but the thumb bent as if half-holing. The first, third and lowermost finger holes of the lowermost (right) hand are covering their holes. The instrument’s window/labium and beak are clearly depicted. A subsequent note written by Fugger’s book-keeper, Matthäus Schwarz (1497–c.1574), adds that Kunz died in 1539. This illustration does not appear in Schwarz’ Klaidungsbüchlein (Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Brunswick).
Mercury & Argus, ink on paper, 6 × 8 cm, German. Munich: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Inv. Cgm 3275, Fol. 19 r. Mercury lulls Argus to sleep by playing on a recorder. Not seen. An inscription reads:
Die Kuew soll Argus han in acht
Welcher mit vilen Augen wacht.
Mercurius pfeifft also schon
Das Argus bald entschlafft darvon.

Greek

Mary Kneeling in Front of the Heavenly Child in the Crib (late 16th century), fresco, Greek. Mt Athos: Katholicon Dochiariou Monastery. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm.; 2006: 13) Centre picture Mary kneels before the infant Jesus in his crib watched by a donkey and a cow. To the left are the Three Kings; behind are the heavenly host; and to the right are shepherds, one of whom sits cross-legged playing a tenor-sized duct flute with what looks like a window/labium in the correct position and little or no bell flare. In the foreground, Mary washes the infant whilst another women pours water into the font. To one side Joseph sits in conversation with two shepherds. There is a striking similarity between this shepherd and a 14th-century one from the Monastry of the Peribleptos, Mystras, and another dated ca 1430 from the Monastery of the Pantanessa, also at Mystras (see above).

