Artists–M

Jan Mabuse (original name Jan Gossaert or Jenni Gossart, also called Jan Malbodius)

Flemish painter who was one of the first artists to introduce the style of the Italian Renaissance into the Low Countries, painted portraits and religious and mythological subjects; born County of Hainaut [now in Netherlands] (ca 1478), died Breda, Brabant (ca 1532).

• Malvagna Triptych (c.1513), altarpiece, centre panel (recto): Virgin and Child, oil on panel, 44.5 × 35.0 cm, (centre panel), 45 × 17.5 cm (wings) Jan Mabuse (ca 1478–ca 1532). Palermo: Galleria Regionale della Sicilia Palazzo Abatellis. Ref. Glück (1928: 307); Wescher (1970: 101); Friedländer (1972, 8: 2, pl. 4–5); Thomson (1968: 74 & pl. op. p. 32, b&w); Visual Collection, Fine Arts Library, Harvard University, 371.G698.34[a]); Rasmussen (1999, Lute); Website: Koninklijk Instituut voor het Kunstpatrimonium (2010, b&w); Website: Friedländer 3.0 Database (2016, col.); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-1864 (2023, col.) The Virgin and Child are enthroned in a window surrounded by Gothic tracery of exquisite design. In the background are the buildings and gardens of a palace. In the foreground, three putti sing and others play lute and a cylindrical duct flute (flageolet or recorder), probably a recorder since all fingers of the player’s lowermost (left) hand seem to be covering their holes. There is a single turned bead on the foot-piece. Above the recorder player a boy offers a flower to the Child. A moulding at the bottom of the Virgin’s throne includes fragments of a signature: (J)ENNIN … GOS(SART)
• Altarpiece: Virgin and Child, with Saint Andrew and Donor (1500–1584 ), oil on panel, 38 × 30 cm (centre panel), 38 × 9 cm (wings), after Jan Mabuse (ca 1478–ca 1532). Private collection; Catalina von Pannwitz. Ref.   Friedländer: (1972, 8: No. 002c); Website: Friedländer 3.0 Database (2016, b&w); Website: Restitutiecommissie (2016, Recommendation 1.80). This has been attributed to Adriaen Isenbrant (510–1551) and possibly Peter Pourbus (1543–1584). The centre panel is more or less identical to that of the Malvagna Triptych (see above). St Andrew can be recognized by his book and X-shaped cross. 
• Virgin and Child, oil on panel, 90.8 × 62.8 cm, after Jan Mabuse (ca 1478–ca 1532). Location unknown: formerly in the collection of Freiherr von Hövel, Gnadenthal; sold by Sotheby’s Parke Bernet, 16 June 1977, Lot 151; auctioned by Bonham’s New York, “Old Master Paintings”, Sale 13698, 27 January 2006, Lot 215. Ref. Rasmussen (1999, Lute); Website: Bonhams (2006, col.) A copy of the centre-panel of Mabuse’s Malvagna Triptych which has the same group at the left (a right-handed lute player and three singers). It also has the recorder player at the right who seems to have got the fingers and thumb of his uppermost (left) hand in quite a muddle!
• Virgin and Child, oil on panel, 33 × 23 cm, after Jan Mabuse (ca 1478–ca 1532). Basel: Kunstmuseum. Formerly in the collection of Freiherr von Hövel, Gnadenthal; sold by Sotheby’s Parke Bernet, New York, 19-20, January 1940, Lot 217. Ref. Friedländer (1972, 8: no 002a); Website: Friedländer 3.0 Database (2016, col) Similar to the centre-panel of the Malvigna Tryptich, but without the three singers or the boy handing a flower to the Child.
• Virgin and Child, oil on panel, 34 × 24 cm, after Jan Mabuse (ca 1478–ca 1532). London: Colnaghi Ref. Friedländer (1972, 8: no. 002b); Website: Friedländer 3.0 Database (2016, col) A copy of the centre-panel of Mabuse’s Malvagna Triptych which has the same group at the left (a right-handed lute player and three singers). It also has the recorder player at the right who seems to have got the fingers and thumb of his uppermost (left) hand in quite a muddle!
• Virgin and Child, oil on panel, 34 × 24 cm, after Jan Mabuse (ca 1478–ca 1532). Location unknown, formerly Collection of Baron E. de Rothschild. Ref. Friedländer (1972, 8: no 002d); Website: Friedländer 3.0 Database (2016, col) A copy of the centre-panel of Mabuse’s Malvagna Triptych which has the same group at the left (a right-handed lute player and three singers). It also has the recorder player at the right who seems to have got the fingers and thumb of his uppermost (left) hand in quite a muddle!
• Virgin and Child, copy by Adriaen Isenbrandt (op. 1510–m. 1551) after Jan Mabuse (ca 1478–ca 1532). Location unknown. Ref. Friedländer (1976, 11: #134, pl. 112); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). A copy of the centre-panel of Mabuse’s Malvagna Triptych See above. Not seen.
• Virgin and Child, after Jan Mabuse (ca 1478–ca 1532). Location unknown; sold, New York (1988). Ref. Burlington Magazine 130 (1988, p. xvii, col); Rasmussen (1999, Lute); Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2002- col.); Himjans (2005: 219). A copy of the centre-panel of Mabuse’s Malvagna Triptych which has the same group at the left (a lute player and three singers), but the lute player is left handed! It also has the recorder player at the right. See above.
• Virgin and Child, after Jan Mabuse (ca 1478–ca 1532). Location unknown: formerly in the collection of Lord Northbrook. Ref. Friedländer (1972, 8: pl. 7/2b); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). A copy of the centre-panel of Mabuse’s Malvagna Triptych See above. Not seen.
• Tryptich, central panel: The Adoration of the Kings (?1506), oil on wood, 177.2 × 161.3 cm, circle of Jan Mabuse (ca 1478–ca 1532). Detail. London: National Gallery, Inv. L878. Ref. National Gallery, London: Postcard 811861, col In the central panel, the kings pay homage to Mary and the infant Jesus surrounded by their retinue whilst angels hover above. In the foreground, a dog worries a bone, watched by a second hound. An alto recorder is held by one of the ?shepherds visible between the brickwork immediately behind the kneeling king. The instrument has a longish beak and a very clearly depicted window/labium. No finger holes are visible because of the shadow on the instrument and its being clutched in the man’s right hand, but the bell end and bore opening are very clear, the latter seemingly expanding at its lower end. Notes after Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 1999). On the left panel, the Virgin and Child are shown in glory; on the right, the Virgin and apostles are shown at Pentecost with the Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove.
• Triptych, central panel: The Holy Family with St Catherine and St Barbara (ca 1505), oil on panel, 50 × 31 cm, Jan Mabuse (ca 1478–ca 1532). Detail. Lisbon: Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Inv. 1479. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999); Liesbeth van der Sluijs (pers. comm., 2001); Koninklijk Instituut voor het Kunstpatrimonium (2010, col & b&w). In the central panel, two winged angels to the right of the Holy Family play a small lute and a long, cylindrical flared-bell recorder. The characteristic beak and window/labium of the latter are clearly depicted, and the players’ hands are perfectly positioned for a recorder. To the left of this panel two winged angels play rebec and an obscure instrument. Some authorities have argued for a slightly later date of ca 1510–1515. The left and right panels, by the Master of Frankfurt (op. 1460–1520), depict St Catherine of Alexandria and St Barbara.

Cyrillo Volkmar [Cirillo Wolkmar] Machado

Portuguese painter, as well as an art and architectural historian of the late eighteenth century; his paintings included allegorical and mythological subjects; born and died Lisbon (1748–1823).

• Mercury About to Kill the Sleeping Argus with his Sword, pen & ink drawing from an original print, Cyrillo Volkmar Machado (1748–1823). Exhibited Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (2000). Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm. 2000). After an original print in the collection of the Museu de Arte Antigua, Lisbon. Probably intended as a tile (azuelo) design. A possible recorder lies on the ground. It has a clearly beaked mouth-piece and window/labium but only five finger holes, in line and equally spaced, are shown (no part of the instrument is occluded). The bell end has no flare. It could be a flageolet or shepherd’s pipe, slightly carelessly depicted. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000).

Jacopo di Zanobi Macchiavelli [Macchiavello]

Italian painter and illuminator who specialised in religious pieces; he was a pupil of Benozzo Gozzoli (1420–1497); born Florence (1418), died Pisa (1479).

• Coronation of the Virgin (1473), oil on wood, ca 170 × 170 cm, Jacopo di Zanobi Macchiavelli (1418–1479). Dijon: Musée des Beaux-Arts, Cat. 81 H.164 L164. Ref. Mirimonde et al. (1965: pl. IV); Winternitz (1979: 142–144, pl. 68, b&w; 1982: 61 & pl. 49); Wiese (1988: fig. 10, b&w); Archiv Moeck; Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001, 2003 & 2005; 2007: 41 & fig. 2, col); Website: gallica (2012, b&w); Website: Lessing Photo Archive (2013, col) Watched by four saints, the Virgin is crowned by Jesus to an accompaniment provided by three groups of angel musicians, two haut and one bas. The top left-hand group comprises bagpipe, pipe and tabor, triangle and two folded trumpets. The right group, two folded trumpets, tambourine (with jingle rings) and cymbals. The bottom central group of four play fiddle, lute, soprano recorder, and one sings although his lips are closed. The recorder is cylindrical, with the mouth-piece, including the whole rather narrow window-labium area, in a pale or white material. The lips are relaxed, likewise the cheeks. the wrists are low, suggesting the existence of a thumb hole, and all four fingers of the upper (right) hand are down, with the second lifted – a fingering peculiar to the recorder. The artist has shown the lower two holes a little too far up from the instrument’s flared bell end, where the wide bore is clearly seen. The instrument is turned slightly towards the viewer as if to show the whole of the window/labium area, and clarify the fingering. Annotated OPUS CENOBI DEMACHIAVELLIS MCCCCLXXIII. Originally from Santa Croce in Fossabanda, Pisa.

James McArdell

Irish engraver; his output includes some 200 mezzotints after other artists, nearly all of which are portraits; he also produced prints after Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens, William Hogarth and others; born Dublin (? 1728), died London (1765). See also Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668).

• Benjamin Hallet (1748), mezzotint, 43.0 × 30.5 cm, by James McArdell (1728/9–1765) after a painting by Thomas Jenkins (ca 1722–1798). The Hague: Gemeentesmuseum, Music Department; London: British Museum No. 1871,1209.2691. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001); Website: Historische Portraits bedeutender Persönlichkeiten (2009). The whereabouts of the painting on which this engraving is based is unknown. It purports to illustrate the five-year-old Benjamin Hallet (wearing a dress with a bodice and hair curled, as was fashionable for both boys and girls at that time) playing the cello. Beneath it says:
  

  A Child not yet five Years Old, who under the tuition of Oswald, Performed on the Flute at Drury Lane Theatre An^o 1748 for 50 Nights with extraordinary Skill & Applause, and in the following Year was able to play his part in any Concert on the Violincello.

  “The child plays at a desk on which there is a music-book and a wind instrument. It could be an alto recorder with a long mouthpiece, and ivory rings at the head/body joint, and half-way down the body. The instrument is seen mainly from beneath so no window/labium is shown, but three or four finger holes can just be made out. In the under part of the head end are what seem to be two holes close together. This could be transverse flute” (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.) Actually, the head seems to be rotated backwards and the characteristic beak of a recorder is clearly visible, so this is a recorder – although the foot seems rather elongated.

Adam McCauley

Contemporary USA illustrator, drummer and surfer who lives in Oakland, California. Adam’s Home Page.

• Cover: American Recorder 41 (2): Snake Charmer (2000), Adam McCauley (contemporary). A leptomorphic snake-charmer, surrounded by smiling reptiles, plays his neo-baroque recorder.

Buddy McCue

Contemporary USAmerican artist, ukulele player and composer; born Chatanooga (1965).

• Still-life with Musical Instruments (before December 2011), oil painting, Buddy McCue (1965–). On a table lie four books (one open), a goat-skin drum, a violin and a neo-baroque alto recorder with ivory (or plastic) mounts.

Donald McKinlay

British sculptor, painter, draughtsman and printmaker living and working in Cloughfold, Lancashire; political events around the world and the reporting of them in the popular press have provided him with source material for a number of years; most of his work relates to human figure and everyday situations; born Bootle (1929).

• Seated Female Playing the Recorder (1979), watercolour and pencil, 76 × 56 cm, Donald McKinlay (1929–). Nantwich: Peter Wilson Fine Art Auctioneers, February Fine Art, 16 February 2011, Lot 521. A naked woman sitting in a chair plays an alto neo-baroque recorder.

MacRegol

Irish scribe, Bishop and Abbot of Birr; is one of the few artists of the Early Christian Period whose name we know because he signed his book at the end:

“Macregol illuminated these gospels. Whoever reads and understands this narration, pray for Macreguil the scribe.”

His illuminated manuscript copy of the Four Gospels is now in the, Bodleian Library in Oxford, one of the greatest treasures there. It was only in 1814 that Fr. Charles O’Conor of the O’Conor Don family saw the connection between the Macregol of this book and the entries in the Irish Annals about the year 821:

“Macriagoil Ua Magleni, Scribe, Abbot, Bishop of Birr, died.”

Subsequently, the manuscript got another name, The Book of Birr, in addition to Macregol’s Gospels, and it is also called The Rushworth Gospels after the man who presented it to the Bodleian library in the seventeenth century. Macregol was illuminating his gospels at about the same time as the anonymous scribes of the Book of Kells. His script is similar to their scripts, one of which is featured on the back of the Irish five pound note but his illumination is not as elaborate. The cover and some pages are missing but the book is otherwise in good condition.

• Decoration, from the Rushworth Gospels (2nd half of the 8th century), MacRegol (m. 822). Oxford: Bodleian Library, MS. Auct. D.2.19. Ref. Westwood & Zaczek (1996: 114–115, pl. 44, col); Buckley (1991: 182, fig. 47). A bearded man with an elaborate hat plays a small pipe, possibly a duct flute; his thumb is held up in the air.

Macrino d’Alba [Gian Giacomo de Alladio or Fava; il ‘Macrino’]

Italian artist; his work is characterised by its rich interwoven colours, firm design and vibrant chiaroscuro; painted religious subjects; born Alba (ca 1465–1470), died ca 1528.

• Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels (1498), tempera on panel, 233 × 390 cm, Macrino d’Alba (ca 1465/70–ca 1528). Turin: Galleria Sabauda, Inv. 246. Ref. Toesca (1911: 50); Viale (1939: pl. 88); d’Ancona & Gengaro (1953: 320 – fig.); Piana (1962: pl. IX, col); Gabrielli (1971: fig. 204, pl. 89); Humfrey & Kemp (1990: 139); Visual Collection, Fine Arts Library, Harvard University, 372.M259.34[b]; Rasmussen (1999, Lute). “Mannerist angels play rebec and lute. The Virgin’s throne levitates. The angels are in what would be the conventional position below the throne, if it were there. There are also a couple of musical putti, one holding a recorder (?), the other blowing a crumhorn” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.)  The Saints are John the Baptist, James, Jerome and Peter.
• Translation of Saint Demeure (1490), wood, 154 × 146 cm, Macrino d’Alba (ca 1465/70–ca 1528). Location unknown: sold Hôtel Rameau, Versailles, 1 February 1970. Ref. Hôtel Rameau, Sale Catalogue No. 59 (1 February 1970), Paris RIdIM (2000). The Virgin and Child enthroned levitate above a church accompanied by angel putti some of whom play musical instruments including a lute and a pipe (possibly a recorder). Two figures stand either side, presumably the Saint before and after beatification since that on the right has a halo and the other lacks one.

Paul Madeline

French painter who lived and worked in Paris at a time when both the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist movements were dominating the French scene; he is known chiefly for his landscapes which depicted the French countryside in sumptuous colour and in loose brushstrokes; born 1863, died Paris (1920).

• Recorder Player, oil painting, 38.1 × 17.8 cm, Paul Madeline (1863–1920). Brussels: Horta, 8 December 1997, Lot 170 . Ref. Website: Artfact (2004). Not seen.

[Maria] Theresia Mages

Daughter of Bavarian artist Joseph [Josef] Mages [Magges] (1728–1769). Joseph Mages was an historical artist and, it appears, a recorder player; he was born and died in Augsburg (1728–1769).

• Joseph Mages, Historien Maler … (1770), etching, by Georg Christoph Kilian (1709–1781) after Theresia Mages (dates unknown). Location: Augsburg: Städtische Kunstsammlungen & Museen Augsburg, Inv. G 1888. Ref. The New York Public Library, Digital Collections, Image ID 1270254 (2023-col.); Archiv Moeck. This portrait by Mages’ daughter, Theresia (dates unknown), shows her father seated at a table playing a perfectly depicted alto-sized baroque recorder. One of two different versions.
• Joseph Mages, Historical artist … (1770), etching , 15.6 × 13.1 cm, etching by Georg Christoph Kilian (1709–1781) after [Maria] Theresia Mages (1771–1772). Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek, MP 14834 Capsule 260 (2023-b&w). This portrait by Mages’ daughter, Theresia, shows her father seated at a table playing a perfectly depicted alto-sized baroque recorder. One of two different versions.

Madonna Master

Early fourteenth-century English illuminator, one of two artists who contributed miniatures to the ‘De Lisle Psalter’, a courtly book for which no expense was spared and which in its refined elegance is typical of the Decorated Style under King Edward II in Westminster, one of the finest and most perfect embodiments of Gothic art. This artist has been linked with Canterbury because of a set of trial drawings he appears to have executed which survive in a book owned by St Augustine’s Canterbury in the 14th century. It is also certainly the case that the artist of the annunciation panels on the rear of the sedilia at Westminster Abbey (usually dated ca 1307) are, as Lucy Freeman Sandler (1999) first suggested, the work of the Madonna Master working on a much larger scale.

• Psalter of Robert de Lisle: Scenes from the Childhood of Christ: Annunciation to the Shepherds (ca 1310), attributed to the Madonna Master (early 14th century). London: British Library, Arundel 83 II, f. 124r. Ref. Freeman Sandler (1999); British Library: Images Online (2005). The Psalter of Robert de Lisle is a great monument of the European Gothic style and among the finest manuscripts displayed in the British Library’s permanent exhibition at the Sir John Ritblat Gallery. Six scenes from the childhood of Christ depict Nativity, Annunciation to the Shepherds, Circumcision, Adoration of the Magi, Presentation of Christ in the Temple with Joseph carrying the offering of turtle doves, and Flight into Egypt. In the latter, an idol topples from a pagan altar as Christ passes. The Annunciation to the Shepherds depicts Gabriel holding a banner bearing the words “Gloria in Excelis Deo”, above three shepherds with their sheep. Two of the shepherds gesture upwards. One plays a slender cylindrical pipe with the hint of a window/labium and thus probably a duct flute.

Mariano Salvador de Maella

Spanish painter and engraver who became painter of the chamber to the king and director general of the Academia Real de Bellas Artes de San Fernando; born Valencia (1739), died Madrid (1819).

• Ceiling fresco, attributed to Mariano de Maella (1739–1819). Madrid: Palacio Real, Royal Library, now the musical instrument museum (in the room next to the Stradivarius Room). Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). “Three women musicians, one a singer with music on a table nearby, another holds what seems to be a small recorder in her right hand. The beak and window/labium are clear, but there is no more detailing” (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)

Girolamo di Francesco Magagni [ditto Giomo del Sodoma or Girolamo da Siena]

Italian painter; born and died Siena (1507–1562).

• Glory of Angels (1550), Girolamo di Francesco Magagni (1507–1562). Detail. Siena: Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. Ref. Bolaffi (1972-1976: pl. 131, b&w); Paolo Biordi (2002, pers. comm.) On each side of a central angel seated on a cloud reading from a banner, two angel musicians sing and play long cylindrical tenor-sized recorders. The one on the right is particularly well depicted and the beak, window/labium, finger holes and slightly flared bell are clearly visible.

Domenico-Fedeli Maggiotto [or Majotto]

Italian painter whose early works adhere to the expressive formulae of his teacher, Piazzetta, and are concentrated on genre subjects characterised by a plasticity of form and a strong preference for chiaroscuro effects; his later paintings display a tendency towards impersonal eclecticism; born and died Venice (1712–1794); father of the painter Francesco Maggiotto (1738–1805).

• Flageolet Player, 57.5 × 45.5 cm, Domenico-Fedeli Maggiotto (1712–1794), Private Collection. Ref. ? Sale Catalogue; Paris RIdIM (2000). A young, rather petulant looking boy holds in his right hand a small duct flute (probably a flageolet, as the title suggests) with a long beak and a turned and flared bell. Only two finger holes are visible.
• Boy with a Recorder, oil on canvas, 67.0 × 49.5 cm, Domenico-Fedeli Maggiotto (1712–1794).  Milan: Antic Swiss. The young man is shown turned three-quarters, with a small duct flute (probably a recorder) in his right hand, while with the other he lightly touches the musical score placed in front of him. His intense and determined gaze is turned to the spectator, as if this had unexpectedly interrupted his exercise.
• Boy with a Recorder (ca 1740), oil on canvas, 72 × 57 cm, Domenico-Fedeli Maggiotto (1712–1794). Venice: Ca’ Rezzonico, Museo del Settecento Veneziano. Ref. Ruggeri et al. (1983: 157, item. 63). A young boy with a tassel over his left shoulder holds a small turned baroque recorder. Modeled on an original by Piazzetta.
• Mandolin Player and Flute Player, oil on canvas, Domenico-Fedeli Maggiotto (1712–1794). Location unknown: Auctioned by Finarte, 9 December 1999 (sold). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2002, b&w). A young boy holds a soprano, flared-bell recorder over his right shoulder. The beak, window/labium and four finger holes are visible (the others are hidden underneath his hand, the lowermost of which is slightly offset to the player’s left). Modelled on an original by Piazzetta. Offered for sale with a pendant entitled Mandolin Player in which a buxom lass plays a mandolin.
• Boy with a Flute, oil on canvas, 70 × 50 cm, Domenico-Fideli Maggiotto (1712–1794). Vienna: Dorotheum, 12 December 2011, Lot 158; formerly Finarte, 24 November 1999 (unsold); Dorotheum, Vienna, 21 March 2002. Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2002, col.); Dorotheum, auction catalogue (2002, col.) A young boy holds a soprano, flared-bell recorder over his right shoulder. The beak, window/labium and four finger holes are visible (the others are hidden underneath his hand, the lowermost of which is slightly offset to the player’s left). Modeled on an original by Piazzetta.
• Boy with a Recorder (ca 1740), oil on canvas, 59.7 × 45.7 cm, Domenico-Fedeli Maggiotto (1712–1794). New York: Sotheby’s, 3 October 1996, Lot 1003. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001); Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2002, col.); Website: Artfact (2003). A young boy holds a soprano, flared-bell recorder over his right shoulder. The beak, window/labium and five finger holes are visible (the others are hidden underneath his hand, the lowermost of which is slightly offset to the player’s left). Auctioned with another work by the same artist (a pendant) entitled Girl with a Tambourine.
• A Shepherdess with a Gourd and a Peasant Boy Playing a Pipe, oil on canvas, Domenico-Fedeli Maggiotto (1712–1794). Location unknown. Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2002, col.) A young woman leans on her elbow holding a gourd and a stave in the crook of her left arm. Beside and slightly behind her, a younger boy plays a pipe the details of which are obscure, but his fingers are well disposed for recorder playing an the little finger of his lowermost (left) hand is outstretched to cover its hole. Reminiscent of Piazzetta’s style.
• Shepherd Lad with a Flute, oil on canvas, 71 × 53 cm, Domenico-Fedeli Maggiotto (1712–1794) OR Giuseppe Angeli (1710–1798). Stockholm: Universitet, No. 64. Ref. RIdIM Stockholm (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). A shepherd leans on his left elbow holding an alto late-baroque recorder in his right hand cradled in the crook of his left elbow. The lower end of the recorder is out of frame.
• Loving Couple, 83 × 59 cm, Domenico-Fedeli Maggiotto (1712–1794). Location unknown: offered for sale by Siegfried Kuhnke – Gallerie Hofmarkmühle, Pähl am Ammersee, 1994. Ref. Weltkunst 64: 22, col. (1994); Constance Scholten (pers. comm., 2005). A young man holding a rather thick one-piece baroque-style recorder with a widely flared bell leans towards his buxom female companion.
• A Young Man Holding a Flute, with a Young Woman Beyond, oil on canvas, 54.5. × 43.0 cm, Domenico-Fedeli Maggiotto (1712–1794). Location unknown: Sotheby’s (New York), Sale N08282, “Important Old Master Paintings and European Works of Art”, Lot 196, 26 January 2007 (sold). Ref. Sale Catalogue (2007, col.) A young man grips a renaissance-style recorder fiercely in one hand gazing intently at a young woman at his shoulder whose look is equally intense.
• The Concert, engraving, tondo, 22 × 19 cm, Domenico-Fedeli Maggiotto (1712–1794). Venice: Museo Correr. Three youths sing and play a colascione (long-necked lute), and a slender, cylindrical duct flute, possibly a recorder, the beak of which is clearly depicted.
• [Dancers] (1770-1800), etching, 33.5 × 42.8 cm, by Francesco del Pedro (1749–1806) after Domenico-Fedeli Maggiotto (1712–1794). London: British Museum, Inv. 1871,0812.3859. Ref. Website, British Museum (2012, b&w). Printed by Nicolo Cavalli (1730–1822). Outside a rural inn a young couple dance to a recorder played by a young man. A woman with a tambourine sits on the ground at right with a companion. A man with a jug of wine sits at a trestle table at the left. The recorder is of alto-size, in one piece, the window/labium clearly depicted, the bell flared, and the player’s hands and fingers are perfectly disposed for recorder playing. Lettered with lines taken from Horace, Odes 2.16:
  

  Laetus in praesens animus
  quod ultra est: oderit
  curare et amara lento temperet risu.
  Nihil est ab omni parte beatum.