Italian

Virgin and Child with Saints Mary Magdalen, Julian, John the Baptist and Catherine oil on canvas, 220 × 205 cm, (early 16th century), Italian. Ref. Cosetta (1985, 1: pl. 41); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). Two angels on the ground close to the Virgin’s throne play lute and recorder (left hand uppermost).
Street Scene with Serenaders, from Jacob Wimpfeling, De fide concubinarum, published by Ludwig Hohenwang, Ulm (1501), woodcut, Italian. Ref. Muther & Shaw (1972: pl. 101); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). “Students (?) play a lute and three recorders. Two children sing. A woman empties a chamber pot from a window” (Rasmusen, loc. cit.) Muther (loc.cit., p. 48) notes that the composition of the woodcut is in the style of ca 1450, and that the drawing and cutting were done in Italy. Not seen.
Musicians in a Walled Garden/Serenade in The Garden of Love, from Leonardo Justiniano, Canzonette e strambotti d’amore, published by Melchior Sessa, Venice (1506), woodcut, passe-partout illustration, Italian. Venice: Library. Ref. Essling (1907-1914, III: 124, no. 1514); Gentili (1980: fig. 7); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). Also appears in Strambotti nouamente da diuersi auctori che sono in preposito a ciaschuno chi e ferito d’amore, published by Marchio Sessa, Venice (undated). “Musicians play lute, harp, woodwind (recorder?) and tambourine. A woman stands outside and listens”(Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Gentili (loc. cit.) notes its appearance in several other publications and observes that it often has nothing to do with the text. Not seen.
Il liutista innamorato/The Love-Struck Lute Player, from A. Tebaldeo, Opere/Opere de Thibaldeo de Ferrara published by Manfredo de Monteferrato, Venice (1507), woodcut, Italian. Ref. Essling (1907–1914, III: 492, no. 1220); Gentili (1980: 197 & fig. 21); Musikgeschichte in Bildern (? date, 4: 1016, col.; ? date, 12: 554); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). “Passe-partout illustration of a man playing a lute, perhaps with a small recorder at his waist, about to be struck with Amor’s arrow … the ‘recorder’ is just a fold in the tunic, with dots which resemble finger holes … Gentili [loc. cit.] … notes another appearance in Paris e Viena. Venice, per Comino de Luere, 1512.) A copy appears as the title page illustration of Serafino dell’Aquila, Opere dello elegante Poeta by Seraphino Aquillano published in Venice by Rusconi (1510). Here the ‘recorder’ is a bit more recorder-like, but still vague” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
Two Recorder-playing Shepherds / Annunciation to the Shepherds (1507), woodcut, Italian (Venetian). Ref. Card, Musica Pretiosa, Vilsbiburg (2004). Two shepherds sit playing cylindrical pipes (possibly recorders) whilst a third lies on his back, enjoying the music. Two angels hover above them. In the foreground are sheep, grazing.
Madonna in Trono con il Bambino e due Angeli Musicanti (ca 1510), Scuola Emiliana?, Italian. Milan: Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Cat. 1589. Ref. Rowland-Jones (1999, pers. comm.) At the Madonna’s feet are two musical angels, each on one knee. The left-hand musician plays a three-stringed rebec. The right-hand musician plays two narrow, flared-bell recorders. The window/labium of each is clear. That in right hand is played covering four holes, the three lower ones clearly visible, the lowermost seemingly offset. That in the left hand is played with all bottom four fingers covering their holes, including a definitely off-set hole for the little finger, the three upper holes clearly visible.
Title Unknown (1510–1515), fresco, Italian. Detail. Ferrara: Location unknown. Ref. Website: Blumberg’s Music Theory Cipher for Guitar and Other Stringed Instruments (2007). Musicians play guitar, and a slender pipe. Another holds what may be a shawm or trumpet. The pipe is played left-hand uppermost, all fingers of the lowermost hand are covering their holes, and the player’s cheeks are not noticeably inflated, so this may represent a recorder.
Title-page of Carmina apposita Pasquillo (1513): Apollo, woodcut, Rome. London: Christies, Sale 5960, Valuable Manuscripts and Printed Books, 21 November 2012, Lot 118. Ref. Sander & Sander (1969); Frings (1993: 156–157, fig. 17). In Renaissance painting, Apollo is often represented with an ancient lyre or a contemporary lira da braccio. However, according to a myth well-known in the sixteenth century, he was playing the flute when Mercury stole his herd of cattle, and he then received the lyre from the thief as a form of compensation. Thus his attributes in music allegories of the time included wind as well as string instruments. Carmina apposita is a rare pasquinade, a prototype of satire, here celebrating the election of the humanist Giovanni di Lorenzo de Medici as Pope Leo X and anticipating his patronage of arts, literature and humanism. The verse form derives from the name Pasquillus given to a classical statue unearthed in 1501 and erected by Cardinal Carafa in the Piazza Navona in Rome. A tradition quickly sprang up of declaiming satiric verse in front of the statue on the feast of St. Mark (25 April) and affixing copies to it; in addition, each year the statue was dressed as a different pagan god. The verses began to be printed in 1509, often illustrated with a woodcut of the statue in its guise for that year, and with the arms of the cardinal who was patron of that year’s festival.
Apollo and the Muses at the Spring of Parnassus, from Georgio di Rusconi Milanese Le Cose Vulgare de Missere Colantonio Carmignano, Venice (1516), woodcut passe-partout illustration, Italian. Ref. Gentili (1980: 28 & fig. 11); Della Corte et al., in Fabbri (?date, 1); Rasmussen (1999, Lute.); Angelo Zaniol ex Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). “There are only seven female figures. Apollo plays a renaissance fiddle. The Muses (?) play lute (partly visible, looks rather like an unwaisted guitar), recorder, sigmoid horn, straight trumpet and cymbals. Gentili notes [p. 28] that this illustration was frequently used as a frontispiece” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Amongst such uses is Il Tempio d’Aurore, attributed to Galeteo del Carnetto, Venezia, Zoppino & Compagno (1524).
Figures around a Pool, frontispiece of Opera Moralissima de diversi Auttori per Georgio di Ruschoni ad instantia di Nicolo Zapino & Vicentio compagni, Venice (1516), woodcut, Italian. Ref. Gentili (1980: fig. 9); Rasmussen (2003, Hurdy-Gurdy). “Includes women with a hurdy-gurdy, a renaissance fiddle and a recorder; a man with a recorder; and a satyr with panpipes” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
Apollo, the Muses and the Planets (1518), engraving from Franchinus Gafurius’ De Harmonia Musicorum Instrumentorum, Milan. Ref. Catalogue 512, Maggs Bros, Ltd. (1928: No. 37); Wyss (1996: 38, fig. 14); Paris RIdIM (2000). Apollo holds a viola da mano (with the peg-box of a lute) in one hand and gestures towards the three Graces (Euphrosine, Thalia and Aglaia) on his right. Above him a man plays lute in the left and another plays a fiddle in the right-hand corner. Beneath him the Muses on the left and the Planets on the right are separated by a three-headed Serpent whose heads encompasses the Earth which is surrounded by Air and Fire, and whose tail curls into a loop at Apollo’s feet, forming a well-known emblem of eternity. Each Muse is linked to a Planet via a musical mode. The Muse Euterpe (Muse of music and lyric poetry) plays a cylindrical duct flute, possibly a recorder, and is linked via the Lydian mode to Jupiter. Urania (Muse of astronomy), is paired with the sphere of the fixed stars. The same engraving appears in Practica Musica (1496).
Plate (1520), painted in blue and shiny chamois, 39 cm in diameter, Italian. Location unknown. Ref. Paris RIdIM (2000). In the centre Aphrodite rides the waves on a dolphin catching the wind in a sail she holds in her hands. The margin comprises a series of trophies some of which include masks and musical instruments, including drums and pipes (mute cornetti). On the ? reverse, an armoured head is surrounded by similar trophies which include weapons as well as masks and musical instruments including lute, drum, cittern, shawm, a flared bell duct flute (the beak, bell and several finger holes of which are visible) and six flared-bell pipes, probably recorders.
Pattern for a knife-handle with musical instruments (1490–1520), printed from a plate engraved in the niello manner in the style of Peregrino da Cesena, 78 × 16 cm, Italian. London: British Museum, 1857,0520.25. Depicts a garland of musical instruments including drum, lutes (crossed), rebec & viola da braccio (crossed), straight & folded trumpets (crossed), shawms (crossed), panpipes (crossed) and two duct flutes (crossed). The latter are one-piece and more or less cylindrical with the window labium of each and several finger holes clearly depicted: they quite probably represent recorders. Peregrino da Cesena was an Italian engraver and draughtsman who appears to have been the pupil, in Bologna, of Francesco Francia (1450–1517); several engravings are signed “de opus peregrini ces” and scholars are generally agreed in accepting this as the signature of Peregrino da Cesena, despite the fact that no artist by this name is known from documents or other sources.
Plate with musical and military trophies (1530–1550), majolica, 30 cm diam., Italian (Padua). Munich: Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Inv. Ker. 2425. Ref. Munich RIdIM (2002, Mbnm – 537); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). Includes a duct flute (pipe or recorder) and drum. Not seen.
Plate, ca 1530, tin-glazed earthenware, Italian, probably Castel Durante or Urbino. Hartford: Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art Inv. 1917.453. Ref. Roth (1987: 76, no. 11-col); Rasmussen (2007, Drum). Around a central shield bearing the arms of the Marquis de’Abon are eight swags of musical instruments against a blue background. There are many lutes, seen either from the side or in deep perspective from the base. There are also many drums, four wind-instrument cases, a tambourine, books, several shawms and many ‘rafts’ of duct flutes with clearly depicted windows. These latter may well represent recorders.
Plate (1540), Italian, probably Castel Durante or Urbino. Urbino: Palazzo Ducale. Ref. Website, flickr: alessio bacci’s photostream (2017-col.) Around a central figure of an amoretto, his quiver slung over his shoulder, are eight swags against a dark blue-green background. Several of the swags depict musical instruments including double pipes, drums, a lute and two duct-flutes with their beaks, window/labium and finger holes clearly visible. This bears an obvious similarity to the above plate and its companions elsewhere.
Virgin and Child Enthroned with Two Saints (ca 1520), drawing, Italian (Verona). Stockholm: Nationalmuseum. Ref. Sirén (1917: no. 450; 1933: pl. 62); Rasmussen (1999, Tambourine). “Putti on the steps of the throne play recorder and tambourine” Possibly by Giovanni Francesco Carotto (ca 1480–1555). Not seen.
Commento al Vitruvio by Cesare Cesariano, Como (1521): Ex ing_io Ctesibii factis in taberna tonsoria patris svi, woodcut, Italian. Ref. Treccani (1957: 228); Rasmussen (2002, Bagpipe). “An interior, with a bagpipe (labelled ‘V’) on a chest beneath a window, and a recorder (labelled ‘X’) in the foreground (beside bellows, etc.)” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) This was a profusely illustrated edition of the most famous of antique texts on architecture.
Concert at Home, oil on canvas (1520–1529), Italian. Milan: Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Art Gallery, Inv. 703. Ref. Website: Getty Images (2015, col.) Two women, a youth and four men sing and play music together. One of the women plays a lute; another woman and a youth sing. The men play viola da braccio, rebec, and recorders. The latter are narrowly cylindrical: one seen in side profile shows the beak, window/labium and flared bell and the player’s hands are perfectly deployed for recorder playing. The foot of the other recorder is hidden behind one of the singers, but the beak and window/labium are clearly depicted.
Pietro Aron as a Music Teacher, Surrounded by his Students, from Toscanello in Musica, published by Bernardino and Matteo de’Vitali, Venice (1523), woodcut, Italian. Milan: Braidouse Library; Florida: Florida State University, College of Music, Music Library SPEC ML171 .A12 1562. Ref. Abbiati in Fabbri (1964, 1: 385); Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (? date, 1, pl. XXV); Early Music 5: 135 (1977); Mortimer (1998, 1: 1); Rasmussen (1999, Lute); Angelo Zaniol ex Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000); Paris RIdIM (2000). Also published in Aron’s Trattato della natura … di canto figurato, Venice (1525); and in later editions of Toscanello in Musica, published in 1529, by Marchio Sessa, Venice (1539), and by D. Nicolino, Venice (1562). “Aron strikes the traditional pose of the Melancholic. On a table in the foreground there are a fiddle, a lute, a recorder, and two books” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) In fact the ‘recorder’ has only four finger holes, though the window/labium is clear enough. Aron sits on a raised chair beside and beneath which stand his pupils. A frame surrounds the 1539 print comprises a number of panels, some containing flowers, some busts, others putti playing musical instruments including fiddle, lute, and tabor.
[Musical Angels], fresco (ca 1525), Italian. Aosta: Cattedrale di Notre Dame. Ref. Lagnier (1988: 35, pl. 1/c). Eight square panels all with musical angels on clouds who play triangle, waisted fiddle, and a narrow cylindrical duct flute. The latter has quite enough finger holes to be recorder, though the bell is lost in cloud. Three finger holes are visible, none offset. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000)
Title page of Dante’s La Commedia published by Jac. de Burgofranco (23 January 1529), Italian. Location unknown. Ref. Paris RIdIM (2000); Website, flickr: quadralectic’s photostream (2012, b&w). The title details are surmounted by an ornamental arch which includes Apollo playing his lira da braccio and two putti playing trumpets, and surrounded by a frame comprising panels with portraits of famous authors of antiquity on the left of and Dante and his contemporaries on the right. At the foot of the page is a panel in which framed by dragons standing upended on their tails, the Muses play symphony (Melpomene, Muse of tragedy), psaltery (Polyhymnia, Muse of sacred hymns), lute (Terpischore, Muse of song and dance), triangle (Urania, Muse of astronomy), cymbals (Clio, Muse of history), organ (Euterpe, Muse of music and lyric poetry), fiddle (Erato, Muse of lyric and erotic love poetry), trumpet (Calliope, Muse of epic poetry), and cylindrical pipe (Thalia, Muse of comedy and pastoral poetry). The latter’s instrument is possibly a recorder since there is the hint of a window.It is usually Euterpe who plays the flute. But Thalia is sometimes shown with one (as in this example), perhaps because of her association with pastoral poetry.The same panel as the bottom one here, one of the tableaux on the Montiéramey cope, appears as the Legend of St Giles, from the 16th-century The Huntsman King (see above).
Trophy with Musical Instruments (1540–1600), porcelain, 20.6 cm high, Italian. Stuttgart: Württenbergisches Landesmuseum, Inv. G 9,362. Ref. Munich RIdIM (2003 Slm – 213). Depicts crossed recorders and a music book with duets.