  A soul happy for the present
  disdains to be concerned about what is beyond
  and tempers bitterness with a slow smile.
  Nothing is blessed forever.

Alessandro Magnasco [Il Lissandrino]

Italian artist of the Genoese school; painted rococo style religious subjects, fantastic, often phantasmagoric genre scenes and landscapes, architectural ruins, and depictions of torture of prisoners and of other low-points of humanity; born and died Genoa (1667–1749); son of artist Stefano Magnasco (1635–1681).

• The Concert, Alessandro Magnasco (1667–1749). Bergamo: Private Collection. Ref. Abbiati (1939, b&w); Angelo Zaniol (pers. comm., 2003). On a terrace, musicians play a torban (a long-necked lute with a series of unfretted strings above the trebles), a rectangular harpsichord and a viol. The harpsichordist also sings, as does a child beside him. A figure with a floral crown standing behind the torban player mimics him. Another person stands behind the harpsichord, drumming his fingers on the lid on which a bird is perched. On the floor in the middle of the picture a small child bangs a tambourine. A cat runs towards a slender, conical pipe (possibly a recorder) which lies on the floor beside the child.
• Gypsy Wedding Banquet (1730–1735), oil on canvas, 33.9 × 46.5 cm, Alessandro Magnasco (1667–1749). Paris: Louvre, Inv. RF 2619. Ref. Wikimedia Commons (2014, col) Surrounded by their tents, a band of gypsies relax around an enormous banquet table, the bride at one end, the groom at the other.  In the centre, a man tunes a long-necked lute; to the left, another plays a harp; to the right, a young boy sitting astride a bench plays a small pipe, possibly a duct flute. There is a pendant to this at at the Gemälde Galerie, Berlin, entitled Gypsy Wedding Procession.

Carlo Magnone (17th century), Italian

• Lute Player (1642), Carlo Magnone (17th century). Rome: Palazzo Barberini. Ref. Thomson & Rowland-Jones (1995: 42, pl. 15a, inset 2, b&w); Greetings Card: Closerie #5064 (1996, col); CD Cover: Sonate per Flauto e Basso Continuo, Poema Harmonico, Lindoro MPC-0702, Sevilla (1998, detail, col) A variant copy of the original by Caravaggio. A young woman plays a lute, her music books on a table in front of her with a flared-bell recorder (with paired holes for the lowermost finger), violin, and miniature spinet. A similar painting sold at auction by Sotheby’s in New York in 2001 as the work of Magnone is now thought to be by Caravaggio himself. There is no recorder and there is a vase of flowers on the table.

Gian-Francesco de Maineri

Italian painter active in the regions of Ferrare and Parma; known for sophisticated religious pieces; born ca 1460, died 1505.

• The Virgin and Child Enthroned Between a Soldier Saint and St John the Baptist, oil and egg tempera on wood, 247 × 163.8 cm, Gian-Francesco de Maineri (ca 1460–1505) & Lorenzo Costa (ca 1459/60–1535). London: National Gallery NG1119. Ref. Rowland-Jones (1999d: 124, fig. 1, b&w). This work was painted for the high altar of the Oratory of the Conception, Ferrara (attached to the church of S. Francesco) and was probably commissioned by Carlo and Camillo Strozzi. At the base of the Virgin’s throne near the bottom of this large altarpiece is a predella with five scenes from the life of Christ which were painted by Maineri who began the picture – it was finished by Lorenzo Costa. Three of the five scenes are partly obscured by the legs of the two standing saints. The scene on the far right depicts the Nativity in which one of the shepherds appears to be playing a pipe. At this size, features of the instrument are not apparent; indeed it is just possible that we are looking at the end of a shepherd’s staff, but the position of the chin makes this unlikely. If it is an instrument, it is likely to be a duct flute.

Fray Juan Bautista Maíno [Mayno] de Castro

Spanish Dominican priest and painter; although he painted religious works, he is most highly regarded for his portraits, perhaps the most impressive of which is the formidably characterized Dominican Monk (Ashmolean, Oxford, c.1635); born Pastrana (1578), died Madrid (1649).

• Adoration of the Shepherds (1612), oil on canvas, 315 cm × 174 cm, Fray Juan Bautista Maíno de Castro (1578–1649). Madrid: Museo Nacional del Prado. Mary prays at the foot of the crib. A shepherd kneels and kisses the infant’s hand; one, with his hand to his chest, brings in a goat; another, seemingly exhausted from his journey, lies slumped on the floor, with a basket of eggs and a lamb; and a boy leans against a stone, playing a narrowly conical pipe, probably a duct flute – a shawm would be far too loud for this occasion. An ass and a cow look on. In the foreground a dog lies curled up asleep. Above, angels lean out from their clouds pointing to the spectacle beneath.

Pat M. Mallinson, née Allman-Smith

British artist who taught at Farnborough Hill in Hampshire and was on the staff of the new Camden School of Art; she exhibited at the Royal Academy and her work is found in collections and galleries in Britain and overseas; many of her works include musical instruments; born London (1930), died 2008.

• Children, aquatint/etching on paper, 19 × 30 cm, Pat M. Mallinson (1930–2008). Website: Ebay, gallerybs3 (2009, col) A little girl sits on a chair playing a neo-baroque recorder to accompany her sister who is singing whilst leaning on the back of the chair.

Cornelis de Man

Seventeenth-century Netherlandish painter whose subjects include genre scenes, mercantile scenes, landscapes, church interiors.

• Chess-players, 98 × 85 cm, Cornelis de Man (17th century). Budapest: Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, No. 320 (464). Ref. Bernt (1970, 2: #723); Paris RIdIM (1999). Watched by their cat, a couple play chess at a table seated on ornate chairs. On the wall behind them hangs a cittern. On the floor in front of the fire are a cat, a bellows and some sticks of wood. One of the latter resembles the beak and window/labium of a duct flute, for which it has been mistaken by RIdIM.

Jacobus Sibrandi Mancadan

Dutch artist and government official who served as burgomaster of Franeker from 1637 to 1639 and of Leeuwarden in 1645; his primary occupation, however, was painting; born Leeuwarden (1602), died Tjerkgaast (1680).

• Landscape with a Flute-playing Shepherd, oil on panel, 40.0 × 49.5 cm, Jacobus Sibrandi Mancadan (1602–1680). Leeuwarden: Fries Museum. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie 21634 (2010, b&w). A flock of goats are browsing on a hillock beside a wall. On the slope of the hillock sits a shepherd playing a slender duct flute, probably a recorder.
• Landscape, oil on panel, Jacobus Sibrandi Mancadan (1602–1680). Private collection. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie ex Antony Rowland-Jones (pers comm., 2001). A pastoral scene with cattle and a woman with garlands. In the foreground, next to a pitcher and a shepherd’s crook, is a soprano size duct flute with a very slight bell-flare, six finger holes in line, and an offset hole for the little finger of the lowermost hand.

Francesco Mancini

Italian painter; his art is rooted in the classicist tradition of Bologna and Emilia Romagna; his work is almost exclusively ecclesiastical, and he made a significant contribution to the development of the form and iconography of the altarpiece; born S. Angelo in Vado (1679), died Rome (1758).

• Nativity, Francesco Mancini (1679–1758). Rome: Santa Maria Maggiore. Ref. Postcard (2002: col.) The Christ-child is admired by shepherds and other visitors. Overhead angels hover, one playing a lute, another a slender, flared, tenor-sized pipe, possibly a recorder.

Karel [Carel] van Mander III

Flemish-born Dutch painter and poet, who is mainly remembered as a biographer of Netherlandish artists; an artist himself, he played an important role in Northern Mannerism in the Netherlands; his own pictures, which were mainly religious and allegorical, adopted the elongated forms of the mannerist style, but his later works showed a tendency towards naturalism; Frans Hals was probably his pupil; born Meulebeke (1548), died Heemskerk (1606).

• Serenade, trompe l’oeil ceiling painting, Karel van Mander (1548–1606). Copenhagen: Amalienborg, Christian VII’s Palace Ref. Lassen et al. (1973: opp. p. 184); Rasmussen (2002, Bagpipe). “‘Peasants’ peering down ‘through the ceiling’ sing and play two bagpipes, flute, nine whistles or tiny recorders, and perhaps a jew’s harp. It must have been quite a serenade” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
• Old Woman with a Flute (ca 1639), red, white & black chalk on paper, oval, 553 × 397 mm, Karel van Mander III (1548–1606). Copenhagen: Statens Museum for Kunst, Kobberstiksammling. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Documentatie 65626 (2010, b&w). On old woman in a bonnet and wearing a beautiful smile holds a wide tenor renaissance-style recorder of which only the head and body are visible.
• The Times of Day: Midday or The Passage of Phoebus (1621), See print by Jacob Matham (1571–1631).

Emmanuel Mané-Katz

Ukrainian/French painter and sculptor, of the main masters of “L’Ecole de Paris”; born into a religious Jewish family, he was much influenced by Jewish mysticism; his subjects include themes drawn from life in the ghettos of Eastern Europe, the rabbis and Talmudic students, the fiddlers and drummers, comedians and beggars; he also painted a number of landscapes and flower studies; later in life his style became expressionist and baroque, with loose brushwork and rhythmical forms; born 1894, died 1962.

• Hassidic Flute-player, Emmanuel Mané-Katz (1894–1962). Location unknown. Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, 20th Century (2002, b&w). A man in a long coat leans backwards playing a vertical flute, possibly a recorder, but more likely a kaval.
• Flute-player, bronze figure, 36 cm high, Emmanuel Mané-Katz (1894–1962). Location unknown: Offered for sale by Matsa for Public Auctions (2002). Ref. Website: Matsa for Public Auctions (2002, col.) A man in a hat plays a vertical flute, possibly a recorder, since all fingers of the lowermost (right) hand are covering their holes, but more likely a kaval.

Bartolomeo Manfredi

Italian painter of the Roman school; a Carravaggist who specialised in low-life scenes of taverns, soldiers in guardrooms, card-playing, and the like; no works signed by or documented as his survive; born Mantua (1582), died Rome (p. 1622).

• Figures Making Music Around a Table, oil on canvas, attributed to Bartolomeo Manfredi (1582–p. 1622). Amsterdam: Sotheby’s, Sale AM0805, Old Master Paintings and a Collection of Important Frames, 8 May 2001 (sold). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2002, col.) Similar but not quite identical to Theodoor Rombouts’ A Musical Party (Auctioned by Sotheby’s, 19 April 2002). Sitting at a table, a theorbist and a recorder player accompany a singer who stands between them. A serving man brings them wine. On the table are open music books, a lute, a cittern and an unusual flute which appears to be made of ivory with a wooden insert in the head joint. The recorder is a near-cylindrical tenor with a one-keyed foot-joint and fontanelle.
• Shepherd Musicians, oil on canvas, 122 × 145 cm, Bartolomeo Manfredi (1582–p. 1622). Torino: Circolo Ufficiali di Presidio. Ref. RIdIM database,item 3125 (2014, col) Five half-length figures of shepherds (four men and a woman) are depicted in a landscape; three are shown with musical instruments, namely bagpipe, ?cittern and a tapering soprano recorder with a flared bell.

Lisa Manning

Contemporary American artist who works out of her studio in Beverly, MA; her illustrations have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Business Week, Computer Life, Fortune Magazine, MS Magazine, The New York Times, US News & World Report and Working Woman Magazine; born Boston MA. Web page.

• Recorder Onstage (1994), Lisa Manning (contemporary). Ref. American Recorder 25 (3): cover (1994). A stylised figure plays a flared-bell recorder on a stage.

Giovanni di Niccolo Mansueti (op. 1485-1527), Italian

• Coronation of the Virgin, canvas, 146 × 118 cm, Giovanni di Niccolo Mansueti (op. 1485–1527). Location unknown; sold Galerie Crespi, 2 June 1914, Cat.37; sold Galerie G. Petit, Paris. Ref. Paris RIdIM; Website (2012, b&w). The Virgin is crowned by Christ whilst both are embraced from behind by God the Father. Between them is the dove symbolising the Holy Ghost. Above, two angels play fiddle and rebec; below, two putti play lute and a flared-bell pipe which could be recorder.

Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506)

Italian painter, one of the great stylistic innovators whose influence on the whole practice of painting was immense; his works are characterised by the sculptural modelling of his figures, his incisive line, his treatment of landscape in geological layers, his stressed gestures, and his tragic use of colour; active mainly in Padua and Mantua, briefly in Verona, Florence and Rome; born Isola di Carturo, near Vicenza (1431), died Mantua (1506).

Note on “Tarocchi Cards of Mantegna. The origin of the designs of the so-called “Tarocchi Cards of Mantegna”, is controversial. It has long been thought that they are derived from designs by a Ferrara painter, possibly Baccio Baldini (op. 1460–1485), for use in the Ducal court. However, Kenneth Clark (see McClean, 1983) has attributed the designs to Parrasio Michele (1516–1578), Master of the School of Ferrara. More recently, Prinke (1990) has argued that the designs were, in fact, by Mantegna himself. In this catalogue, entries for those cards relevant to recorder iconography are listed together under Baldini.

• Allegory of Vice and Virtue, unfinished drawing in pen & pencil (brown, black, red and white), 28.6 × 44.1 cm, Andrea Mantegna (1431–1506). London: British Museum. Ref. Tietze-Conrat (1956); Archiv Moeck. This unfinished drawing forms the upper half of a composition which is fully illustrated in an engraving by Giovanni Antonio da Brescia. Both are inscribed on the right with the words: VIRTUS COMBVSTA (‘Virtue in flames’) which summarises the complex humanist allegory. The ‘invention’ illustrates the idea of the hold of Ignorance over humanity. In the centre of the top half, Error, a man with ass’s ears, leads an unsuspecting woman to the edge of a pit. She is both literally and morally blind. Error is encouraged by a winged figure of a satyr (half-man and half-goat) with bat’s wings, bird’s feet and a conspicuous codpiece who plays a pipe and symbolizes Lust. Between the satyr and blind woman is a man with a sack over his head, tied at the neck, who leads a dog on a leash. This man feigns blindness and may well be Fraud. To the right, Ignorance, a fat crowned woman, sits on a globe holding a rudder. The unstable globe and rudder both represent Fortune. Serving their queen are Ingratitude, with blindfold and scarf, and Avarice (greed) or Envy with dirty hair and large ears. On the far right are burning laurel leaves, a symbol of Virtue. Mantegna’s original drawing for the lower half of the image is lost, but the complete composition of the allegory is recorded in the print. Below is the pit into which the woman is about to fall, piled high with bodies. To the left is a female figure changing into a tree with a label VIRTUS DESERTA (‘Deserted Virtue). Choking the tree are thorns, and just below another inscription: VIRTUTI S.A.I. (Ignorance is always opposed to Virtue). At the right, however, Mercury saves a figure from the pit, implying that Reason and Virtue can provide salvation. Unusually, he wears laurel leaves on his feet, not the usual feathers. The satyr’s pipe has enough finger holes to be a recorder, though it is sightly curved in the manner of a cornetto, and no window/labium is visible.

Stacey Manton

Contemporary English professional artist living and working in the semi-rural town of Romiley, near Stockport; he paints landscapes seascapes and streetscapes, but specialises in highly realistic portraits of the characters found on the streets in and around Manchester; he works from photographs, using hidden cameras, ‘drive-by’ photography and even offering booze or fags in return for a snapshot;  his subjects are the overlooked, the old, the frail, the drunk, the destitute, the disenfranchised, or the plain comical; Stacey was born 1971. Artist’s website.

• Alan on the Recorder, oil on canvas, 38.74 × 30.48 cm, Stacey Manton (1971–). Hale, Cheshire: Clark Art, Item 11402, sold (2021, col.) An intimate portrait of an elderly, bearded man in a woollen jacket and mittens, his back to an archway, plays a plastic neo-baroque recorder. Alan, who plays recorder and tin-whistle on the streets of Manchester, features in a number of Manton’s portraits.
• Alan on the Recorder, oil on canvas, ? dimensions, Stacey Manton (1971–). Ref. Website: Pinterest, Tamalii Moli’s photostream (2001, col.) An elderly, bearded man, his back to a window, sits in a folding chair and plays his plastic neo-baroque recorder, his bag of books beside him. This painting (and the subject himself) can be seen in a YouTube interview with the artist. Ref. YouTube: An Interview with Stacey Manton (2012).

Pietro Marascalchi [da Feltre], called ‘Lo Spada’ (The Sword)

Italian painter active in the Veneto and especially in the province of Belluno; born 1522, died 1589.

• Madonna and Child with Saints Girolamo and Vittore (ca 1560), oil on canvas, Pietro Marascalchi (1522–1589). Ref. Villa i Tatti: The Harvard Centre for Italian Renaissance Studies, ND 621 BG P58 (2000); Conte (1998: 127–128, fig., b&w); Paolo Biordi (pers. comm., 2000). The Madonna and Child are seated on a throne on either side of which stand the two Saints. At their feet, a winged putto plays a flared-bell pipe, possibly a recorder.

Carlo Maratta [Maratti]

Italian artist, the leading painter in Rome in the late 17th century, he continued the tradition of the Classical Grand Manner, based on Raphael; his works include altarpieces, frescoes and portraits; born 1625, died 1713.

• Assumption of the Virgin, oil on canvas, Carlo Maratta (1625–1713). Toledo: La Santa Iglesia Catedral. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). “A cello, viola, lute and recorder are played by wingless angels The recorder is held close to the angel’s mouth, in a perfect playing position, all fingers on with right hand lower; part of finger holes three and five may show beside the fingers. Alto size with slight bell flare and one incised ring close to bell. The mouthpiece and window/labium are in shade” (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)
• Virgin with Angels, painting, Carlo Maratta (1625–1713). Location unknown. Ref. Website: klassiskgitar.net (2007, col.) The Virgin reads from a small book surrounded by angels one of whom also reads from a book, another holds a Gothic harp, and a third holds a very tiny pipe (probably a duct flute, possibly a recorder), the details of which are obscure.

Miguel March

Spanish draughtsman and painter who worked in a number of genres, including, allegorical, still-life, battle and religious works; born Valencia ca 1633, died 1670; son of the painter Esteban March (ca 1610–1668).

• Autumn (ca 1655), oil on canvas, 67.5 × 90 cm, Miguel March (ca 1633–1670). Valencia: Museo de Belles Artes San Pio V, Inv. 3601. Ref. Galbis (1995: 85); Frechina (1998: 209, fig. 143), Heijden et al. (1998, col.); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2003); Website: gallica (2012, b&w). One of a series of paintings representing Autumn, Winter, Time and The Miser. It is possible that there were additional works representing Spring and Summer. A young man in a feathered hat plays a cylindrical duct flute (probably a flageolet (fistula hexastoma) with but four finger holes (visible) and two at the rear for the the thumbs. since there are only two holes for each hand) to an appreciative parrot perched above a table on which are scattered grapes and peaches. Behind the bird, a carved panel depicts a woman carrying what looks like a sack of farm produce, thus emphasising the pastoral associations of this painting. The foot of the instrument is slightly flared, and the third finger of the lower (left) hand touches the rim of the bell as if to indicate where the sound comes from.

Girolamo Marchesi [Girolamo de Cotignola]

Italian artist born Cotignola (ca 1471–1475), died Rome (ca 1540–1550).

• Enthroned Virgin and Saints / Sacra Conversazione, Girolamo Marchesi (ca 1471/75–ca 1540/50). San Marino: La Pinacoteca di San Francesco, Museo. Ref. Ricci (1903: 39); Rasmussen (1999, Lute); Hijmans (2005: 222). On either side of the enthroned Virgin and Child stand the Saints. To the left, St Giovanni indicates Jesus and Mary to a young St Marino. At their feet sit two putti, one playing a lute, the other playing a cylindrical recorder with one hand and holding a sheet of music in the other. In the background is Mt Titano.

Giovanni Marchiori

Italian rococco sculptor of ecclestiastical subjects, active in Venice, Treviso; considered one of the most cultured and intellectual artists of his time who embodies the transition between the baroque and ermerging neo-classicism; born Caviola d’Agordo (1696); died Treviso (1778).

Musical Angels and Swags of musical instruments (1768), carved & gilded wood, Giovanni Marchiori (1696–1778). Venice: Chiesa di San Rocco Venezia, organ & choir. Sculptures above and below the organ depict four winged putti and five musical angels. One of the angels blows a straight trumpet held in his right hand whilst holding a perfectly depicted baroque recorder in his left; the others play cello, guitar, cymbals, and transverse flute. The latter also has a baroque recorder hanging from his right side. Three of the putti hold horns; the fourth holds yet another baroque recorder high in the air! The swags hang from the central arch  housing the organ and include violins, lutes, guitar, straight trumpets, horns, and four clearly depicted baroque recorders. The organ was built in 1742 by Pietro Nachini (1694–1769), and was renewed in 1768 by Gaetano Callido (1727–1813), with the choir decorated with wooden statues by Giovanni Marchiori.

Gerhard Marcks

German sculptor, painter and graphic artist associated with the Bauhaus where he became head of pottery in Dornburg, near Weimar; before the war his works were censored and confiscated; after the war he had many exhibitions, created many memorials and church monuments, and even designed a bridge in Halle; he also made expressionist woodcuts; born Berlin (1889), died Burgbrohl/Eifel (1991).

• Orpheus in the Underworld (1947–1948), woodcut 32.1 × 36.1 cm (image), Gerhard Marcks (1889–1981). Bremen: Gerhard Marcks Haus, H180-8; San Francisco: de Young Museum; Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Museum of Art 1964/1.112. Ref. Website: Gerhard Marcks Haus (2001); Website: University of Michigan Museum of Art (2000). The sixth of ten woodcuts in the Orpheus series. A naked Orpheus gazes at a demure-looking Euridice whilst a black male figure, a coat over his shoulders, plays a long flared-bell pipe which could represent a recorder.
• Trude Jalowetz (1932), preliminary sketch, 39 × 25 cm, Gerhard Marcks (1889–1991). Bremen: Gerhard Marcks Haus, D123. Ref. Website: Gerhard Marcks Haus (2001). Trude Jalowetz (an artist’s model who died in 1977) stands playing a slender cylindrical pipe of tenor size. There is just a hint of a window/labium, so this may represent a recorder.
• Flute Player (1932), sculpture, bronze, 54 cm high, Gerhard Marcks (1889–1991). Private Collection. Ref. Website: Gerhard Marcks Haus. A young woman stands playing a narrowly conical pipe of tenor size. All fingers of both hands seem to be employed, and there is no trace of beak, window/labium or reed. Nonetheless, this may represent a recorder.
• Greek Flute Player (1933), statue, Gerhard Marcks (1889–1991). Karlsruhe: Badischen Landesmuseum. A man with a cape over his head plays a duct flute (possibly a recorder).

Rocco Marconi

Italian artist active mainly in Venice and Treviso; he was a follower of Giovanni Bellini in whose workshop he spent some 25 years; born ? Venice (a. 1490), died 1529.

• Transfigured Christ with St Peter and St Andrew (ca 1524), Rocco Marconi (a. 1490–m. 1529). Venice: Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Ref. Boccazzi (1965: 165); Burlington Magazine Burlington 116 (1974: 390); Humfrey (1993: 70, pl. 63); Rasmussen (2004, Flute). “Sitting comfortably on a cumulus cloud, three angel-putti look down on Christ. On the right, one plays a soprano/alto recorder (left hand lower, a shadowy area possibly representing a window/labium is rather high up leaving space for only a short windway). Three lower finger holes are visible, the missing one hidden by or underneath one of the left-hand fingers of the angel-putto player. The profile is cylindrical with a gradual bell expansion to fairly wide at the end with not much impression of wood thickening” (Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm., 2000).

Hans von Marées

German draughtsman and painter of the so-called Idealist school whose subjects included portraits and mythological subjects; for the latter, he developed a complex and individual technique, overpainting tempera with layers of oil to create a depth of colour quite unlike the muted tones used by his fellow classicists; tborn Elberfeld, Prussia (1837), died Rome (1887).

• Flute Player, charcoal on paper, 29.2 × 13.3 cm, Hans von Marées (1837–1887). Munich: Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Inv. 1913: 32. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999, Mgs – 405). A naked young man leaning against a tree plays a duct flute, possibly a recorder, but it is not clear. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 1999).

François de Maretz (17th century), France

• Frontispiece, Discours sur les Arcs Triomphaux dressés en la ville d’Aix, à l’hereuse arrivée de … Louys XIII. roy de France & de Navarre: Troisiesme Arc, by Chasteuil Galup, published by Tholosan, Aix-en-Provence (1624): Troubadour (1624), engraving by Maretz. Copy offered for sale by Otto Haas, London (1959). Ref. Otto Haas, Sale Catalogue 37, A Selection of Rare Music from Boethius to Webern, London, (1959); Paris RIdIM (1999); Website: Google Books (2010). “An interesting and rare work describing and illustrating triumphal arches erected in honour of Louis XIII on the occasion of his visit to Aix in 1624. This book would have no place in a music catalogue, were it not for the Troubadour reproduced on the cover of this catalogue” (Haas, loc. cit.) “L’habit est celuy e son siècle. Sa main soutient un sceptre de Laurier. On void auprés de luy une trompette, une lyre, & quelques autres instruments de musique. Les roses, les oeillets, les violettes naissent, dessours ses pas … ” It represents the survival of a medieval ideal in an age of classicism. In addition to the trumpet and violin are a cornetto and a small flared-bell recorder.

Onorio Marinari

Italian painter and printmaker active mainly in Florence; his paintings include a number of altarpieces for Florentine churches and a self portrait, now in the Uffizzi; his illustrated Fabbrica ed uso dell’ Annulo Astronomico was published in 1674; born 1627, died 1715; son of the minor painter Sigismondo di Pietro Marinari (op. 1650), cousin of the Florentine painter Carlo Dolci (1616–1686).

• Annunciation to the Shepherds, oil on canvas, 90.7 × 68.o cm, Onorio Marinari (1627–1715). London: Sotheby’s Sale LL11037, Old Master and British Paintings Day Sale, 8 December 2011, Lot 127. A young shepherd sits holding a flared-bell pipe, possibly a recorder though no details of finger holes or window/labium can be discerned. Beside him, a companion holding a stouter flared-bell pipe (possibly the chanter of a bagpipe) looks up in astonishment at the angel Gabriel above. in the background are cows and sheep against a hilly landscape. An autographed variant of this painting, on a smaller scale, is in the Casa di Risparmio di Pistoia e Pescia.

Antonio Marinetti, il Chiozotto

Italian artist; one of the many students of Piazetta whose style he imitated; born Chioggia (1719), died Venice (1796).

• Musical Scene (ca 1780),  copper plate engraving, 44.0 × 36.5 cm, Nicolaus Cavalli (1730–1822) after Antonio Marinetti, il Chiozotto (1719-1796). Newton:  Schubertiade Music & Arts (2008, b&w). Ref. Website: Schuberetiade Music Online (2013-b&aw). Watched by an old crone, a young girl sings from a page of music accompanied by a young man playing a cylindrical recorder. The first line from a verse by Horace appears as a caption beneath:

“Me nunc Cressa Chloe regit
[Dulces docta modos et cithare sciens;
Pro qua non metuam mori,
Si parcent animae fata superstiti.”]

Giovanni Marino (18th century), Italy

• St Benedict (1728), low relief sculpture, Giovanni Marino (18th century). Monreale: Duomo, Cappella di San Benedetto, altar. Ref. Schiro (1996: 115, col.); Charles Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2007). In the central panel, St Benedict is lifted to heaven by angels. At the top left an angel plays a violin, and top right another plays a recorder. The violin bow, the recorder itself and St Benedict’s bishop’s crosier are all represented in gold against the white marble of this fine bas-relief. The recorder is alto-sized or a little larger, and it is a perfect representation of a baroque instrument. The angel plays right hand lowermost, with all his fingers on the instrument, although the sculptor has placed the hands rather too close together.

Simon Marmion

Franco-Flemish painter of panels, miniaturist and book illuminator who worked in the Burgundian court of the noted patrons Philip the Good and Margaret of York; a radical artist who introduced and developed the use of new colours and colour relationships which made him a pioneer in the depiction of atmospheric effects in landscape (some scholars controversially believe that Marmion painted the first pure landscape); also noted for the clarity of his narrative and sensitive conveying of the emotions of his characters; born Amiens (ca 1425), died Valenciennes (1489); both his father, Jean, and his brother Mille were painters.

• Triptych, centre panel: Virgin and Child in a Landscape with a Trompe l’oeil Frame (late 15th century), oil on panel 50.2 × 36.8 cm, circle of Simon Marmion (1425–1489). New York: Sotheby’s, Old Masters 2000 and A Celebration of the Still Life, 28 January 2000, Lot 9. The left wing of the triptych is the National Gallery, London; the right wing was sold by Sotheby’s, New York, in 1992. The artist has conjoined town and country, urban and rustic in a decidedly Rogerian manner. Courtiers can be seen playing recorders and dancing, others on horseback or sitting on the grass in the hills and along the banks of a river which flows across the background of the triptych.

Jacob Marrel [Marrell, Marzell, Morrel or Morsel]

German still-life painter, engraver, and art dealer active in Utrecht; he specialised in floral still-lifes and botanical illustration of tulip varieties; stepfather of the entomologist and artist Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717); born Frankenthal (1614), died Frankfurt (1681).

• Pronk Still-life, oil on canvas, 127.7 × 185.2 cm, Jacob Marrel (1614–1681). New York: Sotheby’s, Old Master Paintings, 17 December 1998, Lot 38. Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2002, col.); Artfact (2003); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Documentatie, Image 0000132506 (2010, col) Probably a late work by the artist. On a table beneath a velvet drape are a musical score, violin, pipe (?flute, ?recorder), a ham on a plate, a shell, a glass goblet, melon, grapes, peaches, a fig and plums on a silver tazza, cherries, pomegranates, melons, lemons, shells. A glass roemer stands on a small cabinet behind. A macaw perches on a chair. The body of the pipe is hidden beneath the music book, its head beneath the violin; but the foot is visible and this seems to be cylindrical, so a flute seems more probable.
• Vanitas Still-life (1637), Jacob Marrel (1614–1681). Karlsruhe: Staatliche Kunsthalle, Inv. 2586. Ref. Gemar-Koelzsch (1995: 169, pl.); Rowland-Jones, pers. comm., 2004); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Documentatie, Image 1001238921 (2010).  A large vase full of flowers, and a beautifully painted violin leaning at the right. Bubbles above, books, smoking pipes, etc. below, and at the very bottom sticking out from what looks like a small sheet of music in the right corner the slightly flared bell of a small pipe, showing a quite wide bore and a finger- or tuning-hole near to it (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.) But even Homer nods: Anthony has mistaken a piece of candle-wax for a recorder! In the left-hand corner a little mouse nibbles at some crumbs.

Giovanni Martinelli

Italian painter active mostly in Florence; born Montevarchi (ca 1600–1604), died 1659.

• Music, Giovanni Martinelli (ca 1600/04–1659). Florence: Galleria Corsini (1922). Ref. Archiv Moeck. A personification of Music holds a cylindrical recorder, only the head and upper body of which is visible. The beak appears to be encased in a metal sleeve.
• Music, painting (oval), Giovanni Martinelli (ca 1600/04–1659). Location unknown: auctioned 06/07/2005 (sold). Ref. Gabrius Databank (2007, col.) A copy of the original in the Galleria Corsini, Florence. A personification of Music holds a cylindrical recorder, only the head and upper body of which is visible. The beak appears to be encased in a metal sleeve.
• Music, painting (oval), Giovanni Martinelli (ca 1600–1659). Martinelli (ca 1600/04–1659). Location unknown: auctioned 06/12/2005 (sold). Ref. Gabrius Databank (2007, col.) A small copy of the original in the Galleria Corsini, Florence. A personification of Music holds a cylindrical recorder, only the head and upper body of which is visible. The beak appears to be encased in a metal sleeve.

Ben Martinez (contemporary), USA

• The past is now; the future was then! (1991), Ben Martinez (contemporary). Ref. American Recorder 32 (2): cover, col (1991). A mock-Elizabethan couple: he plays harpsichord; she plays a wind synthesizer!
• Untitled (1992), Ben Martinez (contemporary) Ref. American Recorder 33 (3): cover, col (1992). A seated youth plays an alto recorder of modern design to a girl sitting at his feet who holds open a book of music.
• Wired for Sound, Ben Martinez (contemporary) Ref. American Recorder.

Bernat [Bernardo] Martorell

Spanish painter of the Barcelona school known for his scrupulous attention to detail, his ability to convey an impression of depth and space and to give life to all elements of his compositions; born 1427, died 1452.

• Coronation of the Virgin, paint on panel, Bernat Martorell (1427–1452). Barcelona: Colección Viñas. Ref. Gudiol (1986: 654); Ballester (1990: 168–169 & pl. 84); Rowland-Jones (1997a: 13–14); Website: gallica (2012, b&w). Mary is crowned by Christ to an accompaniment provided by six musical angels. Three of the angels play cylindrical recorders one of which clearly has holes for seven fingers; the others play rebec, lute and harp.

Félix Mas

Contemporary Spanish-born comic book artist and fine artist; he considers himself a traditionalist, obsessed with form and colour, creating images that celebrate femininity and luminous beauty of the female form; born Barcelona (1935).

• Flauta de pico alto, oil on canvas, 61 × 46 cm, Félix Mas (1935–). Madrid: Galería de Arte Castello 120, Exhibition 30 October – 14 November 2001. Ref. Website: Galería de Arte Castello 120 (2003). A young woman wearing a hat made of leaves, her eyes closed, holds a slender neo-baroque recorder.

Henri Leopold Masson

Canadian artist best known for his genre, landscape, and figure drawing; born Belgium (1907), died Ottawa, Canada (1996).

• Recorder-player, oil on masonite, 20.3 × ? cm, Henri Leopold Masson (1907–1996). Location unknown; sold by Galerie d’Art Vincent, Ottawa Ref. Website: Website: Galerie d’Art Vincent (2005, col.) A young woman in a white gown plays an alto recorder.
• Recorder-player, pastel on board, 30.4 × 20.3 cm, Henri Leopold Masson (1907–1996). Location unknown, sold by Red Kettle, Victoria BC. Ref. Website: Red Kettle Art & Collectibles (2006). A young woman seated plays a recorder, another woman standing by her side listens.
• Recorder-player (1958), print, Henri Leopold Masson (1907–1996). Toronto: Heffel Fine Art Auction House, Fine Canadian Art, Toronto, 31 May 2014, Lot 543 (sold). A man sits playing a stylised, direct-blown bass recorder.

Quinten Massys [Matsijs]

Painter in the Flemish tradition and a founder of the Antwerp school where he was active for over 20 years, creating numerous works with religious roots and satirical tendencies; born Leuven (1466), died Antwerp (1530).

• Triptych: Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels in a Garden, (1500 or a little later), oil on oak panel, 67.8 × 45.2 cm, follower of Quinten Massys (1466–1530). London: National Gallery, Inv. 1085. Ref. Davies (1953, 21: pll. I, Iii, IIA, col; VI, VI, VII, detail of the harp, IX, detail of the recorder, X,  detail of the lute); Friedländer (1971-, 7: No. 83, pl. 72–73); Paris RIdIM (1999, detail); Rasmussen (1999, Lute); Website: Friedländer 3.0 Database (2016, col); Website: Lute Iconography LI-2576 (2023, col.) Formerly thought to be by the Master of the van Morrison Triptych (15th century, Flemish). The central panel is a mystic treatment of the Marriage of Saint Catherine of a type known as ‘Virgo inter Virgines’. The edifice in the background may stand for the Gateway into Heaven. Angels (singing?) play a harp and a lute. Another approaches, holding a small flared-bell recorder with a decorated bell in his right hand. Left wing: Saint John the Baptist. Centre background: Saints Agnes and Agatha. Right wing: Saint John Evangelist. The greatest stylistic influence notable is the work of Geertgen tot Sint Jans. Friedländer (loc. cit.) notes that a replica with several more figures is in El Escorial.

Master of 1416

Italian painter, active in Florence in the late 14th century and the second decade of the 15th century; the name of this anonymous artist derives from an altarpiece dated 1416, preserved in the Accademia Gallery in Florence; his style is very close to another Florentine painter Lorenzo di Niccolò di Martino, with whom he has sometimes been identified.

• Childbirth tray (desco da parto) with scenes from Boccaccio’s Commedia delle ninfe fiorentine: Ameto’s Discovery of the Nymphs and Contest Between the Shepherds Alcesto and Acaten (1410), verso of a marriage salver, tempera on wood, 12-sided, 53.7 × 56.2 cm, Master of 1416 (early 15th century). New York: Metroplitan Museum of Art. Ref. Website: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Like its companion piece (26.287.2), the reverse of this marriage salver illustrates an episode from Boccaccio’s Comedia delle Ninfe Fiorentine, written in about 1342. The hunter Ameto and two nymphs judge a musical competition between the shepherds Alcesto (who represents leisure) and Acaten (who represents industry). The contestant on the left plays a pipe, quite possibly a duct flute (flageolet or recorder). The incident was a critical prelude to Ameto’s embrace of the virtuous life. The escutcheon at the right appears to be that of the Di Lupo Parra family of Pisa.

Master of the Aachen Altarpiece [Master of the Aix-la-Chapelle Altarpiece]

German painter (formerly thought to be Flemish), named after the great winged altarpiece with scenes from the Passion (ca 1510, Aachen, Domschatzkam.), painted for the Carmelite church in Cologne; he adopted a restless and capricious style of Mannerism, his figures being alluringly full and soft; known from works in Aachen and Munich; active from ca 1460–1520, in Cologne between ca 1480 and 1500.

• Virgin and Child with Angel Musicians (ca 1480), oil on panel, 52.5 × 46.3 cm, Master of the Aachen Altarpiece (op. ca 1460–1520). Munich: Alte Pinakothek, Inv. 10756. Ref. Buchner (1960: pl. 26, col); Stange (1969, 5: no. 241); Ragghianti (1969: 31, pl., col); Rasmussen (1999, Lute); Website: klassiskgitar.net (2007, col.); Munich RIdIM (2013: Mstag – 799, b&w). On each side of the Virgin and Child are trios of musical angels. On the left are two singers and a lutenist reading from a large score. On the right are a singer, an organist and a duct flute (probably a recorder) player. The duct flute is cylindrical and the window/labium is clearly depicted.

Master of [the Abbey of] Affligem = Master of the Joseph Sequence

Master of S. Agostino (early 14th century), Italy

• Life of St John the Evangelist: The Journey to Ephesus, St John on Patmos (early 14th century), Master of S. Agostino (early 14th century). Rimini: Chiesa di San Agostino. Ref. Berenson (1968, 1: 359); Fratelli Alinari, S. p. A., Florence: photographs 30417-30418; Marcheselli (1972; pl. III & 4); Marle & Marle (1923-1938, 4: 308–310 & fig. 157); Volpe (1965: 31–35, 77, & figs 144–148); Brown (1985: 270 & pl. 325b, b&w). “On the journey to Ephesus, one figure in the boat plays a shawm or recorder, and another plays pipe and tabor” (Brown, loc. cit.) The “recorder” is clearly a shawm, judging by the expansion and tuning hole at the bell end; the lowest holes are almost half-way up the instrument, which is played with inflated cheeks (Rowland-Jones, pers. comm.)

Master of the Aix Annunciation [? Jean Boyer (French)] (15th century), French

French painter of the Annunciation altarpiece in the church the Église des Pręcheurs in Aix-en-Provence  the wings of which are preserved at Brussels and Vierhouten and one fragment at Amsterdam; thought by some to be executed by Jean Boyer, Court Painter to King René of Provence ca 1450.

• The Marriage of Jacob and Rachel, canvas on wood, 178 × 256 cm, Master of the Aix Annunciation (15th century). Aix-en-Provence: Musée Granet. Ref. Lallement & Devaux (1996: 256). Includes a recorder. Not seen.

Master of the Aix-la-Chapelle Altarpiece = Master of the Aachen Altarpiece

Master of the Acquavella Still-life (op. ca 1610-1620), Italian (Rome)

Italian painter, considered the most important still-life painter working in Rome during the second and third decades of the 17th century; named after the Still-life with a Basket of Fruit and a Vase of Flowers formerly with the Acquavella Gallery, New York, and subsequently in the Lorenzetti collection, Bergamo. Scholars have since identified a stylistically coherent group of still-lives thought to be by the hand of this anonymous post-Caravaggesque master variously ascribed to Luca Forte, Angelo Caroselli, Giovanni Battista Crescenzi and Pietro Paolini. Of the pictures in this group, compositions that combine figures with exuberant displays of fruit, vegetables and foliage are thought to be collaborations with Bartolomeo Cavarozzi (ca 1600–1625).

• Still-life with a Violinist (c.1620), oil on canvas, 83 × 118 cm, Master of the Acquavella Still-life (op. ca 1610–1620). Private Collection. Ref. Postcard: Royal Academy of Arts, London (2001); Exhibited Royal Academy of Arts: The Genius of Rome, 1592–1623), Brown (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (2001b: 13–16, fig., b&w); Heyghen (2005: 313); Ausoni (2009: 286–287, col) A young man in a feathered cap gazes directly at the viewer as he plays a violin in front of a bench on which there is an enormous bowl of fruit (grapes, pomegranates, apples, pumpkins, pears, apples and pears), two music books and three cylindrical recorders. Of the latter only the head of one is visible (showing beak and window/labium), the body and foot of another (showing holes for six fingers, including paired holes for the lowermost finger) and, behind the fruit, the body of a third much bigger ?recorder (no details visible). One of the music books is an open canto part-book with the music of Cipriano De Rore’s madrigal Anchor che col partire written for monodic performance. Curiously, the score faces the viewer rather than the musician. Heyghen (loc. cit.) suggests that the two recorders in the foreground are a tenor and ‘discant’ respectively and that the ‘discant’ is of “Ganassi” style − wishful thinking, perhaps.

Master of Arguis

Spanish artist active in the first half of the fifteenth century; stylistically, his work is derived from the tradition of the International Gothic in Aragon; his name is derived from a retable of Saint Michael dating to about 1440, now in the Museo del Prado, Madrid, and once the main altarpiece of the church of Arguis; two other paintings, both dedicated to St Anne, are attributed to him, one is in Barcelona, and the other, a small triptych, is in Alquezar.

• Altar-piece dedicated to St Anne: Meeting of St Anne and St Joaquin, Master of Arguis (15th century). Alquezar (Huesca): Collegiata, Iglesia Parroquial. Ref. Ballester (2000: 14, fig. 5a, b&w; 15, fig. 5b, b&w). Depicts the marriage of the parents of Mary. To the right of the Saints stands a musician holding a flared-bell recorder with an incised decorative ring on the beak and seven finger holes visible, the lowermost offset.

Master of Astorga

Spanish artist active in Castile in the early 16th century.

• Altar-piece (in part): Birth of Christ with Saint Domingo and Saint Lorenzo (1510-1515), oil on panel, 135 × 98 cm, Master of Astorga (early 16th century). Detail. Madrid: Museo Lázaro Galdiano, Inv. 3014. Ref. Ruck et al. (1926-1927, 2: 499, no. 1023); Sartori (1963-1964: fig. 277); Salmen (1976: 64-65, fig. 14); Thomson (1974: op. p. 33, b&w); Visual Collection, Fine Arts Library, Harvard University 376.As86.22N (2002); Rasmussen (2002, Bagpipe); Website: gallica (2012, b&w); Website: RIdIM database, Record 1096 (2021, col.) The top frame depicts the adoration of the Christ Child by his parents, angels and shepherds, and the two frames below depict St Domingo and St Lorenzo. The main scene takes place amongst a series of Corinthian pillars surmounted by arches, with the ruins of an arched doorway in the background. On the right, a shepherd is dancing, to music played by two of his companions on bagpipe and a cylindrical recorder. Perhaps uniquely, the player’s thumb position whilst pinching the thumb hole is clearly depicted. In the lower frame, the two Saints stand before open windows with drapes of gold.

Master of Ávila [? Garcia del Barco (a.1465-p.1498)]

A painter in the Flemish style of Fernando Gallego, active in Ávila and surroundings in the middle of the 15th century. The art historian Elías Tormo and others have tentatively identified him as García del Barco, a painter who was known to have been in Ávila between 1465 and 1473, and died in Granada (p.1498). No works by Barco have been attributed with any certainty.

Altarpiece: Triptych of the Nativty, oil on panel, 82 × 136 cm, García del Barco (c.1500). Madrid: Museo Lázaro Galdiano. Originally at the Convent of the Conception. Ref. Wikimedia (2013, col.); Rey (2017)
In this triptych the Nativity of Jesus Christ takes place in three scenes: the Nativity in the centre panel, the Annunciation to the Shepherds on the left side, and the Three Kings’ Journey to Bethlehem on the right side panel. In the Nativity, angels announce the birth of Jesus to three shepherds who guard their beasts and gaze heavenwards in wonder. One holds a bagpipe over his shoulder, and a small recorder hangs from his tunic by a piece of string. The recorder is in one piece and with holes for seven fingers. There are, in fact, four holes for the little finger of the lowermost hand, and the windway is upside down, as if the instrument was unfamiliar to the artist. The human figures in this triptych seem to be inspired by quite real models.