Title page: Missarum liber secundus (1544) by Morales, engraving; ALSO Missarum liber primus by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, published by Valerio & Luigi Dorico, Rome (1554), engraving. London: British Museum; Cambridge, MA: Harvard College Library, Dept. of Prints and Graphic Arts. Ref. Fraenkel (1968: pl. 18); Westen (1921: No. 12); Peter (1958: 44); Early Music 30 (3): 324 (2002). The same illustrative material is used in both these works. The central scene of this title, which represents the composer handing his work to Pope Julius III, is merely a slightly retouched in the 1568 volume, so that the accuracy of the portraits in this case is questionable. Marginal panels on either side include trophies of musical instruments. On the left are a viol, a flute and two duct flutes (with clear beaks and window/labium, one showing two upper and four lower finger holes (one hidden by a ribbon) the lowermost offset), a syrinx, a small shawm, a triangle (with jingle rings) and a timbrel. On the right are two viols, a lute, a psaltery, folded trumpet, harp, shawms, drum and another cylindrical duct flute, the beak of which is clearly depicted. Panels at the bottom of the page depict Apollo and Marsyas in mortal combat playing lira da braccio and syrinx respectively; Pegasus, the winged horse; and Apollo supervising the flaying of Marsyas. The border panels are identical to those of the title page of Giovanni Animuccia’s Canticum B. Mariae Virginis (Rom, 1568) – see below.
Allegorical Group (1550-1560), North Italian. Private Collection. Ref. Tibia 3 [i.e. 4] (1): Kunstbeilage (1979, col., as ca 1520); Moeck Calendar (1980: April, col., as ca 1520); Tibia 6 (1-3) back cover (1981); Tibia 7 (1): back cover (1982); Rasmussen (2003-2004, Hurdy Gurdy). “A woman holds a lute (only the pegbox is visible) and points to a music book. A man (singing?) holds a recorder and glances heavenward. The other two figures gaze intently at one another. There is an unplayed hurdy-gurdy. Copy? The recorder sort of disappears into the music and the hurdy-gurdy is very badly depicted” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.)
Mercury and Argus, from an edition of Ovid’s Metamorphoses (1553), Italian (Venice). Ref. Warburg Institute, London; Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). Mercury beheads Argus (who has eyes all over his body) watched by Io (as a heifer). On the ground in front of Mercury lies a flared-bell recorder, the windway, window/labium and seven finger holes of which are clearly depicted.
Serenade Beneath a Lady’s Window (before 1563), passe-partout woodcut, Italian. Ref. Mortimer (1974: 649, no. 468); Rasmussen (1999, Tambourine). “Young men (students?) in a street play harp, lute, woodwind (recorder?) and tambourine (vaguely depicted)” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Also used in Scongiurazione amorosa dun giovane innamorato published by Zanobi Bisticci, Florence (1600) by which time the block is cut down and worn (Mortimer, loc. cit.) Mortimer suggests this may be the block recorded by Kristeller (1897: no. 83) in a 1563 Canzone a ballo composte da diversi autori. The block is probably much earlier than 1563. Not. seen.
Frontispiece: Canticum B. Mariae Virginis by Giovanni Animuccia, published by Valerio & Luigi Dorico, Rome (1568), Italian. London; British Museum; Venice: Fondazione Uogo e Olga Levi, Biblioteca Gianni Milner. Ref. Blume (1949–1963, 1: 1483–1484); Abbiati, in Fabbri (1964, 1: 430); Fraenkel (1968: pl. 19); Angelo Zaniol ex Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). In the centre beneath the title two female figures greet each other (?the two Marys) to the accompaniment of two angel-putti singing from open musical scores as they hover overhead. Marginal panels on either side include trophies of musical instruments. On the left are a viol, a flute and two duct flutes (with clear beaks and window/labium, one showing two upper and four lower finger holes (one hidden by a ribbon) the lowermost offset.), a syrinx, a small shawm, a triangle (with jingle rings) and a timbrel. On the right are two viols, a lute, a psaltery, folded trumpet, harp, shawms, drum and another cylindrical duct flute, the beak of which is clearly depicted. Panels at the bottom of the page depict Apollo and Marsyas in mortal combat playing lira da braccio and syrinx respectively; Pegasus, the winged horse; and Apollo supervising the flaying of Marsyas. The border panels are identical to those of the title page of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina’s Missarum liber pirmus (Rome, 1554) – see above. Note that Animuccia succeeded Palestrina as music director of St Peter’s from 1555 to 1571.
Charitable Works at the Hospital of Santo Spirito in Sassia (ca 1570), fresco, Italian. Rome: Ospedale di Santo Spirito in Sassia, Palazzo del Commendatore, Sala Grande. Ref. Camiz & McIver (2003: 357–358, fig. 15.2 & 15.3, b&w). Orphaned children are tended by carers, wet-nurses, and a lonely woodwind player. The latter may remind us of the Roman countryside from whence came most of the wet-nurses and the shepherds or peasants who married the hospital’s orphan girls, His instrument is ambiguous but may be intended to represent a recorder. It is crudely drawn with rather more holes than fingers to cover them. Camiz mentions the shawm as a possibility, but that seems an unlikely instrument to play to infants.
Angel with Viola da Braccio (1589), ? fresco, Italian. Martina Franca: Basilica di San Antonio. Ref. Badiarov (2012, col.) In a detail of a larger work, an angel plays a viola da braccio and another plays a duct flute, possibly a recorder, though only the head and upper body are visible.
Title page: Breve et facile maniera d’essercitarsi … a far passaggi … by Giovanni Luca Conforto (1593), Italian. Venice: Fondazione Uogo e Olga Levi, Biblioteca Gianni Milner. Ref. Blume (1949–1963, 2: 1627–1628); Early Music 15 (1): 47 (1987); Angelo Zaniol ex Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). A border of musical instruments includes a flared-bell recorder with flute, lute, cornetto and viol.
Concert Champêtre (1500–1520), oil on canvas 33 × 43 cm, Italian. Pavia: Pinacoteca Malaspina, Inv. 114. A small picture, not clearly painted. At the left a man lolls on his back on the ground with a slightly flared-bell tenor recorder. His left hand is correctly positioned on the bottom part of the instrument. In the centre, are two dancers. On the right are musicians: four singers (three men and a woman) all in rich clothes, and a viol played by a woman. On the ground in front of the violist lies a bagpipe, the stock and two changers of which are visible. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm.)
Virgin and Child, from Opera nova contemplativa (Biblia pauperum), published by Giovanni Andrea Vavassone, Venice (no date, early 16th century), woodcut, Italian. Ref. Essling (1907–1915, 1: 210, no. 206 & 2: 313, no. 933); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). Also appears as the Anonymous Virgin and Child on a Crescent Moon, from Breviarium ordinis Sancti Benedicti, published by Luc’Antonio Giunta (for Johann Paep), Venice (1506). “Flanked by standing angels playing a lute and a generic woodwind (probably recorder or mute cornetto)” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
Allegory of Music (late 15th or early 16th century), bronze relief, 11.5 × 7.1 cm, Italian (probably Venetian). Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1957.14.449. Ref. Cleaver & Eddins (1966: 273); Wilson (1983: 89, fig. 2). ?Vulcan (whose cloak is caught by the wind) fashions musical instruments from metal, wood and tortoiseshell. In his left hand he holds a part-made horn, n his right the bough of a tree from which hangs a tortoiseshell and a number of musical instruments including cymbals, lyre, fiddle, a marine trumpet with a carved zoomorphic head, panpipes, and two crossed wind instruments. Both the latter have flared bells; one has a distinct beak shown in side profile and thus represents a duct flute (probably a recorder); the top of the other is hidden behind the central figure’s right shoulder and may represent a shawm. Bottom left is a small anvil behind which an S-shaped trumpet is heating in the flames of a forge.There may be a secondary allegory of the four elements – fire, earth, water and air to grow the tree which provides wood.