Master of the Barbarigo Reliefs (early 16th century), Italian

Italian sculptor active around Venice between about 1486 and about 1515; his name is derived from a set of reliefs in bronze, depicting the Coronation and Assumption of the Virgin and the Twelve Apostles; these may be seen today in the Ca’ d’Oro in Venice; they were formerly on the altar, serving as a double tomb for the Barbarigo family, which once stood in the Santa Maria della Carità (today’s Accademia). The complete tomb design is shown in an engraving from 1692; according to this the bronzes were placed on the altar of the central bay, flanked by the kneeling figures on either side. Further effigies, depicting figures reclining on a bier, were placed in each adjoining bay. Documentary evidence indicates that work on the sculpture was begun around 1486, at Marco Barbarigo’s death, and probably completed by 1515.

• Assumption of the Virgin, bronze relief, Master of the Barbarigo Reliefs (op.1486-1515). Venice: Ca’ d’Oro, formerly Santa Maria della Carita, on the funerary monument of the Doges Marco and Agostino Barbarigo. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000); Website: Wikipedia (2013). Two angels lift the Virgin from below. Between them a third angel-putto plays a slender, flared-bell soprano recorder (left hand lowermost). Beside the Virgin, two other angels play rebec and fiddle. The complete tomb design is shown in an engraving from 1692; according to this the bronzes were placed on the altar of the central bay, flanked by the kneeling figures on either side. Further effigies, depicting figures reclining on a bier, were placed in each adjoining bay.
• Coronation of the Virgin, bronze relief, Master of the Barbarigo Reliefs (op.1486-1515). Venice: Ca’ Doro, formerly Santa Maria della Carita, on the funerary monument of the Doges Marco and Agostino Barbarigo. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000); Website: Wikipedia (2013). Angels at the upper left and right play trumpets; those on the lower part play lute, ?crumhorn, rebec, portative organ, and what may be a small recorder.

Master of the St Bartholomew Altarpiece [Master of the St Thomas Altarpiece]

Early Netherlandish painter active in Germany; one of the most recognizable artists of the early Renaissance period in German art; his identity remains unknown, but it has been suggested that given the number of commissions he executed for the Carthusian order he may have been a member himself; his paintings are characterized by their use of bright, enamel-like colors and an affinity to the International Gothic style; op. 1470-1510.

• Virgin and Child with Musical Angels, oil on oak, 52 × 38 cm, Master of the St Bartholomew Altarpiece (op. 1470-1510). London: National Gallery, Inv. NG6499. Ref. Langmuir (1999: 17, pl. 13, col.). The Virgin and Child enthroned are surrounded by angel musicians who sing and play instruments including psaltery, fiddle, lute, harp and a small conical pipe with a flared bell. A magnified view of the little piper (accessible from the link above) shows his instrument to be a clearly depicted (if inexpertly held) recorder with its distinctive beak, window/labium, offset hole for the little finger of the lowermost hole, and flared bell. There is a simply turned raised bead between window/labium and the body of the recorder. The flowers in the painting are symbolic. Most prominently, on the left grows a columbine, so called because of its dove-like appearance, which alludes to the Holy Ghost. It generally has seven blooms, which conveniently refer to the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Similarly, on the right are cornflowers in a vase, symbolic of the Queen of Heaven, Mary, and Christ. The plants in the foreground include yellow-flowering mustard, perhaps an allusion to the Parable of the Mustard Seed ( Matthew 13:31–32; Mark 4:30–32; Luke 13:18–19).

Master known as ‘BB’, from the studio of Evaristo Baschenis (17th century), Italian

• Still-life with Musical Instruments (ca 1650), Master known as ‘BB’, from the studio of Evaristo Baschenis (1607-1677). Kassel: Schloss Wilhelmshöhe, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister. Ref. Archiv. Moeck. A spinet sits on a table with three lutes, a violin and the head of a cylindrical duct flute (probably a recorder).
• Strumenti musicali, oil on canvas, 87 × 115 cm, Master known as ‘BB’, from the studio of Evaristo Baschenis (1607-1677). Bergamo: Collegio Vescovile Sant’Alessandro. Ref. Francone et al. (1996: 278-279, pl. 61, col) On a draped table beneath richly embroidered hangings lie a book with an apple on top, several books piled on top of each other, two music books, three lutes, a guitar, a harpsichord, a violin and bow, and a flared-bell recorder only the foot and lower body of which are visible.

Master of Bedford [Master of the Duke of Bedford, Bedford Master]

A manuscript illuminator active in Paris during the fifteenth century, named for the work he did on two books illustrated for John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford, English Regent in France 1422-1435, one a Book of Hours, the other a Breviary; active 1405-1435. The Bedford Master is known to have been the head of an atelier.

• Livre de la chasse [Book of Hunting] by Gaston Phoebus, Count of Foix and Béarn (1331-1391): Banquet (1405-1415), painted miniature on vellum, margins decorated with a border of floreate rinceaux, atelier of Master of Bedford (op. 1405-1435). New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M.1044, fol. 58r. Ref. Website: CORSAIR (2011, col.); Website: theartwolf.com (2011); Lasocki (2023: 41). Gaston recorded the three “special delights” of his life as “arms, love and hunting” his Livre de chasse, composed between 1387-1389, was dedicated to Phillip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. It is written in a clear narrative voice and is illustrated with exquisite miniatures. It has become the most famous hunting book of the middle ages. This miniature depicts the meal before the hunt. The Lord or Master of the Hunt, wearing hat and fur-lined garment sits behind a draped table, flanked by two men, one wearing a hat. Two of the men face each other in conversation: one points to a servant bearing the steaming droppings of the stag to be hunted; the other gestures towards a servant carrying a pitcher. The third man gestures to a servant carrying a platter of food (fish or chicken, perhaps). At the left end of the table, are six horses penned within a wattle fence which two of the horses seem to be chewing. At the right end of the table, a man plays a cylindrical pipe, probably a recorder since there is a faint hint of the window/labium and all fingers of this lowermost (left) hand seem to be employed. The huntsmen sit on turf benches at two other draped tables on which are loaves, platters of food (fish or chicken, perhaps) and goblets. One of them drinks from a goblet, another eats, one reaches for food, and another cuts a loaf with a knife. In front of the horse pen, a man wearing a hood sits swigging from small cask. Beside him are five dogs; and behind those four more dogs drink from a stream in which three covered pitchers are cooling. The scene is set in a grassy landscape with trees against a decorated background. This book is thought to have been commissioned by Philip the Bold’s son, John the Fearless (1371-1419), who presumably inherited his father’s manuscript and had copies made. During the late fifteenth century, it was owned by King Ferdinand II of Aragón and Queen Isabella of Castile, who added to it their full-page coat of arms. It is one of the 46 known surviving copies, including one in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France made at the same time and containing the same cycle of 87 miniatures. However, the musician is absent from the banquet depicted in MS Française 616 (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris), which differs in many other ways, too. Early printed editions of Le Livre de la chasse, made in Paris, date from ca 1507. A facsimile edition was published by Faksimile Verlag, Lucerne, in 2005.

Master of the Béguins

? Flemish painter, possibly Abraham Willemsens (op. 1627-1672), active in Paris; his name is in reference to the type of peasant bonnet (béguin) worn by many of the female figures in his paintings; flourished ca 1650-1670.  The works now given to this artist were formerly attributed to the Le Nain brothers.

• The Tavern, canvas, 93 × 117 cm, Master of the Béguins (op. ca 1650-1670). Paris: Louvre, Inv. 6839. Ref. Lallement & Devaux (1997: 200). Men, women and children with a shepherd and sheep, a still-life of vegetables, against a landscape with ruins. A small boy plays on a pipe (possibly a flageolet).

Master of the Berlin Passion

German or Netherlandish engraver, named after a Passion cycle of nine engravings (1482), of which seven were glued in a manuscript (Berlin, Kupferstichkab.) from the Lower Rhine, written in the convent of the Sisters of the Common Life at Arnheim; recently identified with Israhel van Meckenem’s father; fl. 1450-1470.

• Ornament with a Couple Playing Chess, engraving, 10.5 × 14.5 cm, Master of the Berlin Passion (fl. 1450-1470). Oxford: Ashmolean Museum. Ref. Ashmolean Museum: postcard. Shows a couple playing chess, surrounded by plants, animals and their keepers, a hunter, and two musicians. One of the latter plays a straight trumpet, the other a cylindrical duct flute (flageolet or recorder).

Master of the Brussels Initials, Master of Egon, & the Third Painter

• The Hours of Charles the Noble, King of Navarre (1361-1425), Compline: Coronation of the Virgin (1404-1405), ink, tempera, and gold on vellum, 19.4 × 13.7 cm, Master of the Brussels Initials, the Egon Master and the Third Painter. Cleveland: Museum of Art, 1964.40, folio 96 recto. Ref. Ford (1991: 8: 3, #63 & #78); Anthony Rowland-Jones (2006: 4). Behind the main scene, four angels play musical instruments. At left, an angel plays a fiddle (5 pegs); another plays a lute. At the right, another angel plays a vertical pipe (recorder?), another plays a harp. The figures are all minute so there are no details shown on the pipe. It is cylindrical, of soprano or alto length, and played right hand uppermost, three fingers down. The lower (left) hand shows only two fingers. The upper wrist is very low, suggesting a thumb hole.

Master of the Burnham Collection – see Bonanal Zaortiga

Master of Boethius

Fifteenth-century French illuminator active  ca 1450-1475

• Des cleres et nobles femmes: Minerva Crowned (early 15th century), illumination on parchment, Master of Boethius (op. ca 1450-1475). London: British Library, Royal 20 C V  f. 15. From an anonymous French translation of Giovanni Bocaccio’s De claris mulieribus (On Famous Women), a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women, first published in 1374. Here, Minerva, crowned, instructs men in making armour, while a man uses counters and another plays a cylindrical pipe, right hand uppermost. Although a window/labium is not depicted there is no sign of a reed or pirouette so this probably represents a duct flute (flageolet or recorder).

Master of Canapost [Master of Seu d Urgell]

Late 15th-century Spanish (Catalan) painter known by two different names whose artistic personality is apparent in a small group of works from Canapost, Girona and Seu d’Urgell, Puigcerdà and Perpignan.

• Retaule de la Mare de Deu de la Llet (ca 1470), oil on wood, Master of Canapost. Girona: Museo d’Art. Ref. Museum of Art, Girona: postcard No. 25 (detail, col.); Gudiol (1986: 1002); Rowland-Jones (1996, 2a: 10); Vicens & Barral (2002, col.); Ballester (1990: 152-153 & pl. 56); Website: gallica (2012, b&w). Originally the altarpiece of the Virgin from S. Esteve, Canapost, near Girona. The Virgin and Child are entertained by angel musicians playing vielle and a narrow, cylindrical duct flute (flageolet or recorder).

Master of Cappenberg – See Jan Baegert

Master of the Carnation (Berner Nelkenmeister) Swiss, op. 1466-1510

A name given to a group of anonymous painters whose works included carnations, symbolic of the Passion of Christ; they worked in workshops in Solothurn, Bern, Zürich and Baden producing religious wall and panel paintings.

• Coronation of Mary (1508-1509), tempera on panel, 102 × 117 cm,  Master of the Carnation (1466-1499). Detail.  Zürich: Schweizerisches Nationalmuseum — Landesmuseum, Kapelle des Kappelerhofs, Inv. DEP-838.1-2. Ref. Wikimedia Commons (2016, col.) Mary is crowned sitting between Christ (with sceptre) and God the Father (with orb) as a dove hovers above. On the right of the throne angels sing; on the left angels play harp and two duct flutes, probably recorders, the beak and window/labium clearly depicted. An interesting feature of the recorders depicted is the absence of sidewalls to the window/labium which can be seen in a number of 15-16th century depictions of recorders and survives well into the 18th century (see Li Virghi 2011). Atop the two pillars of the throne tiny angels play lute and a marine trumpet.

Master of Castelsardo

Italian artist who owes his name to the splendid altarpieces that are conserved in the Cathedral of Sant’Antonio Abate, Castelsardo; he is considered an artist of the first rank in the period in which Sardinia had become a meeting point for the trends of the Italian Renaissance and the Flemish and Catalan schools; active late 15th and early 16th centuries.

• Virgin Enthroned (after 1492), tempera and oil on panel, Master of Castelsardo (late 15th century). Castelsardo (near Sassari): Duomo di Sant’Antonio Abate. Ref. Angelo Zaniol (pers. comm., 2003). One of four polyptych elements painted before 1492 using a combination of tempera and oil on wood with a background of gold depicting the Madonna with Child and angelic musicians, the Trinity with cherubs (winged putti) and tetramorph, the Arcangel Michael and in the two compartments of the predella, the Apostles Philip, Bartholomew, Mathias and Matthew. Here, six rather grim-looking musical angels surrounding the Virgin and Child play vielle (fretted), lute, harp, guitar (with a distinctive sickle-shaped peg-box), jingle ring, and a slender shawm (the pirouette clearly depicted). On top of the back of the throne two cherubs play slender cylindrical duct flutes (possibly recorders) and a third plays a bagpipe.

Master of Le Champion des Dames, French

French illuminator and tapestry designer; known from 182 illuminations distributed in eight manuscripts, and from two tapestries; active around Lille during the second half of 15th century.

• The Nine Muses (1441-1442), from Martin le Franc (1410-1461), Le Champion des Dames, Master of Le Champion des Dames (late 15th century). Grenoble: Bibliothèque Municipale de Grenoble, Ms 875, fol. 365. Ref. Buchner (1961: fig. 136); Hindley et al. (1971: 90, b&w); Bowles (1983: pl. 12); Moeck (1984: August, col.); Zaniol (1984, November: 5); Rowland-Jones (1999c: 32-33); Hijmans (2005: 220); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-839 (2023, col.) The Nine Muses sing and play organetto, symphony, pipe & tabor, shawm, hammered dulcimer, straight trumpet, gittern and a cylindrical recorder of the Dordrecht kind.
• Francvouloir and Malebouche [Freethinker and Evil Tongue], (1441-1442), from Martin le Franc (1410-1461), Le Champion des Dames, Master of the Champion des Dames (late 15th century). Grenoble: Bibliothèque Municipale de Grenoble, Ms 352 Res. Ref. Buchner (1961: fig. 136); Moeck (1984: August, col.); Rowland-Jones (1999c: 32-3); Lasocki (2023: 43). A girl sits by a pool playing a cylindrical recorder of the Dordrecht kind. Beside her, Freethinker and Evil Tongue argue about her virtue!
• The Nine Muses (1451), from Martin le Franc (1410-1461), Le Champion des Dames, miniature, 4.6 × 8.4 cm, Master of Le Champion des Dames (late 15th century). Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, MS Fr. 12476, fol. 109v. Ref. Wangermée (1968: 17, pl. 7, col); Spruit (1969: 28); Alamire, Postcard C2 BEF200 (1996); Rowland-Jones (1999c: 32-33); Hijmans (2005: 220). The Muses play shawm (Euterpe, Muse of music and lyric poetry), organetto (Urania, Muse of astronomy), double pipes (Melpomene, Muse of tragedy), slide trumpet (Caliope, Muse of epic poetry), rebec (Clio, Muse of history), a small cylindrical pipe, possibly a recorder (Polyhymnia, Muse of sacred hymns) and triangle (Erato, Muse of lyric and erotic love poetry), and sing (Thalia, Muse of comedy and pastoral poetry). This manuscript of a long poem by Martin le Franc, inspired by the Roman de la Rose, is a dedicatory copy prepared for Philip the Good, whose arms appear on it. The copyist, J. Boignan d’Arras, signed his work and dated it on fol. 147v.

Master of the Cité des Dames

Prolific French illuminator, active in Paris during the first two decades of the 15th century; named after the five or more copies of Christine de Pisan’s Cité des Dames illustrated by the Master and his workshop; his early work is closely related to that of Jacquemart de Hesdin, with whom he executed the Barcelona Hours (ca 1401; Barcelona, Bib. Central, MS. 1850); both artists used the same Italianate method of modelling flesh tones with green under-paint, and many of Jacquemart’s figures and compositions were adopted by the Master of the Cité des Dames; although the Italian elements in his work are pronounced, it has been argued that he came from the Netherlands in consideration of his evocation of realistic detail in scenes of domestic and city life, his innovative treatment of landscape, and his distinctive rendering of interior space and architectural settings.

• From L’Epître d’Othéa: Midas Judging the Contest Between Pan and Apollo, from Christine de Pisan: Oeuvres (1410-1414), illumination, attributed to the Master of the Cité des Dames and his workshop, French. London: British Library, MS Harley 4431, fol. 108R. Ref. Archiv Moeck; Boragno (1998: 13, b&w); Rowland-Jones (2006c: 6 & fig. 4, col.); Warburg Institute (2013, b&w). King Midas gets donkey’s ears by making a false judgement (stultitia) between Phoebus Apollo, playing a harp, and Pan, playing a cylindrical duct flute (probably a recorder). In the text, the latter is called both ‘frestel’ and ‘flaiol’, and the harp is called a lyre. Boragno (loc. cit.) gives the date as ca 1450 and may thus refer to a later edition such as that edited by Jan Miélot (Flemish, after 1460). In a slightly earlier version of this illumination by the Master of the Epistle of Othéa (1406) the recorder is of square profile.

Master of Cologne – see Stephan Lochner

Master of the Death of the Virgin – see Joos van Cleve

Master of the David Scenes in the Grimani Breviary

Italian illuminator whose workshop specialized in manuscripts with rich and special border decoration for their rich and wealthy clientele; fl. Bruges, around 1500.

• Triumph of David, from the Breviary of Cardinal Grimani (1490-1510), attributed to the Master of the David Scenes in the Grimani Breviary (late 15th century). Venice: Biblioteca San Marco, fol. 288v. Ref. Mellini (1972: 46); Rasmussen (1999, Lute); Website: “What a Piece of Work is a Man”, Reading the Body in Medieval Manuscripts. Part V: The Body in Pieces (2008, col) The subject of this full-page miniature is the defeat of Goliath by the young David, who felled the giant with a stone from his sling, and then cut off his head with his own sword. Here David is portrayed as a conquering hero, leading Saul’s army into camp, bearing the severed head on the point of Goliath’s sword. The Welcoming Women play rebec, harp, lute and duct flute (tabor pipe or recorder. The window/labium of the latter is clearly depicted, but only the head is visible, the remainder being hidden behind the harpist. In the background we see David hurling his stone at Goliath.
• The Month of May, from the Hours of Joanna I of Castile (1496-1506), attributed to Master of the David Scenes in the Grimani Breviary (late 15th century). London: British Library, Ms Add. 18852, fol. 5v. Ref. Kren (1983: 62); Rasmussen (1999, Lute); Website: Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord (1 May 2012 , col) A Book of Hours, use of Rome,  made for Joanna I of Castille (1479-1555), Queen of Castile from 1504 and of Aragon from 1516.  On the left-hand folio is a miniature of a man and two ladies on a pleasure trip. The ladies sing and play lute; the man is listening but holds a flared-bell pipe which Rasmussen (loc. cit.) describes as a recorder but which could just as easily be a shawm. The boat is piloted by two figures that bear a strong resemblance to grotesques: the one at the bow propels boat with a long pole; the one at the stern plays a bagpipe whilst operating the rudder with his feet.

Master of Delft

Netherlandish painter named after the wings of the Triptych with the Virgin and Child with St Anne by the Master of Frankfurt, which is now in Aachen; the Master’s works display the influence of Cornelis Engelbrechtsz, and he also incorporated quotations from the early prints of Lucas van Leyden; op. ca 1490-1520.

• Triptych, central panel: Nativity (op. ca 1490 – 1520), Master of Delft (op. ca 1510), Netherlandish. Utrecht: Museum Catharijneconvent. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). to the right of the Virgin are three musical angels. One plays bagpipes, one sings from music, and a third plays a slender cylindrical recorder. The window/labium is clear, the left hand is held lowermost with the middle and little fingers lifted, the other two down. All fingers of the upper (right) hand are down.
• Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels (1505-1515), 84.5 × 68.0 cm, Master of Delft (op. ca 1490-1520). Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, Inv. SK-A-3141. Ref. Friedländer (1973, 10: no. 62, pl. 47); Visual Collection, Fine Arts Library, Harvard University, 374.M3926.34[a]; Rassmussen (2002, Bagpipe); Arnold den Teuling (pers. comm., 2008). The central panel of a triptych. The Virgin sits in a garden, the Child on her lap. Before her are two Sibyls, one with a book, the other with a flower. To her right is Joseph. Background music is provided by three musical angels, to her right. One of the latter plays bagpipes, one sings from music, and a third plays a slender cylindrical recorder. There is a hint of a window/labium, the left hand is held lowermost with the middle and little fingers lifted, the other two down. All fingers of the upper (right) hand are down. Similar to the above or, perhaps, one and the same.

Master known as ‘DS’ (16th century), German.

• Typus Musice from Gregor Reisch Margarita philosophica [Pearls of Wisdom] (1503, Johanne Schottus, Freiburg im Breisgau), woodcut, Master known as ‘DS’, German. Washington: Smithsonian Libraries, SIL-SIL7-22-01 (1503 edn); Cambridge: Harvard University, Houghton Library (1508 edn); Erfurt: Angermuseum (1515 edn), Amplonius Library (1516 edn); London: Science Museum (1535 edn – coloured); Vienna: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek. Ref. Haas (1928: 106); Peter (1958: 43); Leichtentritt (1956: cover); Reisch (1970: cover); Archiv Moeck; Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002); Schmid (1994: 247-260, figs 1 & 2); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-3151 (2-23, col.) The illustrations in the first edition were designed by Alban Graf, a graduate of the University of Basel; some of the woodcuts vary greatly between subsequent editions. A personification of Music is surrounded by players of harp, lute, organ and recorder who seem to be being conducted by a man with a long stick. The recorder is cylindrical and played right-hand down (including the little-finger). To the right, Pythagoras holds a pair of scales. Note that Jubal working at his forge is not present, here. The 1516 edition spells the author’s name as ‘Reiss’. “The illustration is exactly the same; presumably the appearance of a man [Pythagoras] with the scales in it is a [visual] pun!” (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.) An adaptation of this woodcut appears in a 16th-century Italian miniature, probably from an Italian edition. A very different illustration of Typus Musices (sic.) by an anonymous artist, also including a recorder player, appeared in the Grüninger edition (Strassburg, 1504) and the fourth edition (1517).
• Typus Musices (sic.), from Gregory Reisch Aepitoma Omnis Phylosophiae, Alias Margarita Phylosophica, Tractans de omni genere scibili : Cum additionibus …, published by Grüninger, Strassburg – as Argentina, (1504), woodcut, ?after Master known as ‘DS’, German. Berlin: Bibliothek für Bildungsgeschichtliche Forschung, Nachweis: VD 16 R 1034Verf. Ref. Frings (1993: 152, fig. 12); Ausoni (2009: 13). A personification of Music is surrounded by players of harp, lute, organ and recorder who are being conducted by a man with a long stick. The recorder is cylindrical and played left-hand down (including the little-finger). To the right, Pythagoras holds a pair of scales. In the background, Jubal works at his forge. This also appeared in the 1517 edition. A very different illustration of Typus Musice (sic.) by the Master known as “DS” appeared in the original (Strassburg, 1503), and a number of subsequent editions.
• Typus Musices (sic.) from Gregory Reisch Margarita Philosophica (1517), print, ?after Master known as ‘DS’, German. Leiden: Universiteit, Bibliothek. A female personification of Music holds a manuscript surrounded by musicians singing and playing organ, harp, lute, organ, and a cylindrical pipe, probably a recorder. An old bearded man (Pythagoras) holds a pair of scales; behind him Jubal works at his forge. Gregorius Reich’s Margarita Philosophica [Pearl of Knowledge] dates from 1503 and was first published in Germany. This version, printed in France, is identical to that of the Grüninger edition (Strassburg, 1504).
• Untitled, from Gregor Reisch’s Margarita Philosophica [Pearls of Wisdom] (1508, Strassburg), woodcut, Master known as’ DS’, German. Ref. Bock (1924, #21); Wiese (1988: fig. 36); Reisch (1970: cover); Archiv Moeck. A man and two women frolic on a patio beside a culvert. They are entertained by two naked musicians one of whom sings whilst the other plays a slightly flared recorder (all fingers of the lowermost hand cover holes). In the distance boats lie offshore and birds fly overhead.

Master of Egerton 1070

French miniaturist who may have been Netherlandish by birth, but his known activity is linked to Paris where he worked from ca 1405-1420.

• Book of Hours: Tree of Jesse (ca 1418, Master of Egerton 1070. New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, M. 919, folio 23r. Ref. Ford (1988: #539 & cover illustration); Rowland-Jones (2006: 7 & fig. 5c). Illustration for ‘Liber generationis Jesu Christi’, Book of Matthew. In the Middle Ages the prophecy of Isaiah that a Messiah would spring from the family of Jesse, the father of David, was interpreted visually as a genealogical tree at the foot of which was the reclining figure of Jesse. On the branches of the tree appear the ancestors of Christ. It culminates in the Virgin and the Saviour. In this example, seven kings play instruments: a fiddle, lute, recorder, harp, gittern and portative organ. David plays a harp (right border). The pipe is of tenor size, slender and cylindrical, and the hands are placed as if for a recorder, but a third of the instrument is below the player’s lower hand, and the detailing at his mouth is unclear. There could be a tuning hole at the bell end, a characteristic associated with the shawm, although the ring decoration and the slightness of the flare at the bell suggest that it might be a recorder, which would be more appropriate than a shawm to appear amongst the bas instruments played by all the other kings in this particular band. Amongst the former owners of this manuscript was the English art critic of the Victorian era, John Ruskin (1819–1900).

Master of Egon – see Master of the Brussels Initials

Master of the Epistle of Othéa

Anonymous illuminator active at the beginning of the 15th century  probably of Lombard origin, influenced by Giovannino dei Grassi (m. 1398); he owes his name to the copy by the Duke Jean de Berry of L’Epître d’Othéa by Christine de Pizan kept at the National Library of France (under number 606) of which he is one of the three illuminators, with the Master of Egerton and the Saffron Master. Originally, the manuscript was part of an important collection bringing together several works by Christine de Pizan and now divided into five volumes.

• From L’Epître d’Othéa: Midas Judging the Contest Between Pan and Apollo, from Christine de Pisan: Oeuvres (ca 1406), illumination,  Master of the Epistle of Othéa. Pairis: Bibliothèque nationale de France, Français 606, f. 14r. King Midas gets donkey’s ears by making a false judgement (stultitia) between Phoebus Apollo, playing a harp, and Pan, playing a cylindrical duct flute (probably a recorder). In the text, the latter is called both ‘frestel’ and ‘flaiol’, and the harp is called a lyre. Sadly, Midas preferred wind instruments to strings and was given the ears of an ass for his pains. Remarkably, the profile of the recorder in this illustration is of square profile. In a slightly later version (1410-1414) of this illumination attributed to the Master of the Cité des Dames and his workshop (London: British Library, MS Harley 4431, fol. 108R) the recorder is clearly cylindrical in profile.

Master of the Female Half-Lengths

The group of works traditionally given to the Master of the Female Half-Lengths are now thought to be in large part the product of an Antwerp workshop of Netherlandish painters specializing particularly in half-length depictions of the Magdalene and elegantly dressed young ladies. They are shown reading, writing or playing musical instruments, usually in a wood-panelled interior. Some of the women are represented with an ointment jar, the attribute of the Magdalene. The workshop also produced a group of landscapes.

• The Clavichord-player (early 16th century), oil on panel, 44 × 31 cm, Master of the Female Half-Figures (early 16th century). Poznań: Muzeum Narodowe w Poznaniu, Inv. MNP FR 442. Ref.  Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, illustration 1000279590, col.) An elegantly attired young woman sits at a table playing the clavichord. Beside the instrument is an ornate bronze ointment jar. On a shelf behind her, beside a window, a perfectly depicted one-piece recorder with a flared bell leans against a column. The window/labium and holes for 7 fingers (the lowest doubled) are clearly depicted.

Master of the Fiesole Epiphany [Maestro dell’Epifania di Fiesole]

Italian painter probably from late 15th-century Florence known from a large panel representing the Epiphany of Christ in the church of San Francesco in Fiesole; he was possibly the same person as Filippo di Giuliano (1449-1503), an artist who shared a workshop with Jacopo del Sellaio (ca 1441–1493) in Florence after 1473.

• Coronation of the Virgin (c.1490–c.1510), Master of the Fiesole Epiphany (late 15th century). Florence: Galleria della Accademia, Inv. (1890) 496. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002); Website: AllPosters.com (2013, col); Website: Catalogo generale dei Beni Culturale (2022, col.); Website: Lute Iconography LI-1459 (2023, col.) Angels play lutes, viola da braccia, psaltery, tambourine, and  two wind instruments, probably shawms.  One of the wind instruments has a key and fontanelle for the little finger; the other is played left hand uppermost, but shows eight finger holes in line and paired holes for the little finger of the lowermost hand and thus possibly a recorder.

Master of [Maestro de] Fonollosa (15th century), Spanish

Spanish painter of a series of anonymous early fifteenth-century works from Osona and Bages which have a stylistic affinity and are preserved largely in the Episcopal Museum; his art makes use of a palette of varied and contrasting colors, rather than the pastel colors of the Italian gothic style, and approaches the world of international gothic introduced by Lluís Borrassà; there is also a desire to represent reality more truthfully. Gudiol & Alcolea i Blanch (1986: 100) have suggested the possibility that this master can be identified as the painter Nicolau Verdera, possibly a native of Girona, recorded as active in Vic in the early years of the 15th century.

• Altar-piece, centre panel: Virgin and Child (1410), painting on panel, Master of Fonollosa (15th century). Barcelona: Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. Ref. Ballester (1990: 156-157 & fig. 64); Rowland-Jones (1997a: 11 & fig 9A; 1997b: fig. 8A, b&w; 2006c: 20-21 & fig. 20, b&w); Website: gallica (2011, b&w); Lasocki (2023: 41). Originally from Centelles (Osona), near Zaragosa, which, like Valencia, was one of the centres of music-making of the Aragonese court away from its principal location in Barcelona. The Virgin and Child are surrounded by angel musicians playing vielle, harp and two duct flutes (flageolets or recorders), one small and one large. Rowland-Jones (1997a, loc. cit.) suggests this is the first representative in art of a tenor recorder.

Master [Maestro] Francesco [Master of the Teaching Christ]

Italian artist who worked in the late Gothic Tuscan tradition involving lavish use of gold, during the last years of the 14th century and the early years of the 15th century.

• Madonna and Child Enthroned (ca 1400), wood panel, 138 × 68 cm, Master Francesco (late 14th – early 15th century). Florence: Ospedale degli Innocenti, Inv. AFS 236505. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). The Madonna and Child are surrounded by angels one of whom plays a narrowly conical pipe. The instrument has a very narrow mouthpiece and there is no sign of a window/labium. The outstretched thumb of the upper hand may indicate the presence of a thumb hole. This and the low wrists and careful placing of the fingers, including that of little finger of the lowermost hand offset may indicate that a recorder was intended, and the context of the subject calls for soft music. If it were a recorder it would be the earliest representation in Italian art.

Master of Frankfurt [? Hendrik van Hueluwe]

South Netherlandish painter of the St Anna Altar (ca 1505) made for the Dominican Priory in Frankfurt (now in the Städelsches Kunstintitut, Frankfurt) and to whom some some 40 paintings are attributed; he seems to have run a large and very active workshop in Antwerp from around 1490 until about 1520. Although we do not know his name, there is a portrait of the Master of Frankfurt and his wife in the Royal Museum in Antwerp; he has been tentatively identified as Hendrik van Hueluwe, a free Master in Antwerp from 1483 onwards and a prominent member of the artists’ Guild of St Luke during the early 16th century.

• Holy Family with Music-making Angels, panel, Master of Frankfurt (op. 1460-1520). Liverpool: Walker Art Gallery. Ref. Sale Catalogue, Sotheby’s, London, 3 February (1954: No. 101); Friedländer (1971, 7: cat. no. 131, pl. 104); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). The Virgin feeds the Christ Child whilst she is being read to by a Joseph. They are serenaded by angels playing harp, rebec, lute and a slender flared pipe. The little finger of the lowermost hand is covering its hole, so this may have been intended to represent a recorder rather than a shawm, which would be far too loud in this context. However, the pirouette of a shawm is clearly depicted and there is no sign of a window/labium. In the foreground is a monkey. The composition of the Walker’s panel is similar to works painted by other artists, in particular a picture now in a Lisbon museum. During the 15th and early 16th centuries it was quite common for artists to borrow whole compositions as well as details from other artists. It is thought that both the painter of the Lisbon picture and The Master of Frankfurt took their composition from an unidentified earlier picture by another artist – possibly Joos van Cleve, one of the major Antwerp artists at this time.

Master of the Glorification of Mary

German painter, active in Cologne (1460-1480); named after a series of paintings of the Vigin’s life.

• Glorification of Mary (1470), tempera on oak panel, 108.7 × 93.4 cm, Master of the Glorification of Mary (op. 1460-1480). Worms: Museum Heylshof, Inv. 002. Ref. Linde (1991: 82 – b&w); Angelo Zaniol (pers. comm., 2003). The Virgin and Holy-Child surrounded by a glory of angels, many of whom play musical instruments including fiddle, lute, organetto, lute, psaltery, harp, hurdy-gurdy, and three cylindrical duct flutes (possibly recorders).

Master of Gysbrecht van Brederode

Netherlandish illuminator who, between 1465 and 1470, produced nearly all the miniatures in a breviary for Gijsbrecht Brederode; his work is known from nine other books of hours, and a bible for Evert Zoudenbalch; active 1450-1475.

• Hours of Gysbrecht van Brederode: Coronation of the Virgin, illlumination, 10.5 × 7.0 cm, Master of Gysbrecht van Brederode (fl. ca 1450-1475). Liège: Université de Liège, Bibliothèque, MS Wittert 13, ff. 13v-14r). Ref. Website: Université de Liège, Bibliothèques; Brassinne (1924). The Virgin and Child surrounded by a mandorla are crowned by two angels. Amongst the marginal decorations are a bird, the head of a man with glasses, and musical angels playing harp, rebec, pipe and tabor, lute, and a cylindrical recorder. The beak and window/labium of the recorder are clearly depicted.

Master known as ‘HB’ = Hans Brosamer

Master known as ‘HL’

German sculptor, wood-carver and engraver active in the Upper Rhine (c.1511-1526) who has remained anonymous to this day, known only by the monogram featured on those works attributed to him.

• Coronation of the Virgin (1526), wooden sculpture, Master known as ‘HL’ (op.1515-1526). Detail. Breisach: St Stephensmünster. Ref. Walter Bergmann (ex Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm., 2003, b&w). Two hands hold an elaborate crown surmounted by a dove above the Virgin’s head. The crown itself is richly carved with angel musicians playing organetto, lute, gittern, and a slender flared pipe (possibly a duct flute). On the far left-hand side a fifth angel can be seen playing a pipe with a much wider flare.

Master of the Holy Blood [Maître du Saint-Sang]

Anonymous Netherlandish painter of the triptych of the Lamentation that belonged to the Bruges Brotherhood of the Holy Blood. Some 30 works have been attributed to this Master, who has been characterized as a competent but unassuming practitioner; active in Bruges c.1530.

• Holy Family with an Angel (c.1500-1520), panel, Master of the Holy Blood (op. c.1530). Private Collection; shown Central Picture Galleries, New York (1960). Ref. Advert, Le Conoisseur, April 1960; Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie 21322 (2001). To the right of Mary, an angel plays a short duct flute held in the right hand, the left hand lower but obscured. The mouthpiece and window/labium are very clearly depicted.

Master of the Holy Night (op. early 16th century), Germany

• Holy Family, Master of the Holy Night (op. early 16th century). Bonn: Landesmuseum (formerly Provinzial Museum). Ref. Cohen (1927: pl. 33); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). Angels play fiddle, harp, lute and recorder. “Cf. sale, Sotheby’s, 26 June 1964, lot 8. Similar to an early 16th century German painting in Madrid, Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.

Master of the Housebook [Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet]

German engraver and painter named for a series of vigorous and sophisticated drawings of everyday life found in the Hausbuch at Castle Wolfegg; many of his engravings are in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; his work is thought to have influenced Bosch, Bruegel, and Dürer; he is apparently the first artist to use drypoint, a form of engraving, for all of his prints (other than woodcuts he may have designed); born 1430/5, died after 1480.

• The Fool Marcolf and his Wife Polikana Dancing (ca 1480), engraving, Master of the Housebook (1430/5 – op. 1480). Ref. Lehrs & Mayor (1969: no. 549); Hutchinson (1972: 175); Filedt Kok (1985: no. 107); Rasmussen (2004, Bells). The fool has a recorder in his sock and two large pellet bells on his jacket (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
• From Venus and Mars, fol. 14r: Apollo (The Sun) and his Children (ca 1480), Master of the Housebook (1430/5 – op. 1480). Schloss Wolfegg, near Ravensburg; Berlin: Gemäldegalerie; Paris: Bibliothèque National, Print Collection. Ref. Graul (1934: pl. 6); Waldburg Wolfegg (1480/1997: 35, pl. 18); Mirimonde (1977: 210, fig. 133); Welker (1983: 121); Moeck (1984: September, b&w); Paris RIdIM (1999); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001); Blazekovic (2003: fig. 12.4a); Hijmans (2005: 216); Website: gallica (2012, b&w). An illustration in a medieval house-book. Children play in and around a walled garden; some sing and play musical instruments, including two shawms, trumpet, and bagpipe; one lad holds a lute under his arm and a small tabor in the other hand. A young couple feed a falcon on a table watched by another couple. In a chapel, a priest prays, and a woman gives alms to a cripple seated on the porch. A jester figure leans over a small wall and pipes along with the singers on a cylindrical duct flute (flageolet or recorder) with window/labium and four finger holes visible. Both his hands are on the upper part of the instrument. Behind, youths play various games including wrestling and jousting. Above, Apollo rides across the sky on a magnificent steed, a sceptre in one hand, a banner on a spear in the other.Venus and Mars contains illustrations of the planets, gardens of love and jousting tournaments, medicinal and household remedies, as well as chapters on mining and the art of war. Completed around 1480, this unique book is particularly famous for its meticulous draughtsmanship. Active in the Middle Rhine region, the illustrator, who portrayed his world with sensitivity and wit, exercised a considerable influence on his younger contemporary, Albert Dürer. The identity of the artist and his patrons, however, still remain a mystery, though some of the illustrations are thought to be by the Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet. For over 300 years this world-renowned manuscript has been kept in the collection of the Princes of Waldburg Wolfegg at Schloss Wolfegg near Ravensburg, Germany.

Master of the Incredulity of Saint Thomas = Bartolomeo Mendozzi

Master known as ‘J.H.’ (op. 1647-1666)

• Bacchic Procession of Putti, Master known as ‘J.H.’ (op. 1647-1666). Disley: Lyme Hall, Great Staircase, South wall. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2003). A long landscape-shaped composition of great merit. A putto at centre left plays what could be a soprano duct flute, perhaps a recorder. It is not at all clearly painted. Note by Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.)

Master Jocomart – See Jaime Baco

Master of the Joseph Sequence [Master of Affligem]

South Netherlandish artist active in Brussels (1490-1500), named after a series of tondi illustrating the Legend of St Joseph. Eight panels with scenes from the Life of Christ and the Life of the Virgin from the Abbey of Affligem have been attributed to the same painter and give the artist his alternative name.

• Joseph Sold to the Ismaelites, Master of the Joseph Sequence (op. 1490-1500). Berlin: Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Gemäldergalerie. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). At the top of the painting, a group of shepherds sit on a grassy knoll having a picnic lunch. One of their member stands behind them, apparently playing a pipe, though this is obscure.

Master of James IV of Scotland

A Flemish manuscript illuminator and painter most likely based in Ghent, or perhaps Bruges, in the period c. 1465–1541 . Circumstantial evidence, including several larger panel paintings, indicates that he may be identical with Gerard Horenbout (fl. 1515-c.1541). He was the leading illuminator of the penultimate generation of Flemish illuminators. The painter’s name is derived from a portrait of James IV of Scotland which, together with one of his Queen Margaret Tudor, is in the Prayer book of James IV and Queen Margaret, a book of hours commissioned by James and now in Vienna. He has been called one of the finest illuminators active in Flanders around 1500, and contributed to many lavish and important books besides directing an active studio of his own.

• Spinola Hours: May, (c. 1541),  illumination in tempera colors, gold, and ink on parchment, leaf 23.2 × 16.7 cm, workshop of the Master of James IV of Scotland (c.1465-c.1541). Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig IX 18, fol. 3v. Ref. Website: Lute Iconography LI-1169 (2023, col.); Website: Wikipedia, Spinola Book of Hours (2021). In the largest of four illuminated panels surrounding the calendar for May, two men on horseback cross a stone bridge, followed by a bird catcher on foot. A boat drifts in the river below with an oarsman at each end – the man at the rear drinking from a flask. There are three passengers, one of whom plays a small lute, another a slender pipe, possibly a duct-flute (recorder or flageolet). In the background are a farm and a small castle with a moat.

Master of Lanaja = Blasco de Grañen

Master of the Leafy Embroidery [Master of the Embroidered Foliage]

A catch-all name referring to a group of painters active in Brussels and Bruges in the late fifteenth century who created a number of works that include foliage depicted in an almost mechanical technique, with small luminous raised marks, reminiscent of embroidery stitches; known from conflations or copies of Rogier van der Weyden’s work; active ca 1495-1500. Recent research suggests that some of the paintings attributed to this Master were in fact not created by a single artist. Instead, they were probably painted by different artists using a common source that circulated within one or among several workshops (Exhibition: Medieval Mystery, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2004).

• Triptych: Virgin with Child and Three Angel Musicians with St Catherine and St Barbara, oil on oak panels, 158 × 123 cm (centre panel) 158 × 57 (wings), Master of the Leafy Embroidery (op. ca 1495-1500). Polizzi Generosa (Sicily): Chiesa Madre. Ref. Friedländer (1968, 4: 129, pl. 111); Paris RIdIM (1999); Rasmussen (1999, Lute); Website:  Friedländer 3.0 Database (2016, col) Part of an altarpiece in the style of Memling, to whom this work has been attributed. The Virgin reads a book to the Christ-child flanked by four musical angels, two per side: on the left, angels sing; on the right they play lute and a cylindrical duct flute (flageolet or recorder). The bell of the latter instrument is hidden and the window/labium is quite clear, but the disposition of the fingers seems haphazard. In the side panels two Holy Virgins are depicted with the attributes of their martyrdom: on the left, St Catherine of Alexandria with a sword and a book; on the right, St Barbara with palm and beside the tower where she was imprisoned. Initially placed in the Church of St. Mary of Jesus of PP. Minor, its arrival in Polizzi is shrouded in legend. Considered the most beautiful painting of Flemish Sicily, it has been variously attributed to Memling or Van Eyke or Van der Weyden. There is another version (with angel playing fiddle as well as lute- and recorder) in a private collection in Palermo (see below).
• Virgin and Child with Six Music-making Angels, oil on wood panel, 174 × 135 cm, Master of the Leafy Embroidery (op. ca 1495-1500). Paris: Louvre, Inv. RF1973-35. Ref. Gábrici (1924/25: 145-161); Besseler (1931: pl. XIII); Pirro (1940: opp. p. 80); Clsson & Borren (1950: 56); Sale catalogue: Charpentier, Paris, 7 December 1951; Friedländer (1968, 4: 88, pl. 83); Lambotte (1935: pl. 17); Rasmussen (1999, Lute); Fischer (1972: 13); Paris RIdIM (1999); Website: Joconde (2010, col); Website: gallica (2012, b&w); Website: Friedländer 3.0 Database (2016, col.); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-1425 (2023, col.) In front of an embroidered screen, the Virgin with the Christ-child on her lap is crowned by two flying angels. On her right, angel musicians sing from a book a motet by the English composer Walter Frye (fl. 1450-1475), illustrated by this painting; on her left, angels play lute, vielle, and a small cylindrical duct flute (flageolet or recorder). The bell of the latter instrument is hidden and the window/labium is quite clear, but the disposition of the fingers seems haphazard. Another version can be found in Polizzi Generosa (see above).
• Madonna with Angel Musicians, Master of the Leafy Embroidery (op. ca 1495-1500). Paris: Collection Féral. Ref. Wiese (1988: fig. 16, b&w); Archiv Moeck. Mary and the Christ-child are surrounded by angel musicians singing and playing lute, vielle and a small, cylindrical duct flute (flageolet or recorder).

Master of the Legend of St George

Painter, active in Germany, apparently an immigrant in Cologne, possibly of Netherlandish origin; named after the St George altarpiece (Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne) the central panel of which is divided into four sections with multiple narrative scenes from the Life of St George; flourished 1460-1490).

• Altarpiece: Nativity, Master of the Legend of St George (op. 1460-1490). Cologne: Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, 117. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999: KNwr 113). Mary prays before the Christ-child; Joseph holds a candle; beasts eat from a trough in the barn behind. A choir of miniature angels sing, and two others parade with censor and mitre rather officiously. In the background, are shepherds and their dogs in a field of sheep. One of the shepherds stands cross-legged playing a duct flute with a clear window/labium, three holes showing beneath the player’s hand, and a Virdung-style bell end. An angel hovers above but, unlike the other shepherds and the dogs, the recorder-player doesn’t notice. In the foreground is a procession of visitors, including a man and two nuns. There are two shields bearing coats of arms at the bottom of the painting.

Master of the Life of Mary (fl 1460-1480), German

Active in Cologne (fl. 1460-1480); named after a series of paintings of the Vigin’s life in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.

• The Glorification of Mary (1470), tempera on panel, 108.7 × 93.4 cm, Master of the Life of Mary (fl. 1460-1480). Worms: Museum Heylshof, Inv. 002. Ref. Linde (1984/1991: p. 82, b&w). Mary and Child are surrounded by a heavenly choir accompanied by angels playing various instruments including shawm, organetto, lute, psaltery and 2 cylindrical duct flutes (flageolets or recorders).

Master of Longares = Enrique de Essencop

Master of the Louvre Nativity

Italian painter active in Florence (c.1460-1490), probably Fra Diamante (according to Bernard Berenson). Fra Diamante was a Carmelite prior and frescoist who was the friend and assistant of Filippo Lippi; born Prato (c.1430), died c. 1498.