Portrait of a Man Holding a Recorder (16th century), Italian (probably Venetian). Banff: Duff House, Countess Agnes’s Boudoir, West Wall (National Galleries of Scotland), NG 35. A bearded man viewed in side profile holds a cylindrical recorder only the head and upper body of which can be seen. This work has been attributed to a follower of Giorgione but is now thought to have nothing to do with Giorgione. But it is identical to Shepherd with a Flute (ca 1509-1510), by Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo (ca 1480–1548) at Bowood House, Wiltshire.
Typus Musice, from Margarita Philosophica (16th century), miniature, Italian. Location unknown. Ref. Zaniol (2003, col.) A female personification of Music holds a manuscript surrounded by musicians singing and playing organ, harp, lute, and a flared-bell pipe, probably a recorder. An old bearded man holds a pair of scales. Gregorius Reich’s Margarita Philosophica [Pearl of Knowledge] dates from 1503 and was first published in Germany. Zaniol gives the date as 15th-century, surely in error. This coloured version is clearly based on the woodcut by the Master known as ‘DS’ which appeared with the 1503 edition, though by no means identical to it.
Landscape with Apollo and Marsyas (mid-16th century), pen and brown ink drawing on paper, 17.9 × 23.7 cm, Italian. Rennes: Musée des Beaux-Arts. Ref. Joconde Website (1999). Depicts the flaying of Marsyas beneath a tree by Apollo against the backdrop of a landscape comprising the overgrown ruins of an ancient temple with a monumental obelisk; also Marsyas’ duct flute (flageolet or recorder) and Apollo’s lyre. An inscription attributes this to Titian. Not seen.
The Contest of Apollo and Marsyas (mid-16th century), bronze plaquette, central Italian. Washington D.C.: National Gallery of Art, Samuel H. Kress Collection. Ref. Wyss (1996: 145, fig. 111). Apollo leans on his lyre as Marsyas plays his pipe. The latter is cylindrical and featureless, but may represent a recorder.
From Martianus Capella’s De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii: Musica, Anonymous (16th century). Rome: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticano. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999); Wikipedia: Martianus Capella (2015, col.) Music sits on a curved bench playing a flared-bell recorder of alto size. At her feet are an organetto, a small lute, harp, rebec and a conical pipe which may represent a second recorder since it has paired holes for the lowermost finger; however, the head is occluded by the lute and Music’s foot. This bears considerable resemblance to drawings of Musica after Baldini (1465, 1470), and Schlick (1512). Martianus Capella (410–439) a Carthaginian proconsul, was much celebrated in the Middle Ages. He was the author of De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii in nine books of prose and verse. The first two deal with the wooing (in a wide, metaphorical sense) of Philology by Mercury, and the last seven are an allegorical encyclopaedia of the Seven Liberal Arts.
Unitled figurine (late 16th century), Italian. Faenza: Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche, Inv. 9996. Ref. Salmen (1976: 127, fig. 80, b&w). Musicians play around a table two lutes, harp and a wide ambiguous wind instrument (possibly a lysard (tenor cornetto), although there is a hint of a windway/labium). On the table lie music books and a conspicuously flared-bell recorder with a white beak. Beneath the table lies what looks like a poor representation of a cat. The pedestal comprises a small drawer and an inkwell.
Music (late 16th century), fresco, Italian. Murano, Venice: Casino, ceiling cupola. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). This was the first Venetian building specifically erected for relaxation and pleasure on the ‘garden island’ of Murano, facing across the water towards Venice, and where gambling took place. It became dilapidated and was used as a warehouse by the neighbouring glass-works. Three connected domed rooms have fine ceiling frescoes in the style of Veronese, dedicated to Music, Poetry and Fortuna. The Music fresco (in the process of restoration) includes the seven Muses, each with an instrument. Euterpe (Muse of music and lyric poetry) plays what appears to be a recorder, right hand lowermost, all fingers on. On a painted gallery beneath, three human musicians play larger instruments.
High altar (16th century), frieze, Italian. Vicenza: Chiesa di S. Rocco. Ref. Brugnolo Meloncelli & Cevese (1993: 38, pl., b&w.); Paolo Biordi (2002, pers. comm.) A trophy of instruments comprising a syrinx (with 7 pipes), a flared-bell recorder crossed with a bow, and a lute crossed with a viola da braccio. The characteristic beak and window/labium of the recorder are clearly visible and there seems to be an attempt to show the lowermost finger hole slightly offset to the other 3 that are visible. The opening of the bell flare is wide and the walls of the bell itself thin, suggesting the possibility that this represents a Ganassi-style recorder.
Madonna Enthroned (ca 1510), painting, Anonymous (Emilian School). Milan: Poldi-Pezzoli Museum. Ref. Charles Rowland-Jones (2003, pers. comm.) A boy angel kneels at the right of the predela playing double pipes, the two pipes at right angles, both of which appear to be recorders, having at least six finger holes each. On the left side of the predela a second boy angel plays a rebec.
[Still-life] (? 16th century), Italian. Ref. Paolo Biordi (pers. comm., 2000). Three lutes, a deep-bodied ?guitar, a violin, a viol and a flared-bell soprano duct flute (probably a recorder, though only six finger holes are evident) lie scattered about a bench with a globe, some books and an open music book.
Portrait of ?Oste da Regio (16th century), painting, Italian. Brescia: Galerie Fenaroli-Avogadro. Refs. Torre (1994); Morelli (2001). A bearded man, depicted half-length, is holding in his right hand the bassus part from Occhi leggiadri, amorosetti, et gravi from the first book of four-part madrigals by Hoste da Reggio (Venice, 1547), and in his right hand a recorder with a slightly flared bell. Torre suggests that the man is the composer of the madrigal himself. There is a similar portrait including a book of madrigals and a recorder by the Veronese painter Domenico Riccio, “Il Brusasorzi,” in the Museo di Castelvecchio, Verona. Not seen.
Music-making Company (late 16th century), oil on canvas, 145.3 × 333.5 cm, 16th century. Budapest: Museum der Schönen Kunste, Inv. 71.2. Ref. Tátrai (1991: 55); Website, The Dulcian: Dulcian Iconography (2007, col.) Musicians sing and play organ, rackett, keyed sordun, shawm, cornetto and an outsized lysard. The organ is in the shape of a table on top of which lie musical scores and a flared-bell recorder of soprano/alto size.
St Cecilia (late 16th – early 17th century), crayon on paper, 23.6 × 19.5 cm, Italian. Düsseldorf: Kunstmuseum, Inv. FP 3940. Ref. Munich RIdIM (2009, DÜk – 548). Half-figure of St Cecilia, her eyes turned upwards, a sheet of music in her left hand, beating time with her right hand. Behind her are some organ-pipes; to the right, a violin or viol and a recorder or flute only the foot of which is visible. Not seen.
St Cecilia (1580–1600), oil on canvas, Italian. Private collection: Dr Carlo M. Croce. Ref. Website: RIdIM database, Record ID 4767. St. Cecilia is shown holding a palm branch, her hand resting on an organ, with a lute, recorder and lira da braccio on the floor to her right. Also present are a small dog and a vase of flowers. On the organ is the score of a Laudate Dominum. The recorder is poorly depicted: the window/labium is and the first six finger holes can be seen, but there is a very largely gap before the paired holes for the little finger of the lowermost hand appear and then they are inline. It seems the artist was not familiar with the recorder.

Netherlandish

Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels in a Garden, (1500, or a little later), Anonymous (Netherlandish). San Lorenzo: El Escorial. Ref. Friedländer (1967-, 7: 72, cat. 83); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). Formerly thought to be by the Master of the van Morrison Triptych (15th century, Flemish). Another version of the Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels in a Garden in the National Gallery (10835), London, with several more figures (Friedländer, loc. cit.) “Angels play a rebec and a lute. Another approaches, holding a recorder” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
Triptych, centre panel: Nativity with Adoration of the Shepherds (ca 1500), (? oak) wood carving, South Netherlandish. Delft: Stedelijk Museum Het Prinsenhof, PDS 164. On the left a young shepherd carries in his left hand a broad- brimmed hat and a flared-bell recorder of wave profile!
The Ascension of Christ (ca 1500), carved bas-relief panels, North Netherlandish. Utrecht: Museum Catharijneconvent. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). An angel on the right carries a large cross in his right hand, and in his left hand holds an alto-sized duct flute (possibly a recorder) to his mouth. The beak and slightly conical bell with a ring at the foot are clearly depicted, but nothing else.
The Vision of St Catherine (ca 1520), Netherlandish. Nuremberg: Germanisches Nationalmuseum, GM74. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999, Ngm – 93). St Catherine sits on the right holding a basket of some kind in her hands. Before her sit Mary and the Holy Child enthroned. Angels hover above, and to the right a group play musical instruments including organetto, lute, ? rebec, and a cylindrical duct flute the window/labium of which is clear. Notes (in part) by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 1999).
Hours of the Cross and Prayer Book (use of Rome): Matins: Men and Woman in a Boat, Drinking and Making Music (ca 1500-1525), miniature on vellum, Southern Netherlandish. The Hague: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, MMW, 10 F 14, Fol. 9r: margin. Whilst the steersman downs a quick pint from a large jar, a man in the prow of the boat plays a long, slender, cylindrical pipe accompanied by a woman on lute. Mostly hidden in the covered part of the boat, someone appears to be conducting
Virgin and Child (1520–1530), Netherlandish. Munich: Schloss Schleissheim, Neu Schloss. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999). Mary restrains the Christ Child as he reaches out to one of several winged putti who are entertaining him with their musical instruments. The latter include fiddle, harp. lute, flute, hurdy-gurdy, tabor, and a slender cylindrical duct flute (flageolet or recorder).
[Holy Family] (16th century, second quarter), Netherlandish. Brussels: Galerie Robert Finck (1964). Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999). A most curious picture. The Virgin holds the Christ Child who holds a globus cruciger; an angel offers them some food on a plate, and another angel plays a small rectangular fiddle; Joseph stands hat in hand at the back of the room; the houses of a village are visible through a window. On a bench occupying the foreground lies a single duct flute with eight finger holes in line and an expanded bell decorated with a single turned bead.
Altarpiece: The Passion of St Theodosia (ca 1545), East Netherlandish (or West German). Utrecht: Museum Catharijineconvent. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). One of many panels. A Nativity with shepherds and sheep in the background, left. One shepherd plays bagpipes, another a crudely drawn alto-sized duct flute (possibly a recorder) held right hand lowermost.
Musical Trophy with Recorder and Flute (a. 1548), painted wooden organ shutters, Netherlandish. Oosthuizen: Grote Kerke, organ case. Refs. YouTube: Castello Consort visiting the historical organ of Oosthuizen (2017). This organ has two lower shutters, each with two panels painted with trophies of crossed musical instruments. The lower inside-left and inside-right panels each depict a cylindrical recorder and a flute crossed and tied with a ribbon. The recorders are shown side-on with details of the beak, window and finger-holes clearly depicted, apparently in two or possibly three parts with a bulbous ferrule between the head-joint and body, and a beaded ring before the foot. The bore of the foot appears to be flared. The flutes are each made in one piece with an end cap at the top end, a small embouchure hole clearly depicted, and several vague finger-holes. The outside panels each depict two shawms. The organ is playable and has tone color of great strength and brilliance. It was long considered to be one of the oldest in the Netherlands, built in 1521 and sometimes attributed to Jan van Covelens (1470-1532). But researches by Van Biezen & Van de Linde (1981-1982), Verloop (2001-2002) and the Flentrop company (2002-2003) have revealed that its history is much more complex than was assumed. The first reference to an organist – and thus to an organ – dates from the year 1548, and details of the case, keyboard and other technical details are consistent with that date. However, the ranks within seem to include pipework taken from other older instruments.
The Prodigal Son Squandering his Fortune (early 16th century), ink on paper, 25.4 × 19.8 cm, Netherlands. Cologne: Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Inv. Z 1379. Ref. Munich RIdIM (2009, KNwr – 271). One of a set of 4 illustrations. In a landscape under a tree is a platform where, behind a table, a woman plays on a soprano recorder. The Prodigal Son embraces a woman. A servant is pouring wine. The remaining drawings in this set are in Berlin and Braunschweig. Not seen.
Annunciation to the Shepherds early 16th century), painting, Netherlands. Location unknown. Ref. Website: gallica (2012, b&w). Three shepherds with their sheep and a dog look up in wonder as three angels hover above with scroll. Two of the shepherds are kneeling, one with a bagpipe, the other with his crook. The third shepherd stands, his crook in one hand and in the other a more-or-less well-depicted recorder viewed in side profile. The recorder’s characteristic beak and slightly flared foot are clearly visible.