• Altar-piece, centre panel: Nativity, ? oil/tempera/ wood, 166.5 × 166.5 cm, Master of the Louvre Nativity (op. c.1460-1490). Paris: Louvre, Inv. 338. Ref. Joconde Website (1999). Intended for the church of Santa Margherita de Prato. The Holy Family is shown before a ruined barn; animals look on; angels hover overhead; a shepherd sits amongst his sheep playing his pipe, probably a duct flute (possibly a recorder); in the distance are a river and a walled town. The composition is very similar to a Nativity painted in fresco in Spoleto Cathedral, where Fra Diamante worked from 1467 to 1469 with Filippo Lippi, and even after the latter’s death in 1469.

Master of the St Lucy Legend

South Netherlandish painter and draughtsman who takes his name from a group of some 45-50 paintings linked stylistically to the panel of the Legend of St Lucy (1480; Bruges, St Jacob); The Master’s paintings are technically proficient reworkings of established themes; the static compositions, cool colours and subdued emotion of his works give his paintings a solemn, rather than expressive, effect; active ca 1475-1505.

• Mary Queen of Heaven (ca 1485), oil on panel, 199.2 × 161.8 cm (panel: 201.5 × 163.8 cm), Master of the St Lucy Legend (fl. c.1475-1505). Detail. Washington: National Gallery of Art, Samuel H. Kress Collection 1952.2.13. Ref. Canfalonieri, in Fabbri (1964, 1: 103 – detail); Remnant (1981: 116, pl. 96, b&w); Ford (1986: 36); Website: gallica (2012, b&w); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-1805 (2023, col.) Depicts three facets of Marian iconography: the Virgin’s corporeal assumption, the Immaculate Conception—the crescent moon and the radiance behind her identify Mary as the Woman of the Apocalypse, mentioned in Revelation 12:I—and the Coronation of the Virgin. Mary is supported by angels and surrounded by a host of angel musicians singing and playing three shawms, folded trumpet, vielle, two harps, dulcimer, two lutes, positive organ and a trio of flared-bell recorders of different sizes (soprano, alto and tenor). Two of the singing angels hold books bearing legible texts and notation. This music, which is the source of the painting’s title, has been identified as derived from a setting of the Marian antiphon, Ave Regina Caelorum, by Walter Frye (d. 1474/1475), an English composer whose works were popular on the Continent, particularly at the Burgundian court.

Master of the Lyversberg Passion

Flemish artist who worked in Cologne, known for a number of altarpiece sections formerly in the Lyversberg Collection which are now to be found at Cologne and Nuremberg; active 1460-1490.

• Coronation of the Virgin (ca 1463), painting, 110.6 ×  113.0 cm, Master of the Lyversberg Passion (op. 1460-1490). Detail 1. Detail 2. Munich: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammaster, Inv. WAF 621. Ref. TIBIA – Musikbilder auf Postkarten, Series 3, Nr 1 – Ed. Moeck Nr 11103 (1987, col) Thomson & Rowland-Jones (1995: 14, fig. 7); Card Aid, London: postcard 41746, Angeli Musicali; CD Cover: A Christmas Tapestry, The Dolmetsch Ensemble, Fidelis (Harmonia Mundi) FIDCD 103; CD Cover: Lucente Stella, Pierre Hamon, Opus 111, OPS 30-122; Rowland-Jones (1999b: 13); Hijmans (2005: 216); Website: gallica (2012, b&w); Wikimedia Commons (2008, col.); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-1421 (2023, col.); Lasocki (2023: 41). This altarpiece was donated to the church of St Ursula in Cologne by Johann von Hirtz (m. 1481). Mary is crowned by God the Father and God the Son, the Holy Spirit hovers above. Angels hovering below hold up the throne, and a host of angel musicians on either side sing and play three large cylindrical recorders accompanied by gitterns and harps (left), and three smaller recorders accompanied by sackbut, lutes and vielle (right). However, the lower hand of each recorder player is occluded by the angel in front. This painting has also been attributed to the Master of the Life of Mary.

Master of the Mailänd Offertory (16th century)

• Holy Family with Priest and Angel Musicians, Master of the Mailänd Offertory (16th century). Berlin: Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Gemäldegalerie. Ref. Wiese (1988: fig. 20, b&w). A man reads from a book to a boy whilst angel musicians play lute, vielle and a slender pipe (possibly a recorder).

Master of the Manassei Chapel (late 14th century), Italian (Florentine)

Thought by Berenson to have been Angelo [or Agnolo] Gaddi di Taddeo (ca 1350-1396), by Salvrini to be the Master of Vicchio di Rimaggio (op. ca 1390), and by Zeri to be a follower of Angelo Gaddi, etc., etc.

• Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels, Master of the Manassei Chapel (late 14th century). São Paulo, Brazil: Museo d’Arte São Paulo. Ref. Boskovits (1975: 241, fig. 420); Brown (1985: 266, #315, b&w). “Two angels play shawms or recorders” (Brown, loc. cit.) The reproduction is very indistinct: there is no bell flare, but too much of the instrument is below the lower hand to suggest a recorder. Shawms or single duct flutes would be my suggestion here” (Rowland-Jones, pers com.)

Master of Maria am Gestade (op. ca 1460), Austrian

• Altar-piece: Coronation of Maria, 202 × 161 cm, Master of Maria am Gestade. Vienna: Redemptoristenkloster. Ref. Pächt (1929: 19); Liesbeth van der Sluijs (pers. comm., 2001). Against a Gothic balcony, God the Father (centre right) crowns the kneeling Maria (center left). Small female angels arrange Maria’s cloak. At the bottom right, three small female angels sing from a book. On the balcony, is an orchestra of small angels who play before church windows. To the right are players of ? tenor recorder, triangle, shawm, cornetto, and singers. To the left players of lute, harp, vielle, and singers. In the middle are an organist, a lutenist, and four singers. This composition is cruciform and symmetric, and the figures are light and lively. Notes by Liesbeth van der Sluijs (loc., cit.)

Master of the Mazarine Manuscript (fl. 1410-1415), French

• Heures à l’usage de Paris: Annunciation to the Shepherds (1410-1415), illumination on parchment, 24.8 × 17.4 cm, Master of the Mazarine Manuscript (fl. 1410-1415). Paris: Bibliothèque Mazarine, ms. 0469, f. 056v. Ref. Master of the Mazarine Manuscript (1410-1415). Long attributed to Maître de Boucicaut, but now to Maître de la Mazarine, named after this manuscript. A scene in the centre of a page illustrates Luke 2,9 depicting the three shepherds seated on the ground look upwards at three angels, one of whom holds a banner reading [G]loria in [altissimis] deo” (Luke 2,14). Their sheep graze, a dog looks back at its master. One of the shepherds holds a duct flute in his left hand. A number of finger holes are visible and their is a hint of a windway/labium.In the lower left corner, a scene illustrating Luke 2,8 depicts Shepherds Watching their Sheep. One shepherd sits beneath a tree leaning on his hand; the other leans over a rock playing a duct flute with a slightly flared bell, his dog curled up in front of him. There is the hint of a window/labium and a number of finger holes are visible.

Master of the Milan Adoration – See Jan de Beer

Master of Olot

The anonymous late 15th-century Spanish painter of a series of altarpieces parish church of St Stephen at Olot, Santa Cristina Hermitage, Rigardà and elsewhere in a Flemish-influenced style; the suggested identification of this artist as Miquel Torell (op. 1471-1487) is controversial.

• Altarpiece dedicated to Saint Eulàlia: Virgin and Child (1470-1487), panel, Master of Olot (15th century). Detail. Location: Rigardà: La iglesia paroissiale Sainte Eulalie et Sainte Julie. Ref. Ballester (1990: 176-177 & pl. 103); Rowland-Jones (1996: 14, fig. 12, b&w, detail); Recorder Magazine 25(4): (2005: 142 & front cover, col.); Website: gallica (2012, b&w). Originally from a nearby monastery which escaped the destruction of the French Revolution. Restored 40 years ago, but most of the work was to preserve the wood, especially the panel joins, with not much pictorial touching up. Between two angel musicians, the Holy Child sits on Mary’s lap reading from a book. The angel on the left plays a lute; that on the right plays a flared tenor-sized recorder with double holes for the little finger of the lowermost hand which looks almost too good to be true.

Master of Ottobeuren [Meister von Ottobeuren], German (Memmingen)

• Christ being Crowned with Thorns (ca 1510-1515), Master of Ottobeuren (possibly Hans Thomas), wooden sculpture, German. Hamburg: Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe. Ref. Rowland-Jones (1998: 129, fig. 6, b&w). “With great force two men beat the crown of thorns deep upon Christ’s head, while a curly-haired younger man kneels beside Christ and puts in his hand what at first looks like a short stick or baton. It could be the ‘reed in his right hand’ mentioned in Matthew ch. 27, v. 29, but the object is here being put into Christ’s left hand which may have symbolic intent. Moreover, the upper end is shaped roughly conically as if it were the beak of a duct flute and the bottom end is bored out some way up, which suggests that the ‘gift’ might be a pipe of some kind. The face of the man is badly damaged around his nose and mouth, but his eyes seem to express hate. Christ bows his head in anguish, hardly noticing the insult which would be implied by a pipe. His eyes are closed” (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)

Master of the Ovile Madonna – see Bartolomeo Bulgarini

Master of Perea [Maestro de Perea] (late 15th century), Spanish

Little known Spanish Gothic painter active in Valencia in the late 15th century; he was amongst those that first adopted the innovations of the Quattrocento; his style combines Italian-style landscapes properly constructed according to their geometric perspective with the older Gothic style in the rendering of the figures and the application of gold leaf to some surfaces; his name refers to an altarpiece made for Pedro de Perea in the church of the monastery of Portacoeli.

• Altar-piece of Santa Ana, panel: Anunciation to St Joaquin, Master of Perea (late 15th century). Xàtiva: College. Ref. Ballester (2001: 13, fig. 4, b&w). Depicts the appearance of an Angel who inform the Saint that that his wife will give birth to a daughter of whom the Messiah will be born. According to legend, San Joaquin dedicated himself to the care of his flocks and was indeed in the fields when the Angel appeared to him, so it is not surprising that that the artist represents his companions as shepherds. Thus, in the foreground beneath the Saint, stand two shepherds; another kneels, a flared-bell pipe (possibly a duct flute) stuck through his belt.

Master of the Pollinger Panels [Meister der Pollinger Tafeln] (15th century), Bavarian

German (Bavarian) artist (possibly Gabriel Angler, fl. 1434-1482); one of the most distinctive artists in early Bavarian painting who created a series of paintings formerly in the convent church at Polling, two from an altarpiece depicting the life of the Virgin; eight others illustrate the foundation of a monastery and formed the wings of an elaborate cruciform altarpiece.

• Birth of Christ (1444), Master of the Polling Panels (15th century). Munich: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen 814 (formerly German National Museum, Inv. 4565). Ref. Peter (1958: 43); Munich RIdIM (1999, Mstag – 814, b&w & Ngnm – 90). Altarpiece dedicated to the Virgin Mary, from St Augustine’s Church, Pollinger, Nuremberg. ” … a group of angels is gathered around the crib. Some of them are kneeling in a circle round the Christ-child in adoration; a little to one side, at the head of the crib, there stands a group of angels making music. Three of them are singing from an open Codex, whilst three others are accompanying the singers on a treble recorder, a regal and a harp” (Peter, loc. cit.) Another group of musical angels at the bottom right of the painting sing to the accompaniment of lute and vielle. The recorder is cylindrical perfectly depicted, the window/labium clear and the fingers all covering their holes correctly.

Master of the Prayer Book of 1500

Flemish painter of illuminated manuscripts active in Bruges; his name is derived from a collection of devotional manuscripts from the same artist dating to about the start of the 16th century; notwithstanding his name, the Master is best known for the work he did painting secular images, incorporating details from daily life in a number of his original narratives; his interest in courtly life, as well as the daily activities of the lower classes, may be seen as well in his paintings for calendars; op. 1485 – c.1520.

• Book of Hours: Virgin and Child (1490-1500), illumination, ca 17.7 × 10.0 cm, Master of the Prayer Book of 1500 (op. 1485 – c.1520). Paris: Musée Marmottan Monet: Wildenstein Collection, No. 152, M.6307. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2004). The fifth of ten illuminations from a Book of Hours published in Bruges. The Virgin suckles the Holy Child. Facing her are two musical angels, one playing a clearly depicted tenor recorder, left hand lowermost, all fingers on, and the right thumb flatly covering its hole underneath. The mouthpiece is beaked and the window/labium is clear.
• Roman de la Rose: Dance of Mirth (ca 1490-1500), Master of the Prayer Book of ca 1500, ? Bruges. 394 × 292 mm, London: British Library, Harley MS 4425, f. 14v. Ref. The Museums & Galleries Collection: postcard KGB90 (1995); Brassy (1999). Musicians play pipe & tabor, harp, and a flared-bell recorder with the window/labium area and a hole for the little finger of the lowermost (right) hand clearly shown

Master of the Putti [Maestro dei Putti] (op. 1680-1690), Italian

• [Faun], sculpture, Master of the Putti (op. 1680-1690). Vicenza: Palazzo Leoni Montanari, Sala dei Fauni. Ref. Brugnolo Meloncelli & Cevese (1993: 75, col.); Paulo Biordi (pers. comm, 2002). Watched by a bust of a woman with elaborately coiffured hair, a young satyr plays a conical duct flute (probably a recorder). The windway/labium and five finger holes are clearly visible, the lowermost not offset. Although wide, the bell has very thick walls indicating that the bore is not particularly flared.

Master of the Saluces Hours (15th century), French

The Saluces Book of Hours dates from the second half of the 15th century (probably the third quarter). Although it came from Saluzzo, the illuminator’s name is derived from that part of Savoy which is now in France.

• Mary with the Child and Angel Musicians, from the Saluces (Savoy) Book of Hours (ca 1460), illumination, Master of the Saluces Book of Hours. London: British Library, MS. Add. 27697, fol. 105 v. Ref. Calendar: Musica 1970 (Bärenreiter); Archiv Moeck; Paris RIdIM (1999); Walter Bergmann (ex Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm., 2003). The Virgin and Holy Child, enthroned, are surrounded by musical angels. Those on the left play tambour, psaltery, nakers, shawms and a duct flute (possibly a recorder) the beak and window/labium of which are clearly visible. Those on the right play lutes, harp, organetto, triangle, pipe and tabor. Three angels appear to be singers.

Master of Seu d Urgell – See Master of Canapost

Master of the St Thomas Altarpiece – See Master of the St Bartholomew Altarpiece

Master of La Secuita [Maestro de La Secuita] (15th century), Spanish

• Altarpiece of the Virgin (1425-1440), tempera and gold leaf on panel, Master of La Secuita. Tarragona: Museu Diocesà. Ref. Gudiol (1986: 574); Ballester (1990: 184-185 & pl. 118); Rowland-Jones (1996: 11, fig. 7, b&w; 1999c: 33); Pedros (2007: 176 & fig. 73, b&w); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-1435 (2023, col.) The central panel depicts the Virgin and Child surrounded by four angel musicians playing lute, harp, psaltery, and a duct flute with rather more holes than fingers. The lowermost finger hole of the latter is clearly doubled, which makes it quite likely that this represents a recorder. Pedros (loc. cit.) attributes this work to Pascual (or Pascasi, or Pasqual) Ortoneda (doc. 1421/3-1460), possibly a nephew of the painter Matthew Ortoneda (doc. 1391-1433).

Master of the Stockholm Musicans (17th century), Dutch

• [Shepherd with a Recorder], 78 × 62 cm, Master of the Stockholm Musicians (17th century). Location unknown: auctioned P. de Boer, Amsterdam (1945), attributed to Dirk van Baburen. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague, Negative L34200; Ruth van Baak Griffioen (pers. comm., 2003). A man in a loose-fitting shirt holds a hand-fluyt, the foot of which is out of frame.
• Young Woman with a Recorder, after Jan van Bijlert (1598-1671) by the Master of the Stockholm Musicians (17th century). Private Collection; auctioned by Sotheby’s, London (9 December 1981), Lot. 78. Ref. Sotheby’s, Sale Catalogue; Buijsen & Grijp (1993: 224-227, fig., b&w); Wind (1997: vol.2, cover, col.) Attributed to Gerrit van Honthorst (1590-1656) by Sotheby’s (loc. cit). Identical to Bijlert’s Girl with a Flute in the Art Gallery of New South Wales (see above), Sydney and an unsigned version in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.

Master of the Teaching Christ Master = Master Francesco

Master of the Trapani Polyptych

Early fifteenth-century Italian artist, most likely a Sicilian, influenced by contemporary Tuscan painters.

• Virgin with Child and Angels, painting, Master of the Trapani Polyptych (early 15th century). Detail (restored). Palermo: Galleria Regionale della Sicilia Palazzo Abatellis, Inv. 18. Ref. Brown (1980; 1986: #540, b&w); Thomson & Rowland-Jones (1995: 4, pl. 2B); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000; 2006c: 15 & fig. 14, col) From the monastery of S. Martino alle Scale, Palermo. Formerly attributed to Turino Vanni (fl. 1390-1427), Italian (Sicilian). The Virgin and Child are surrounded by six angels. An angel on the lower left-hand corner of the painting plays a double pipe. Another on the lower right-hand corner plays a duct flute which may be a flageolet or a recorder. The instrument, with its beaded foot piece, is strikingly suggestive of the Dordrecht recorder, the lower tenon of which had provision for just such a foot-piece. However, the fingers are deployed in a ‘four-plus-two’ fingering suggestive of flageolet playing. Since the photograph reproduced in Thomson & Rowland-Jones (loc. cit) was taken, this painting has been allowed to deteriorate considerably but has recently been restored, minus the angel’s little finger on each hand and with the halo partially obliterated. Also there are slight signs of a little finger hole, probably added by the restorer who assumed the instrument to be a recorder rather than a flageolet (perhaps he was an admirer of Howard Mayer Brown). Anyone now looking at the picture would assume it is a recorder, despite earlier evidence to the contrary.
• Coronation of the Virgin with Saints Peter and St Paul, painting, Master of the Trapani Polyptych (early 15th century). Detail. Palermo: Galleria Regionale della Sicilia Palazzo Abatellis, Inv. 24. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000); California State University Systems: World of Art Web Kiosk (2002, col.) From the Church of St Pietro la Bagliata, Palermo. The Virgin is crowned by Christ. A panel to the left depicts St Peter; that on the right St Paul. Beneath the Virgin, angel musicians play straight trumpets, organetto, fiddle, harp and lute, and two play identical cylindrical pipes. On the pipe on the left, three finger holes for the upper (left) hand are clearly visible, and although only three fingers of the right hand seem to be used the index finger seems to be operating two holes. On the pipe on the right only one finger of each hand is covering its hole, but there are a further two holes visible above and a further two below the lower (left hand). Thus these instruments very possibly represent recorders, though there is no window/labium visible on either.

Master of the van Morrison Triptych (15th century)

Two works containing recorders previously thought to be by this artist are now attributed to an anonymous Netherlandish Master of the early 16th century.

Master of the Vitae Imperatorum

Italian illuminator, amongst the foremost of those employed at the court of the Visconti; active Milan (1431-1459).

• Pontifical: marginal decoration (1433 to 1438), illumination on parchment, 35.0 × 25.5 cm, Master of the Vitae Imperatorum (1431-1459). Cambridge: Fitzwilliam Museum, MS 28 Surrounded by birds of various kinds, two putti sit on either side of the papal coat of arms, one playing a small lute, the other playing a flared-bell pipe, possibly intended to represent a recorder.

Master of the Vraie cronicque descoce

Flemish illuminator, a follower of Willem Vrelant (ca 1450-1475). The extraordinary focus on recorders in the illuminations detailed below is similar to those by an anonymous artist in a 15th-century French manuscript version of the Eclogues held in the Bibliotheque Municipale, Dijon.

• Virgil, Opera omnia, Volume 1, Eclogues, follower of Willem Vrelant (illuminator), Bruges: Flute-playing Contest Between Menalcas and Dametas with Palemon as Judge (ca 1450-1475), illuminated miniature on vellum, 10.0 × 9.5 cm, Master of the Vraie cronicque descoce (15th century). The Hague: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB, 76 E 21 I, Fol. 20r: min. Ref. Koninklijke Bibliotheek: Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts (2002). Surrounded by sheep and a pert looking cow, Palemon leans on his staff listening as Menalcas and Dametas play their recorders. One shepherd has a further three recorders in a bag suspended from his waist; the other has two more in a sling around his side. The instruments are cylindrical and of plain profile; the window/labium and the characteristic paired holes for the little finger of the lowermost hand are clearly depicted.
• Virgil, Opera omnia, Volume 1, Eclogues, follower of Willem Vrelant (illuminator), Bruges: Mopsus and Menalcas About to Play a Song Eulogizing Daphnis, the Ideal Shepherd (ca 1450-1475), miniature on vellum, 9.0 × 9.5 cm, Master of the Vraie cronicque descoce (15th century). The Hague: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB, 76 E 21 I, Fol. 25r: min. Ref. Koninklijke Bibliotheek: Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts (2002). The two shepherds meet each other in a hilly pasture, recorders at the ready, their sheep following. The beak, and window/labium of each cylindrical instrument are clearly visible. On one the paired holes for the little finger of the lowermost hand are clearly depicted, but no other finger holes are visible. On the other the three uppermost finger holes are visible but the lower ones are covered by the player’s hand.
• Virgil, Opera omnia, Volume 1, Eclogues, follower of Willem Vrelant (illuminator), Bruges: Damon Complains to Alphesibeus About his Unrequited Love (ca 1450-1475), miniature on vellum, 9.0 × 9.5 cm, Master of the Vraie cronicque descoce (15th century). The Hague: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB, 76 E 21 I, Fol. 32r: min. Ref. Koninklijke Bibliotheek: Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts (2002). Two shepherds seem to be having a discussion about recorders: one has a recorder in a sling at his side, the other holds his up as if to make a point. A woman reads from a book at a podium. Beside her another shepherd plays his recorder earnestly. The characteristic window/labium and paired holes for the little finger of the lowermost hand are clearly visible in each instrument. In the background a bride and groom stand either side of a priest at the door of a church. In the center of the picture Damon clasps his hands beseechingly.
• Virgil, Opera omnia, Volume 1, Eclogues, follower of Willem Vrelant (illuminator), Bruges: Meris, Virgil’s Tenant, Brings Goats to Lyadas, the New Owner of Virgil’s Estate (ca 1450-1475), miniature on vellum, 8.0 × 9.5 cm, Master of the Vraie cronicque descoce (15th century). The Hague: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB, 76 E 21 I, Fol. 35r: min. Ref. Koninklijke Bibliotheek: Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts (2002); Recorder Magazine 23(3): front cover (2003: detail, col.) Meris drives his sheep (not goats) up the road leading to a castle. On the grass beside the road two shepherds sit playing their recorders, two more beside them on the ground. All four instruments are cylindrical, their window/labium and finger holes clearly depicted. One of the recorders on the ground has holes for 7 fingers, the lowermost paired.
• Virgil, Opera omnia, Volume 1, Eclogues, follower of Willem Vrelant (illuminator), Bruges: The Shepherds Commiserate with Gallus, Because Lycoris has Left him (ca 1450-1475), miniature on vellum, 8.0 × 9.5 cm, Master of the Vraie cronicque descoce (15th century). The Hague: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB, 76 E 21 I, Fol. 37r: min. Ref. Koninklijke Bibliotheek: Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts (2002). Gallus, lying prostrate on the grass is surrounded by his friends leaning on their staves, and their sheep. Two of the shepherds have recorders in slings around their waists. Another shepherd sits on a rocky ledge nearby playing his recorder. All the instruments are cylindrical, their window/labium and finger holes clearly visible.
• Virgil, Opera omnia, Volume 2: Georgics, follower of Willem Vrelant (illuminator), Bruges: Farmers and their Livestock (ca 1450-1475), miniature on vellum, 7.0 × 9.5 cm, Master of the Vraie cronicque descoce (15th century). The Hague: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB, 76 E 21 I, Fol. 28r: min. Ref. Koninklijke Bibliotheek: Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts (2002). Two farmers stand amidst their sheep, pigs, cows and donkeys, a number of which are copulating. Behind them a shepherd sits on the grass playing a cylindrical pipe (probably a recorder) to some sheep.
• Virgil, Opera omnia, Volume 2: Georgics, follower of Willem Vrelant (illuminator), Bruges: Flute-playing Contest between Corydon and Thyrsis with Daphnis as Judge (ca 1450-1475), miniature on vellum, 9.0 × 9.5 cm, Master of the Vraie cronicque descoce (15th century). The Hague: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB, 76 E 21 I, Fol. Fol. 30r: min. Ref. Koninklijke Bibliotheek: Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts (2002). Daphnis sits beneath a tree, a recorder on the ground at his side. Corydon and Thyrsis stand beside him playing their recorders. One of the contestants has a second recorder tucked in a sling around his waist. The beak, window/labium and finger holes of each instrument are clearly depicted.

Master of the Västerås Triptych (op. Antwerp, ca 1515-1520), Flemish

• Virgin and Child, Master of the Västerås Triptych (op. Antwerp, ca. 1515-1520). Location unknown; sold Milan (1996). Ref. Burlington Magazine 138 (1996, col.); Die Weltkunst (1984, 54: 3485); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). “Three angels at the left sing and one plays a harp. Angels at the right play fiddle, lute and recorder” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Die Weltkunst (loc. cit.), ie Munich art market, attributes this to Jacob Cornelisz van Amsterdam; Rasmussen asserts that it is not. Not seen.

Master of Viella (late 15th century), Spanish

• Altarpiece: The Decapitation of Saint John the Baptist and the Feast of Herod, tempera, Master of Viella (late 15th century). Blanes (Barcelona): Private Collection. Ref. RIdIM/RCMI Newsletter 20 (1): 35 (1995). From the Retaule de Sant Joan Baptista. “On the right, Salome offers Saint John the Baptist’s severed head to Herodias, in front of Herod and a servant. On the left, the executioner sheathes his sword beside Saint John’s beheaded body. In the background, two minstrels playing two recorders.”

Master known as ‘WR’ (16th century), German.

• Musical Instruments (1524), Master known as ‘WR’, German. Erlangen: Universitätsbibliothek, Ms. B 200, fol. 128 r. Ref. Lutze (1936: S. 58 u. 69 f.); Scharenberg (1993); Archiv Moeck. Includes copies of illustrations from Virdung (1511) including trumpets, drums, kettledrums, and a pair of recorders.

Master XXX with an L (op. ca 1559), Netherlandish

• Vanitas (1559), engraving, Master XXX with an L (op. ca 1559). Ref. Hollstein (1949-2010, 13: 104, nos 1-2); Rasmussen (2002, Lute). “A man and a woman seated beside a table. Among the objects on the table are a lute and two ? recorders” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.)

Master of Zweder van Culemborg precursor, Netherlandish

Miniaturist, active in Utrecht (op. ca 1425).

• Book of Hours (use of Utrecht): Hours of the Holy Spirit: Sext: An Angel Making Music, illuminated initial and border decoration on vellum (ca 1425), 30 × 35 cm, Master of Zweder van Culemborg, precursor (illuminator), Utrecht. Detail. The Hague: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB, 133 M 131, Fol. 116v: hist. in. Ref. Koninklijke Bibliotheek: Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts (2002). A kneeling angel plays a cylindrical duct flute, possibly a recorder, the window/labium clearly depicted.
• Book of Hours (use of Utrecht): Hours of the Holy Spirit: None: An Angel Making Music, illuminated initial and border decoration on vellum (ca 1425), 30 × 35 cm, Master of Zweder van Culemborg, precursor (illuminator), Utrecht. Detail. The Hague: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB, 133 M 131, Fol. 119r: hist. in. Ref. Koninklijke Bibliotheek: Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts (2002). A seated angel plays a cylindrical pipe, probably a duct flute, possibly a recorder since the little finger of the lowermost (left) hand covers its hole.
• Book of Hours (use of Utrecht): Hours of the Holy Spirit: Compline: An Angel Making Music, illuminated initial and border decoration on vellum (ca 1425), 30 × 35 cm, Master of Zweder van Culemborg, precursor (illuminator), Utrecht. Detail. The Hague: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB, 133 M 131, Fol. 126r: hist. in. Ref. Koninklijke Bibliotheek: Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts (2002). A seated angel plays a cylindrical pipe, probably a duct flute, possibly a recorder since the little finger of the lowermost (left) hand covers its hole.

Jacob [Jacques] Matham

Dutch engraver, draughtsman and painter; born Haarlem (1571), died Haarlem (1631); stepson of the pre-eminent engraver Hendrick Goltzius, whose style he closely imitated; father of Theodor Matham (1605/6-1676).

• Proclamation to the Shepherds (1621), print after Veronese by Jacob Matham (1571-1631). Ref. Bartsch (1854-1870,4: 1309.206); Munich RIdIM (1999). One of the shepherds has a recorder in his belt.
• The Times of Day (series): Meridies [Midday] or The Passage of Phoebus, (1621), print after Karel van Mander by Jacob Matham (1571-1631). Ref. Bartsch (1854-1870, 3: 174, 177); Munich RIdIM (1999). The four times of day were Matin (Aurora), Midi (Phoebus), Soir (Venus), Nuit (Morpheus). Labourers in the field stop for lunch. One carries a bagpipe and a pipe with a sharp bell-end which could be a bagpipe chanter, shawm or recorder. The beak and windway of the latter are clearly depicted, side-on. Two finger holes are visible beneath the hand holding the instrument. Apollo (surprisingly) plays a hurdy-gurdy. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000).
• Satyr Admiring Sleeping Venus, print after Hans Rottenhammer the Elder (1564-1625) by Jacob Matham (1571-1631). Ref. Bartsch (1854-1870, 4: 193.180); Munich RIdIM (1999). The Satyr holds a recorder.
• Rest on the Flight to Egypt (1610), engraving by Jacob Matham (1571-1631), after Bartholomaeus Spranger (1546-1611) Ref. Bartsch (1854-1870, 4: 183/202); Rowland-Jones (2000f: 165 – figs, b&w). Mary holding the Holy Infant in one hand and the arm of the young St John the Baptist in the other as they stroll out of the picture to the right. Behind them, Joseph assisted by an angel and two putti tethers the horse, watched by a dog. A basket on the ground beside the dog contains Jospeph’s carpenter’s tools and a very likely ‘Virdung’-type recorder. The latter has a beaked mouthpiece and, although no finger holes are shown, the window/labium is clear. The foot has a marked turned bead above a strong but short bell flare. Is this one of the nativity shepherds’ gifts, or did Joseph make it himself? There could be a second, smaller recorder in the basket. Notes (in part) by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000).

Jacob Mattham le Jeune

Dutch printmaker best known for his engravings of works by Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617); born Haarlem (1571), died Haarlem (1631); stepson of artist Hendrick Goltzius; brother of engraver Simon van Poelenburgh.

• Meridies [Midday], engraving, Jacob Mattham (1571-1631)). Location unknown. Ref. Website: gallica (2012, b&w). It is mid-day and Phoebus Apollo rides across the sky in his chariot above a rural scene in which farmers are harvesting wheat, boatmen are transporting goods along a river, and shepherds are watching their goats. In the foreground right four shepherds and a shepherdess are taking a lunch-break. The shepherdess is opening a basket of food, a shepherd boy plays a conical pipe (possibly a small shawm), and a shepherd with a bagpipe tucked under one arm holds a cylindrical recorder in one hand, the beak and window/labium clearly depicted. A second hungry shepherd who holds a crook tugs impatiently at the shepherdess’ arm, and a third is holding what looks like another pipe of some kind the head of which is hidden behind his companion.

Theodor [or Dirk] Matham

Dutch engraver and draughtsman; born Harlem (1605/6), died Amsterdam (1676); son of Jacob Matham (1571-1631).

• Vanitas (1622), engraving, Theodor Matham (1605/6-1676). Haarlem: Gemeinde Archiv. Ref. Fischer (1972: 85-91). Through a double window-frame can be seen a room situated higher and further away in which a richly-clad company is banqueting, raising glasses to the accompaniment of music played by a group of musicians sitting on a balcony. Beneath the window is a cartouche with a skull and the title ‘Vanitas’. In the foreground is a table on which are a tray with glass goblets, a pewter wine flask with a long neck, a two-part song-book with music and four couplets by the priest-musician Jan Albert Ban, a cittern, lute, five-stringed cello and a wind instrument all but the flared bell of which is hidden behind the lute. The flared bell of the wind instrument, described by Fischer (loc. cit) as a ‘flute’, may belong to a recorder. There is also an open chest with gold coins and jewels and, on a cupboard, a cup with a cherub’s head. The complex symbolism of this work and its relationship to a number of sources are discussed at length by Fischer (loc. cit.)

Paolo de Matteis

Italian painter and silversmith working in Naples, Paris, Calabria, Genoa, Rome; painted frescoes, altarpieces and allegorical and mythological pictures; born Piano del Cilento near Salerno (1662), died Naples (1728).

• Child Holding a Mirror and a Flute, painting, Paolo de Matteis (1662-1728). Location unknown: auctioned 05/06/2002 (unsold) Ref. Gabrius Data Bank (2007, col.) A naked child reclines on a large orange cushion holding a mirror in his left hand and a slender, cylindrical duct flute in the right. The beak of the duct flute is clearly depicted but it could represent a flageolet or recorder. Possibly allegorical.

Matteo di Giovanni di Bartolo [Matteo da Siena]

Italian painter working in Sienna influenced by the discoveries and innovations of the early 15th-century Florentine school; born ca 1430?, died 1495.

• Assumption of the Virgin (probably 1474), tempera on wood, 33.5 × 174.0 cm, Matteo di Giovanni di Bartolo (ca 1430? -1495). London: National Gallery, NG1155. Ref. Howard (1945: 6-7, pl. 2, col); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-1216 (2023, col.) The painting, said to have been dated 1474, formed the centre of an altarpiece in S. Agostino, Asciano, near Siena where Matteo di Giovanni worked. Side panels representing Saint Michael and Saint Augustine survive in Asciano. The Virgin is surrounded by musical angels, six each side and eight beneath. To her right, one angel plays a pipe, probably a recorder as at least seven finger holes and the window/labium are shown. The mouthpiece of the instrument is of a different material (white) to the body; there are no double holes. An angel centre left plays a double duct flute; however these have enough finger holes (including paired holes for the lowermost vent) to be recorders. Other angels sing and play lute, tambourine (with jingles), nakers, sackbut (with bell over the shoulder), organetto, vielle, harp, rebec (with a ribbed back), and cymbals. Next to the harpist is another recorder player whose instrument is largely hidden but the bell-end is visible with the players third and little right-hand finger on their holes.

Ben Mathews

British artist who spent much of his working life in France and Spain; born 1889, died 1975.

• Man Playing a Recorder, oil on board, 76 × 51 cm, Ben Mathews (1889-1975). Northampton: Northampton Museum & Art Gallery. A man with a green face plays a slender, tenor-sized, near-cylindrical pipe the upper three holes of which are visible.

Taco Iwashima Matthews

Contemporary Japanese-born graphic artist whose website is here.

• [Recorder Player] (2001), Taco Iwashima Matthews (20-21st century). Ref. Chopin (2001); Taco. One of a series of illustrations of girls playing musical instruments. In this a slender girl walks off stage left, holding her neo-baroque recorder in one hand, a score in the other. Chopin is a magazine introducing American compositions, musicians, and schools to Japanese readers.

Pieter Matthijsz. (17th century), Netherlands

• Swag of musical instruments (1641), wood carving, Pieter Matthijsz. (17th century). Alkmaar: Grote Sing Laurenskerk, Van Hagerbeer/Schnitger organ, between shutters of the Rugpositief and the main chest. Ref. Bouterse (2009 – pers. comm.) One of two swags of musical instruments; one depicts harp, horn, flute, lute, ? oboe, tambourine (with jingle rings and pellet bells), and triangle; the other depicts horns, trumpet, violin, and a baroque recorder. Despite the date, the mouthpiece of the recorder looks very baroque, the rest (especially the foot rings) are more ‘transitional’. The case of the main organ was designed by the painter/architect Jacob van Campen (1595-1657). The case of the Rugpositief organ was made in the workshop of Van Hagerbeer in Leiden. Although the organ has undergone many repairs and renovations over the years, the original casework has been retained. Frank van Wijk, the current organist at the Laurenskerk in Alkmaar, confirms that the woodcarvings are from 1641 by Pieter Matthijsz. whose name and the year appear on the panels. More information about the organ and its history can be found here.
• Musical Putti (1641), wood carving, Pieter Matthijsz. (17th century). Alkmaar: Grote Sing Laurenskerk, Van Hagerbeer/Schnitger organ, hidden from view behind the shutters of the Rugpositief and the main chest. Two winged putti, one singing and the other playing what appears to be a small cylindrical recorder with a slightly flared foot. 

Broder Matthisen

German painter and printmaker; a follower of Rembrandt, his subjects include vanitas, pronk still lifes and still-lifes of fruit; active from1637, died Husum (1666).

• Vanitas (1664), oil on canvas, Broder Matthisen (op.1637-m.1666). Dresden: Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Cat. 1996A. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, illustration 356303 (2014, b&w). Beneath some open drapes, on a table partially covered by an oriental cloth, lie a skull, a cap with a large feather, an ornate goblet, a lute, a terrestrial globe, a columbine cup, a bible, books (some open, others closed), a watch and key, and a small cylindrical recorder with a slightly flared foot and seven finger holes visible (the lowermost offset) but the head hidden behind a small box. A column can be seen in the background.

Paulus Matthysz

Dutch music-printer, composer, publisher prominent in Amsterdam; probably an amateur recorder player himself, he published Jacob van Eyck’s Der Fluyten Lust-hof and a collection entitled ‘t Uitnement Kabinet; born 1614, died 1684. Three extant copies of Der Fluyten Lust-hof include the tutor Vertoninge en Onderwyzinge op de Handt-fluit (1649), presumably by Matthysz, and a tutor by Gerband van Blanckenburgh, Onderwyzinge hoeman alle de Toonen…op de Handt-Fluyt (1655/6).

• Vertoninge en Onderwyzinge op de Hand-fluit: Recorder (1649), Paulus Matthysz  (1614-1684). Ref. Morgan (1984); Legêne (1995: 110-114); Thiemo Wind (2006, pers. comm.); Website: Jacob van Eyck Quarterly 3 (2007). Part of part of the anthology ‘t Uitnemend Kabinet. Shows a recorder with an externally cylindrical profile. This illustration is identical to that published later by Gerbrandt van Blanckenburgh (1655/6).

Johann Conrad  von Mechel I (1642-1715) & Johann Conrad [called Hans Conrad] von Mechel II (1681-1734)

Members of a Swiss family of print-makers and publishers who were active in Basel for more than a hundred years (ca 1682-1812).

• Der Todten-Tantz: The Musician (1717), woodcut, Johann Conrad von Mechel I (1642-1715) & Johann Conrad von Mechel II (1681-1734).  Heidelberg: Universitätsbibliothek, Basel, 1724 [VD18 14296691]. Ref. Mechel (1724); Hagstrøm (n.d., accessed 2015). Amongst the material the Mechel-family inherited were Huldrich Frölich’s books about Basel’s Dance of Death mural. Frölich’s books combined texts from Basel’s and Bern’s dance of death (along with a Latin translation of Basel’s dance of death). With a few exceptions however, the illustrations were neither from Basel nor Bern, but were poor copies of Holbein’s dance of death. In their reprint of Frölich’s woodcuts the Mechels added a number of their own in their 1717 printing and subsequent editions, including The Musician, one of the few that actually shows a scene from the Basel mural. In the Mechel brother’s print, Death dances as he plays a six-string fiddle with frets. Around his waist is a rope belt supporting a rectangular box which dangles in front of him. The lid is open and a long hook of some kind projects from it. A musician holding a shawm dances with Death, holding on to the rope belt. On the ground, between the musician’s feet is a narrowly conical pipe, probably a duct flute (possibly a recorder) the beak of which is clearly clearly indicated; five finger holes are visible.A caption above the illustration reads:

Todt zum Kirbepfeiffer:
WAs wölln wir für ein Täntzle haben,
Den Bettler oder schwarzen Knaben,
Mein Kirbehans, Spiel wär nicht gantz,
Wärst du auch nicht an diesem Tantz.

Death to The Musician:
Which dance are we going to have?
“The Beggar” or “Black Boy”,
My Carnival-Hans? The play wouldn’t be complete
If you too were not in this dance.

A caption below the illustration reads:

Der Kirbepfeiffer:
KEin Kirb war mir Wegs halb zu weit,
Davon ich nicht hab bracht mein Beut:
Nun ists auß, weg muß ich mit Noth,
Die Pfeiff ist g’fallen mir ins Koth.

The Musician:
No church fair was so far away
That I didn’t earn from it.
Now it’s over, I’m obliged to go away.
The pipe has fallen from me into the dirt.

Although the lower caption describes the instrument on the ground between Death’s feet as “Die Pfeiff”, it is clearly beaked and thus likely to be a duct flute, perhaps a recorder.

Moshe Maurer (1891-1971)

Austro-Hungarian-born artist who emigrated to Holland and thence to London where he lived and worked; his oil paintings and watercolours depict everyday Jewish life and religious ceremonies, and stories from the Jewish ghettos; born Brody in Ostgalizien (1891), died London (1971).

• Street Music in Warsaw (1964), Moshe Maurer (1891-1971). Locality unknown. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). Two old Jews in the ghetto play a violin and what could be a flared-bell soprano recorder, although the instrument is unclear.

Lodovico [Ludovico] Mazzanti

Italian painter; works include religious and mythological subjects, and portraits; born Orvieto (1679), died 1775.

• Mercury and Argus, oil on canvas, Lodovico Mazzanti (1679-1775). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2000, b&w). Watched by Io (as a heifer), Mercury lulls Argus to sleep by playing on a slender, flared-bell pipe (possibly a recorder). Offered for sale with a pendant entitled Zephyr and Flora.

Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli

Italian painter and draughtsman of the Parma School; born Viadana (ca 1505), died Parma (ca 1569-1570); cousin and disciple of Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (Parmigianino), to whom many of his works have been attributed.

• Nativity, Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli (ca 1505 – ca 1569/70). Parma: S. Maria della Steccata. Ref. Bottari et al. (1966, 4: 347); Exhibition: Viadana, Sodalizio Amici dell’Arte, Disgeni di Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli (1971: no. 50); Universita cattolica del Sacro Cuore (1972: pl. 138); Visual Collection, Fine Arts Library, Harvard University, 372.M4597.22N[a]; Rasmussen (2002, Bagpipe; 2007, Flute). “Shepherds play recorder (pausing) and bagpipe. Three other figures (nude to the waist) play flutes of various sizes. One of them has a flute case at his waist.” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.)

Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola [Mazzuoli] = Parmigianino

Angelo Mazzoleni

Contemporary Italian painter working in Bergamo; his work has embraced the use of archetypes and symbols, primitivism, and neosincretismo; many of his works are paintings in oil or mixed technique on canvas, but he has also used acrylics, tempera, sand and special plasters and pastas, fabrics, and has modelled in clay and other materials; born Florence (1952). Web Page.

• Suonatrice di Flauto, oil on canvas, 70 × 60 cm, Angelo Mazzoleni (1952-). A woman in a red cap plays a slender conical pipe with one hand. There are far more holes than fingers!
• Sunoatoro di Flauto, oil on canvas, 90 × 50 cm, Angelo Mazzoleni (1952-). A man in a top hat wearing a checked jacket, shirt and pants and red shoes plays a slender, conical pipe. There are far more holes than fingers.
• Le tre Musiche, oil on canvas, 80 × 100 cm, Angelo Mazzoleni (1952-). Three naked women play rebec, keyboard and a slender, conical pipe. The pipe has far more holes than fingers.

Lodovico [Ludovico] Mazzolino [Mazzuoli, Manzulin or Mazzuoli da Ferrara] known as Il Ferrarese (ca 1480-p. 1530), Italian

Italian Renaissance painter active in Ferrara and Bologna; born Bologna (c.1480), died Ferrara (1528/1530).

• The Crossing of the Red Sea (1521), Lodovico Mazzolinio (ca 1480-p. 1530). Dublin: National Gallery of Ireland, Inv. NGI.666. Ref. Boydell (1985: 48, fig. 38). Amidst the confusion of Israelites on the right hand side of the painting, two men play slender duct flutes (flageolets or recorders) and another the drum.

J.G. Meall

English artist, active 1674-1675.

• Portrait of a Gentleman (1675), oil on panel, 40.6 × 32.0 cm, J.G. Meall. London: Christie’s, Sale 6068, Old Master Pictures, 16 December 1998, Lot 109. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Documentatie, illustration 44196 (2014, col) In the middle of a neglected weed-ridden field, a well-dressed man sits on a stone block amongst the ruins of a church, including an archway through which can be seen a windmill. His left arm is outstretched and in his hand he holds a small recorder, perfectly depicted. On the seat beside him is a flute. On a wall or bench beside him a violin and bow, an oboe, and a cornetto lie crossed over an open book of music. On the ground before him lie a rifle and a dead duck. In the lower left-hand corner is the coat of arms of the Uyl family. An unusual vanitas portrait.

Richard Meares (English)

• Frontispiece, A Compleat Method for Attaining to Play a Through Bass upon either Organ, Harpsichord or Theorbo Lute (1717), by Gottfried [Godfrey] Keller, published by Richard Meares, London, England. London: British Museum. Ref. Mirimonde (1974: 55, fig. 39); Paris RIdIM (1999). St Cecilia sits at a chamber organ surrounded by garlands of musical instruments. That on the right includes a trumpet, violin, oboe and turned baroque recorder.

Israhel & J. van Meckenem

Dutch printmakers (father and son with same name) who worked in Boscholt and Cleves (active 1450-1503).

• The Dancing Fool, 75 × 52, print, Israhel & J. van Meckenem (op. 1450-1503). Vienna. Ref. Strauss (1978, 23: 95, no. 13); Archiv Moeck; Rasmussen (2002, Horn). A fool dances, making music by scraping a brush on a cow’s jawbone. A curved horn hangs from his arm and, beneath his feet, lies a recorder of which the paired holes for the lowermost finger are clearly shown.
• Der Narr [The Jester], 75 × 52, print, Israhel & J. van Meckenem (op. 1450-1503). Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999); Bartsch (1854-1870, 9: 236); Rasmussen (2002-2004, Bagpipe). A fool with a bagpipe, and a recorder tucked into his belt, bells on his cap and sleeve and a bagpipe on the ground between his feet.

Barend van der Meer [Vermeer]

Dutch Golden Age painter of still-life and vanitas works, active in Haarlem and Amsterdam; born Haarlem (1659), died Haarlem (1700); son of landscape painter Jan van der Meer I (1628-1691) and brother of landscape painter Jan van der Meer II (1656-1705).

• Still-life with Silverware and a Shell, Barend van der Meer (1659-1700). Location unknown. Ref. Website: gallica (2012, b&w). On a shelf in front of a drape is a jumble of ornate silverware, shells, a decorated nautilus shell, flowers, a shawl, and a perfectly depicted soprano-sized hand-fluit. This still-life is not so still: something has just been thrown into a hexagonal bowl causing the water to splash into the air!

Reinier Megan [Meganck or Meganet]

Flemish printmaker and painter whose works include landscape, genre and vanitas subjects; born 1637, died 1690.