Polish

Epitaph of Krzysztof Rintfleisch: The Last Judgement (ca 1505), sculpture, Polish. Wroclaw (Breslau): Kosciéol sw. Elzbiety (St Elizabeth’s Church), South wall. Ref. Ringmann (1937: ix); Poplawska (1998); Arnold den Teuling (pers. comm., 2007); Website: Wikimedia Commons (2011, col.) One of two stone epitaphs carved by masons employed to decorate the Wroclaw City Hall. The church was destroyed by a heavy hail in 1529, suffered severe damage in WWII, and was the victim of fire in 1976. There are over 100 tombstones inside the church, making it one of the most valuable monuments of sepulchral art. On the South wall there is a 1505 epitaph with a representation of the Last Judgment dedicated to the family of Krzysztof Rintfleisch (Christoph Rintfleisch). On the left and the right side of God, the Father, conducting the Last Judgement, groups of angels stand, sing and play musical instruments, namely an alto-sized recorder, lute, harp and vielle.

Portuguese

?Title page: Repertorio dos Tempos by Valentim Fernandes (Lisbon): Adoration of the Virgin and Child by a King (1518), Portugese. Ref.Manuel II, King of Spain (1929: pl. 116); Paris RIdIM (1999). Watched by a king enthroned, a ?prince kneels in prayer before the Virgin and Child whilst two musicians play lute and a long flared-bell duct flute (probably a recorder), the window/labium of which is clearly visible.
Coronation of the Virgin (early 16th century), oil on oak panel, 269 × 157 cm, Portuguese. Évora: Museum Frei Manuel do Cenáculo, ME 1501. Ref. Postcard: Papelaria Nazareth, Évora, 25, b&w); Walter Bergmann ex Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2003); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-1943 (2023, col.) Angels hover above the Virgin and Christ-Child enthroned who are entertained by Saints and angels singing and playing musical instruments – fiddle, lute, dulcimer, organ, and a slender cylindrical duct flute (probably a recorder). The beak and window/labium of the later are clearly depicted, but the hands seem very low down the instrument. One of 13 paintings from an original polyptych altarpiece of the Cathedral of Évora depicting scenes from the Life of the Virgin , one of the largest altarpieces in the world, and recently restored. Probably the work of an eclectic group of Flemish painters.

Slovak

The Three Graces (1580), bronze, Slovak. Košice: Slovenské technické múzeum. Ref. Website: Ikonographie der Renaissanceflöte (2009, col.) From the cellar of Spic Castle, Zips. The detail shows the three Graces, with putti singing and playing transverse flute and a recorder with a flared foot.

Spanish

Altarpiece, central panel: Virgin and Child (1511), Spanish. Segovia: Iglesia de la Santísima Trinidad. Ref. Charles Rowland-Jones (2001). The Virgin and Child, enthroned, are surrounded by angel musicians singing and playing trumpet, guitar, tromba marina, mandora and a small (soprano) pipe, probably a recorder.
Angel Musician (1567–1572), stone carved ceiling boss, Spanish. Villafranca del Cid: Iglesia de Santa Magdalena. Ref. Website: Iglesia de Santa Magdalena (2005, col.) The ceiling bosses are carved with musical angels playing organetto, viol, lute and a well-depicted recorder. The window/labium is clearly visible, and the foot is flared and turned with a decorative bead. The church has been substantially restored in recent times.
Angel Musician (ca 1570), Spanish. Madrid: Museo Nacional del Prado, Inv. 2686. Ref. Ibañez & Gallego (1972: 88-91, col.) One of six panels depicting angels playing triangle, harp, cymbals, timbrel, fiddle and a large, cylindrical recorder. The recorder is of tenor size, cylindrical or slightly flared.
Stone carving (early 16th century), Spanish. Palencia: Catedral de San Antolín, Portada Episcopal. Ref. Centre for Music Documentation (CMD), Madrid (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). “Carved in the fashionable Plateresque style of the period. A figure on a corbel which supports a larger figure of a man holds what may be a duct flute, but neither window/labium nor finger holes are visible. The player’s lips are slightly pursed and the cheeks relaxed, although the playing end of the instrument does not seem to be beaked. The left hand has two fingers on the instrument and one tucked under. It is cylindrical except for the bottom part, where there is an incision followed by a short, flaring bell end, bringing the circumference to only slightly more than that of the body of the instrument” (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)
Virgin with Angel Musicians (16th century), Spanish. El Burgo de Osma (Soria Province): Catedral de la Asuncion, Museo. Ref. Centre for Music Documentation (CMD), Madrid (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). “Angel musicians play portative organ, viola, double flute, lute, harp and flauta de pico (no more information or photograph in CMD records)” Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.)
Musical Angels (15–16th century), carved stone arch, Spanish. Detail. Xàtiva: (Valencia Province): Hospital Mayor de Pobres, doorway facing the Cathedral. Ref. Centre for Music Documentation (CMD), Madrid (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001 & 2003). The doorway (which has had little or no restoration) is decorated with musical angels playing lute, rebec, shawms, percussion, pipe and tabor and two ambiguous pipes. One of the latter, at the top right of the doorway (beside the Virgin and Christ-Child, has suffered an amputation at the right elbow, however his instrument seems to have a window/labium and may have been intended to represent a recorder. The other, to the right of the point of the ogee arch, is playing what is surely an alto recorder, though the little-finger fracture must make things difficult. Notes from Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.)
La Verge de Gràcia (16th century). Barcelona: Museo Diocesà de Barcelona. Ref. Bulletin BLOC 11: front cover (1997, detail, b&w). Shows an angel playing a cylindrical duct flute (flageolet or recorder) with another who plays a lute.
Untitled (16th century), wood carving, Spanish. Valladolid: Colegio de San Gregorio, Museo Nacional de Esultura. Ref. Centre for Music Documentation (CMD), Madrid (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). ‘A bench end wood carving with grotesque figure leaning forward, curving over, and holding a fat pipe of soprano/alto size, clutched in both hands together. The bell end, however, is a very elegant Virdung-type design suggesting that the instrument may have been intended to be a recorder’ (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)
Stone carving (late 16th century), Spanish. Celanova (Galicia): Iglesia del Monasterio de San Salvador, lower Choir (centre of nave). Ref. Centre for Music Documentation (CMD), Madrid (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). “A putto plays a fat soprano recorder; he is seated precariously on a volute – not surprisingly his outstretched left foot has broken off. He plays left hand uppermost with all fingers on, including the right hand little finger in the offset position, with part of the hole showing just beneath his little finger. The instrument seems to be a soprano/alto size with two nicely turned rings rather above the bell end and is cylindrical, with a medium flare starting close to the bell end; the window/labium does not show” (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)
Love playing a Pipe (16th century), sculpture, white marble, Spanish. Avignon: Musée Calvet, Collection Marcel Puech 23659. A seemingly adolescent putto plays an alto-sized seven-holed duct flute with a very wide bore, only slightly conically expanding, and very little bell flare. His upper right hand overs the instrument where finger hole 4 should be, and the left hand is just supporting the bell end. Interestingly, between finger holes 2 and 3 are two lightly moulded decorative rings and three more at the bell end, including one at the lip of the bell. the finger holes are in-line and roughly equally sized and spaced.

Swiss

Grand calendrier et compost des bergers, Geneva (1500): Shepherds of the Annunciation, woodcut, Swiss. Ref. Rasmussen (2002, Bagpipe). “One holds a bagpipe, and there are two recorders on the ground. With a view of Bethlehem and the Star over it in the background” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Rasmussen notes that the woodcut was used in the Paris and Geneva editions from 1491 on.
- Grand calendrier et compost des bergers, (published by Troyes, Nicolas Le Rouge, 1523): Cy parle le bergier et fait ung prologue …, woodcut, Swiss. Ref. Bowles (1977, III/9: Abb. 2). A standing shepherd holds a bagpipe gestures to his companions seated on the ground, two of whom have clearly depicted recorders beside them. The beak, window/labium and finger holes of each instrument is clearly depicted.
- Le grand calendier et compost des bergers (published by Troyes, Nicolas le Rouge, 1529): Cy parle le bergier et fait ung prologue …, woodcut, French. Ref. Rasmussen (2002, Bagpipe). “Their leader holds a bagpipe and there are two recorders on the ground. This woodcut based on one in the publications of Guy Marchant, Paris/Geneva, 1491–1500” (Rasmussen)
- Le grand calendier et compost des bergers (published by Tryoyes, J. Lecoq, 1541): Cy parle le bergier et fait ung prologue …, woodcut, French. Ref. Mortimer (1964, 1: 157, no. 125); Rasmussen (2002, Bagpipe) “Their leader holds a bagpipe and there are two recorders on the ground. This woodcut is based on one in the publications of Guy Marchant, Paris/Geneva, 1491–1500” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.)
[Introductio gschriben uf pfifen]: Discant (ca 1510), Anonymous, Swiss. Basel: Universitätsbibliothek, Ms. F. X. 38. Ref. Ehlich & Fiedler (2003); Möhlmeier & Thouvenot (2002, 1: 7–10). This untitled manuscript booklet is the first known treatise on the recorder. It was probably written out for the 15-year-old Bonifacius Amerbach, a printer’s son who became the friend of Holbein and Erasmus. The brief Introductio Gescriben uf Pfifen includes a picture of a ‘Discant’ (soprano) recorder in G, with fingerings. Although sketchily drawn, the recorder is in one piece with a more-or-less cylindric profile, apart from the flared bell The beak and window-labium, seen in side-view, are clearly depicted and all finger holes and the thumb hole clearly marked and labelled. The Amerbach estate catalogue of 1578 called the book Introductio gschriben uf pfifen.
Two Saints with Apollo and the Muses, design for stained glass window, Anonymous (16th century), Basle School. Munich: Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Inv. 33192. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999, Mgs – 879). A typical merging of Christian and Classical elements!. Said to include a recorder, presumably held by Euterpe, Muse of music and lyric poetry.
Coat of Arms of alliance blazon of Anton Ryff and Margaretha Brunner (1592), intarsia of various woods, 48.9 × 74.5 cm, Swiss. Basel: Historisches Museum, Inv. 1887.160. Ref. Web-site: Ikonographie der Renaissanceflöte (2009, col.); RIdIM database, Record ID 4457 (2021, col.) Inlaid on the inside of the front door of a wardrobe are the coat of arms of the families Ryff and Brunner surrounded by musical instruments, including lute, harp, viol, cornetto, two transverse flutes, syrinx, trumpet, side drum, castanets and a flared-bell recorder. The beak, window/labium and all finger holes of the latter are clearly depicted. There is also a case for five flutes or recorders of different sizes

Provenance unknown

Pamphlet (1501), woodcut. Ref. Kinsky et al. (1930: 97); Peter (1958: 44). “… contains a morning song. It is prefaced by a woodcut showing two boys singing, a recorder player, a lute player and a musician playing a trumpet” (Peter, loc. cit.)
[Sirens] (? 16th century), artist & provenance unknown. Collection René Clemencic. Ref. Clemencic (1968: 7: fig. 2). Depicts the Sirens luring ships ashore. One siren standing in the water plays a flared bell duct flute (the window/labium of which is clearly shown).
[Flutemakers] (? 16th century), woodcut. Ref. Early Music 7 (3): 359, fig., b&w (1979). Two craftsman work at a bench under a tree making flared-bell recorders, one 1-piece, the other 2-piece. The off-centre hole for the lowermost finger is clearly depicted in the latter.

Cite this article as: Nicholas S. Lander. 1996–2024. Recorder Home Page: Anonymous: 16th century. Last accessed 23 November 2024. https://recorderhomepage.net/recorder-iconography/anonymous-16th-century/