• Vanitas, Reinier Megan (1637-1690). Private Collection. Ref. Grijp (1998: 40, fig. 75). On a draped marble bench are a candlestick and lighted candle (almost burnt down), a skull, some books, a goblet, a rebec and bow, an hour-glass, a pocket watch, an open music book and an ivory duct flute only the head and first two finger holes of which are visible.

Johann Caspar [Kaspar] Meglinger (1595 – ca 1670), Swiss

Swiss artist; born Lucerne (1595), died (ca 1670); his works include the original 72 panels of the Dance of Death for the Spreuerbrücke (Mill Bridge) in Lucerne; he also painted barrels and sculptures and undertook other decorative work; son of stonemason and sculptor Michael Meglinger.

• Dance of Death, painting, Johann Caspar Meglinger (1595 – ca 1670). Lucerne: Spreuerbrück / Pont des Moulins. Ref. Paris RIdIM (2000). One of 16 triangular paintings affixed at intervals in the apex of the roof above the bridge. At the base of this one are coats of arms and a couplet either side reading:
  

  Leg him Bildhauer dein mensur
  Ein Todstreich hat geschlagen d’Uhr

  Ein Todtenlopf dein werk nachtracht
  Truk d augen zu so ist er gmacht.

  Sculptor, thy chisel lay aside,
  Or now thy doom doth thee betide.

  Close but thine eyes: thy work is done –
  A Death’s head stands where yet was none.

  The figure of Death (with a skull-like head) stabs to death a sculptor who fights back in vain with the chisel of his trade. On a balcony in the background between colonnades, a woman clad in a dress with a low-neckline and a halter, also with a death’s head, plays a flared-bell pipe (a reed pipe or duct flute, possibly a recorder); beside her a man plays a keyboard instrument.

Meissen Porcelain

Meissen porcelain or Meissen china was the first European hard-paste porcelain. It was developed by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus in 1708 whose work was continued by Johann Friedrich Böttger who brought porcelain to the market and has often been credited with the invention. The production of porcelain at Meissen, near Dresden, started in 1710 and attracted artists and artisans to establish one of the most famous porcelain manufacturers, still in business today as Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen GmbH. Its crossed swords logo, one of the oldest trademarks in existence, was introduced in 1720 to protect its production. Meissen dominated the style of European porcelain until 1756.

• [Musicians], porcelain figurines, 26 cm & 25 cm high, Meissen Porcelain (19th century). Jersey: Bonhams Sale 15317 – The Channel Islands Sale, 5 November 2007, Lot 5. Modelled as a gentleman playing bagpipes, a dog and sheep at his feet, his lady companion playing a baroque-style alto recorder, a sheep at her feet, both wearing detailed 18th-century costume, crossed swords mark, incised No. 3. The characteristic beak and window/labium of the recorder are clearly depicted. The foot-piece seems to have fallen off, and the player’s left hand clasps the head rather than the body of the instrument.
• Boy musician (c. 1780-1790), porcelain figurine, 11 cm high Meissen Porcelain. Knowles: Bonham’s Sale 16292 – European Ceramics, Glass & Asian Art, 8 July 2008, Lot 377. A boy standing and playing a pipe, wearing a light blue coat over black breeches, a puce scarf tied around his waist, on a square base with moulded border, crossed swords and star mark used during the Marcolini period of Meissen production. The bulbous beak of the instrument would seem to indicate a recorder; the foot is missing.

Johann Peter Melchior

German master porcelain modeler who worked for three German manufactories: Hochst, Frankenthal, and Nymphenburg; many of his models were based on Boucher’s paintings and demonstrate extraordinary skill in translating their delicate mythological or pastoral scenes into figure groups; as rococo figures went out of fashion as table decorations in the 1770s, Melchior contributed designs to neo-classical table-wares and figurines, adding playful putti and cupids to tureens and in relief on urns, and he fashioned classical busts that could either be painted and glazed to resemble bronze or left in the biscuit state; born Lintorf, now part of Ratingen near Dusseldorf (before 1747), died ? Munich (1825).

• Musical Goup: Woman Playing with Children, porcelain figurine, 21.6 cm high, Johann Peter Melchior (a. 1747 – 1825). Heidelberg: Kurpfälzisches Museum, Inv. Po 10. Ref. Munich RIdIM (2002, HDkm – 59); Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). The woman sits holding a duct flute in one hand, a roll of music in the other, a small boy on either side of her.

Andrea Meldolla = Andrea Schiavone

Altobello dei Meloni

Italian painter known for his expressionistic religious frescoes, and fine portraits; born Cremona (ca 1490), died ca 1547.

• The Madonna in Glory with Angels, Altobello dei Meloni (fl. 1497-1530). Cremona: Chiesa de S. Abbondio. Ref. Signori (1928: 59); Campi (1938: 184); Paris RIdIM (1999); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). The Virgin holding the Christ-child is surrounded by angels some of whom play musical instruments. Below her, three angels play two violas da braccio and lute; two flanking angels on each side play long cylindrical recorders with flared bells, their windows quite clearly shown.

Elif Memisoglu

Contemporary USAmerican graphic artist living and working in Passaic, New Jersey. Artist’s website.

• Untitled (2008), cover illustration, Elif Memisoglu (contemporary). Ref. American Recorder Journal 49(3): front cover (2008, col.) A stylised girl sits on a park bench a recorder in her lap, an earthworm beside her, and flowers, trees and butterflies around.

Hans Memling

Leading Flemish painter of the Bruges school during the period of the city’s political and commercial decline; his altarpieces, devotional diptychs and triptychs, and portraits are characterized by their gentle, sweet tranquillity; born Seligenstadt, near Frankfurt am Main ( ca 1430/35), died Bruges (1494).

• Triptych of the Mystical Marriage of St Catherine: right panel: St John the Baptist and the Evangelist (1479), painting, Hans Memling (ca 1430/35-1494). Detail. Bruges: Sint-Janshospitaal. Ref. AVM, Marconistraat 5, B-8400 Ostende: postcard; Peter (1958: 43); Hindley (1971: pl. 11, col.); Hijmans (2005: 218); Ausoni (2009: 163, col) Legend has it that St John the Evangelist, while exiled on the isle of Pathmos in the Aegean Sea, wrote down several letters and visions. These were compiled as the Revelation of St John. Here he is seen looking from his book to see Christ enthroned surrounded by the four living creatures int he forms of a lion, a calf, an eagle and a man, each with six wings. A lamb receives from God “a book written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals”. Around the throne sit the elders, i.e. the twelve patriarchs and the twelve apostles, at the head of the Church Triumphant, who sing and play various instruments. One elder tootles on a small cylindrical pipe, but seems to have no idea of what to do with his fingers. The pipe is a duct flute (flageolet or recorder), with the labium/window very clearly shown. To the right of the painting the second angel sounds the trumpet and a great mountain of fire is cast into the sea as one-third of all living beings perish and one-third of all ships are destroyed. The Virgin Mary with a crown of stars is threatened by a dragon with seven heads and ten horns (Satan), whose tail drags behind it a third of the stars in the sky, making them fall to earth. On the opening of the sixth seal, all the mountains and islands are removed from their laces and men hide themselves in caves among the rocks. The left panel of the triptych shows the beheading of John the Baptist; the centre panel depicts the mystic marriage of St Catherine.
• Triptych, central panel: Virgin and Child (15th century), anonymous copy after Hans Memling (ca 1430/35-1494). Madrid: Colección Adanaro. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999). The Virgin holds the Christ-child out to a young angel on her left. To her right, a second angel plays a long slender cylindrical pipe, possibly a recorder.

Bartolomeo Mendozzi [Bartolomeo della Leonessa, Master of the Incredulity of Saint Thomas]

Italian artist active in Rome during the second and third decades of the 17th century; one of Caravaggio’s accomplished followers, alongside artists such as Bartolomeo Manfredi, Nicolas Tournier, Valentin de Boulogne and Cecco del Caravaggio; born Leonessa (c. 1600), died 1644.

• Flute Player, oil on canvas, 49.0 × 57.5 cm, Bartlomeo Mendozzi (c.1600). Rome: Minerva Auctions (Finarte), Old Master Paintings and 19th Century Art, 25 November 2019, Lot 274, Sold. A man in a hooded gown plays a soprano-sized recorder, the beak, window-labium and upper body clearly visible.
• Recorder Player, oil on canvas, 48 × 65 cm, Bartolomeo Mendozzi (c.1600). Private Collection. Wikimedia Commons (2020-col.); Rome: Bertolami Fine Art,  Auction 55, Antique Paintings, Drawings and Frames, Lot 55, 14 November 2018.  A young man with curly hair holds a soprano-sized duct-flute (possibly a recorder), the beak, elongated window/labium and body with a slightly flared foot clearly visible but not the finger-holes.  One of a pair of paintings, the other depicting a flute player.

Anton Raffael [Raphael] Mengs

German fresco and portrait painter who settled in Italy and also worked in Spain, decorating the Royal Palaces at Madrid and Arunjuez; the leader of the neo-classical reform in painting and as highly regarded as Tiepolo in his day, though his frescoes seem dull and sterile now; born ? Dresden (1728), died 1779; son of a court painter of Dresden, Ismael Mengs (d. 1764).

• Parnassus (1761), oil on panel, 55 × 101 cm, Anton Raffael Mengs (1728-1779). St Petersburg: Hermitage. Ref. Levey (1959: 203, pl. 105); Website: Wikimedia Commons (2018, col.) This painting was a sketch for Mengs’s fresco of 1761 in the central part of the ceiling of the Villa Albani in Rome, commissioned by Cardinal Alessandro Albani. Apollo stands surrounded by the Muses who variously write, sing, declaim, dance and make astronomical observations. ? Euterpe (Muse of music and lyric poetry) holds two flared-bell pipes, one longer and more slender than the other. Neither seems to have a window/labium and only three finger holes are visible on each, so they probably represent cornetti rather than recorders. At the centre of this painting a spring gushes forth; and behind Apollo an old man lies in the bushes. Each Muse is depicted with her relevant attributes. Clio bears the features of Mengs’s wife Margarita, while Mnemosyne is a likeness of Vittorucchia, daughter of Countess Ceroffini.
• Parnassus (1780-1785), engraving by Raffaello Sanzio Morghen (1758-1833) after Anton Raffael Mengs (1728-1779). Rome: Villa Albani. Ref. Levey (1959: 203, pl. 105); Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Inv. AA5 (Mengs). An accurate print on the original painting by Mengs. Apollo stands surrounded by the Muses who variously write, sing, declaim, dance and make astronomical observations. ? Euterpe (Muse of music and lyric poetry) holds two flared-bell pipes, one longer and more slender than the other. Neither seems to have a window/labium and only three finger holes are visible on each, so they probably represent cornetti rather than recorders. At the centre of this painting a spring gushes forth; and behind Apollo an old man lies in the bushes.
• The Apotheosis of Trajan (1764), ceiling fresco, Anton Raffael Mengs (1728-1779). Madrid: Palacio Real, Gasparini Drawing Room. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). “Includes a group of women and putti, with a winged Father Time. The musicians include a singer with a lyre and a player of a small trumpet or cornetto, together with a young woman who blows one pipe in her right hand and holds another exactly parallel in her left. This may have been intended to refer to marriage symbolism. The pipes are of soprano/alto size, but the detailing is insufficient for identification” (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)

Hieke Meppelink

Contemporary Dutch figurative sculptor working in Haarlem; also a distinguished soprano specialising in baroque music. Artist’s web-site.

• Monument to Jacob van Eyck (2008), bronze statuette, Hieke Meppelink. Ref. Website: Cultuur in Groningen en omgeving (27 March 2008). A young man leans forward playing a stylised soprano-sized pipe, his hands and fingers well-deployed for recorder-playing, though it is not clear what note he is playing. Twelve copies of this were made.

Philip [Philippe, Pierre-Philippe] Mercier

French painter and etcher who worked in London; his works comprise domestic genre and conversation pieces; born Berlin 1689/1691, died London 1760.

• Lady Preparing for a Masked Ball, oil on canvas, 119 × 96 cm, Philip Mercier (1689-1760). Vienna: Dorotheum, 15 October 1996, Lot 122. Ref. Sale Catalogue, Dodrotheum, Vienna (1996: 122). A room full of bustling characters each looking wildly in a different direction! The central figure is a woman holding a mask in one hand and her little boy’s hand in the other. In the top left hand corner a man in a red jacket plays a clearly depicted baroque recorder of alto/tenor size, right hand uppermost.
• Rural Dance, oil on canvas, 47 × 58.4 cm, attributed to Philip Mercier (1689-1760). Vienna, Dorotheum, Old Master Paintings, 22 June 2010, Lot 148. In a forest glade, a man and a woman dance to music provided by musette (with double chanters) played by a man, a tambourine (with both jingle rings and pellet bells) played by a woman, and a conical pipe (possibly a recorder) played by a boy. Another young man holds a wine-glass. A small girl reaches out for her mother, one of the dancers. A couple in the bushes behind the central scene seem to find more interest in each other than in the merry-makers.

Matthäus Merian

Swiss-born engraver who worked in Frankfurt for most of his career, where he also ran a publishing house; he was a member of the patrician Basel Merian family; born Basel (1593), died Bad Schwalbach, near Wiesbaden (1650).

• Todten-Tantz (1616-1649): The Musician (1621), etching, Matthäus Merian (1593-1650). Basel: Universitätsbibliothek, FO IV 20:3. Ref. Merian (1625); Hagstrøm (n.d., accessed 2016). The Dance of Death was a mural in Basel some 30 metres long with 39 dancing couples made from c. 1440 onwards. It was made famous throughout Europe by the copperplates that Matthäus Merian created,  published in a series of editions from 1616-1649. Merian’s copperplates along with copies made by Jacques-Anthony Chovin, Beck (Lips & Spalinger), Abraham & Alexandre Girardet, Rudolf Feyerabend, Otto Stuckert, and Felix Schneider were published in countless editions through several centuries. It is important to note that when Merian first produced his copperplates the painting on which they were based was already some 200 years old and had been subjected to several restorations and changes, especially by Hans Kluber in 1568. In Merian’s print, Death dances and plays a six-string fiddle with frets. Around his waist is a rope belt supporting a rectangular box which dangles in front of him. The lid is open and a long hook of some kind projects from it. A man holding a shawm dances with Death, holding on to the rope belt. On the ground, between the musician’s feet is a narrowly conical pipe, probably a duct flute (possibly a recorder) the beak of which is clearly clearly indicated and five finger holes are visible. A caption above the illustration reads:

Todt zum Kirbepfeiffer:
WAs wölln wir für ein Täntzle haben,
Den Bettler oder schwarzen Knaben,
Mein Kirbehans, Spiel wär nicht gantz,
Wärst du auch nicht an diesem Tantz.

Death to The Musician:
Which dance are we going to have?
“The Beggar” or “Black Boy”,
My Carnival-Hans? The play wouldn’t be complete
If you too were not in this dance.

A caption below the illustration reads:

Der Kirbepfeiffer:
KEin Kirb war mir Wegs halb zu weit,
Davon ich nicht hab bracht mein Beut:
Nun ists auß, weg muß ich mit Noth,
Die Pfeiff ist g’fallen mir ins Koth.

The Musician:
No church fair was so far away
That I didn’t earn from it.
Now it’s over, I’m obliged to go away.
The pipe has fallen from me into the dirt.

Although the lower caption describes the instrument on the ground between Death’s feet as “Die Pfeiff”, it is clearly beaked and thus likely to be a duct flute (perhaps a recorder) rather than a fife as such.

Marin Mersenne (17th century), French

French priest, mathematician, natural philosopher and theologian; born near Oizé, Maine (1588), died, Paris (1648).

• Recorders (1636), engravings from Harmonie Universelle III: 237, 239, Marin Mersenne (1588-1648). Published by Sébastien Cramoisy, Paris. Ref. Pottier (1995: 136, pl. 11). Depicts more or less cylindrical, flared-bell recorders of various sizes.

Gabriel Metsu (also spelled Metzu)

Dutch painter of genre scenes of everyday middle-class Dutch life, executed with consummate taste in color and tone; he also painted some historical subjects, occasional portraits and still lifes; born Leiden (1629), died Amsterdam (1667); son of the painter Jacques Metsu.

• The Concert, 55.5 × 48.0 cm, Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667). Location unknown: formerly C. Benedict Collection, Paris. Ref. Robinson (1974: 209, fig. 181); Griffioen (1988: 440-441). a woman sits playing the virginals on a table. Seated on on end of the player a man plays a lute. Seated to the side and behind him another man plays a flared-bell recorder of alto size. Behind the virginals and to the right sits a woman, possibly a singer.
• Inspiration, oil on panel, 19.3 × 17.3 cm, attributed to Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667). Roermond: Private Collection. Ref. Bouterse (1995: 85-86); Moeck, Celle: TIBIA – Musikbilder auf Postkarten, Series 2(4), No. 11102 (col.); Website: Getty Research Institute, Study Photo Archive (1999); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Documentatie 186694 (2010, b&w); Website: gallica (2012, b&w); Waiboer (2012: D-31, rejected paintings). The painter himself as a young man plays an early baroque style recorder of simple design with flared, ornamented bell. He reads from music on a table supported by a small statue and an artist’s palette. This might almost be a companion piece for Berkheyde’s Self-portrait. Prior to 1977 this painting was in the collection of Hans A. Wetzlar, Amsterdam. Wetzlar died in 1970 and his vast collection was dispersed following the death of his widow in 1977 in an evening auction organised by Sotheby’s Amsterdam. The sale included this painting as Young Artist Playing a Recorder as Lot 21 (18.8 × 16.9 cm). 
• [Unknown], Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667). Whereabouts unknown. A woman plays a viol with a recorder and the same statue as above also depicted (Rowland-Jones, pers. comm.)

Quentin Metsys [Massijs]

Flemish artist, the leading painter in Antwerp from ca 1510 until his death; his eclectic style was borrowed from Leonardo, Dürer, van Eyck, van der Weyden and van der Goes amongst others; produced portraits, satirical or genre works, and religious paintings, the latter often against a mountainous landscape painted in aerial perspective; born ca 1465/6, died Antwerp (1530).

• Triptych The Lineage of Saint Anne: left panel: The Shepherd and his Sheep, Quentin Metsys (ca 1465/6-1530). Detail. Brussels: Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België, Cat. MA 299. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999); Website: gallica (2012, b&w). From an open window in a tower beside a village a figure looks out over the moat and across a pasture to a shepherd who is blowing a cylindrical flared-bell recorder, his bâton ou houlette (a shepherd’s crook with a wooden or metal scoop to pick up stones or clods to throw at his sheep in order to move them) in the crook of his arm supported by his shoulder. All fingers of the lower (left) hand are employed covering the holes of his recorder; the shadow of the window/labium of the instrument is clearly visible. The sheep seem to be enjoying the music.
• Nativity, School of Quentin Metsys (ca 1465/6-1530). Santa Barbara: Museum of Art. Ref. Gazette des Beaux-Arts 69 (1967); February: La chronique des arts, no. 1176, p. 68); Rasmussen (1999, Lute). “Angels play lute and recorder” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.)

Johann Georg Mettel (18th century), German

• Woman with a Flute Watched by an Old Man (1760), drawing on paper, 30.6 × 22.9 cm, Johann Georg Mettel (18th century). Darmstadt: Hessiches Landesmuseum, Inv. H2 AE 337. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999, DAhl – 149). A rather sallow-looking woman holds a turned baroque alto recorder in her right hand; in her lap is a musical score; behind her a sly looking bearded old man peers at her lasciviously. The woman, her posture, her music and her recorder bear a strong resemblance to N. Mettelli’s Flautist (Frankfurt am Main). The similarity between the artists’ names must be significant.

N. Metteli (18th century), Italian.

• Flautist, engraving after Franciscus von den Majn, by N. Mettelli (18th century). ? Milan. Ref. Angelo Zaniol (pers. comm., 2003); Il Laboratorio (1988). A woman holds a turned alto recorder in her right hand; in her lap is a musical score. The woman, her posture, her music and her recorder bear a strong resemblance to Johann Georg Mettel’s Woman with a Flute watched by an Old Man (Hessiches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt). The similarity between the artists names must be significant.

Johann Jacob Mettenleiter (1750-1825)

German-Russian artist, designer, decorator teacher; known for his genre-scenes and portraits born Grosskuchen, died Gatchina, near St Petersburg (1825); father of artist Paul Mettenleiter (1792/3–?).

• Portrait of a Man with a Flute (1784), oil on canvas, 45 × 32 cm, Johann Jacob Mettenleiter (1750-1825). Website: eBay (Germany), Item 111610783122 (March 2015). A blind man holds a baroque recorder only the head of which is seen, but the beak, window-labium and profile are perfectly depicted.

Christian Wilhelm Meyer

German sculptor and porcelain modeller active in Berlin; born 1761, died 1788.

• Boys Emblematic of the Senses (ca 1769-1770), 2 Berlin porcelain figurines, 11.5 cm high, modelled by Christian Wilhelm Meyer (1761-1788). London: Christie’s, A Century of Berlin Porcelain: The Dr K.H. Wadsack Collection, 8 October 2002, Lot 204. Ref. Website: Artfact (2004). Blue sceptre marks to undersides of bases. Hearing in a grey hat, pale-pink jacket over a white shirt, orange breeches supported by brown braces, holding the bagpipes and a bell. Sme ll in a beige jacket, white apron and shirt and lilac breeches, with a basket and posy of flowers, standing before a draped potpourri vase. Both supported by tree-stumps on triangular scroll-moulded bases enriched in gilding (the first with restoration to hat, bagpipes, bell, recorder in his pocket and with minute chipping to bows at knees, the second with damage and restoration to head and hat, left arm extensively damaged and restored and with restoration to basket, flowers and posy, some minute chipping to base).

Michael & Eutychios = Michael & Eutychios Astrapas

Théobald Michau

Flemish painter of mostly small-scale cabinet pictures depicting landscapes, river views, scenes of winter, markets and villages, peopled with tiny figures strolling or working, sometimes celebrating or drinking, often dressed in blue or red and accompanied by a few animals; born Doornik [Tournai] (1676), died Antwerp (1765).

• Landscape with Dancing Peasants, Théobald Michau (1676-1765). Location unknown. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie 32446 (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). A young man by a tree plays a soprano sized pipe with a medium bell-flare, left hand lowermost. The details are not clear, but the instrument is held in recorder playing position.

Claude Michel, called ‘Clodion’

French sculptor who worked in Rome and Paris; he enjoyed a wide reputation until the French Revolution when the rococo style was superseded by neo-classicism; a superb modeler of small-scale terracotta pieces, he also excelled at carving marble with subtlety and precision, including some life-size pieces.

• Poetry and Music (ca 1774-1778), marble sculpture, 117.5 × 88.9 × 60.0 cm, Claude Michel (1738-1814). Washington, National Gallery of Art, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.98. Ref. Ford (1986: #163). One of four representations of the arts and sciences commissioned by Louis XV’s finance minister, Abbé Terray, to decorate the dining room of his Parisian mansion, celebrating his appointment as Director of the Royal Buildings in 1774. Ford (loc. cit.) notes the presence of a recorder in this sculpture. A standing putto (Music) plucks a viol; his companion (Poetry), seated, holds a note-book in his lap and a stylus in the other. On the ground before them in a wreath lie a trumpet and a slender cylindrical object the tip of which is cut obliquely and might represent the back of the beak of a duct flute with its characteristic block. A featureless cylindrical object projecting from beneath a drape in between the violist’s feet appears to be a scroll of paper rather than a wind instrument.
• Model for Poetry and Music (1774), terracotta sculpture, 27.0 × 23.3 × 15.6 cm, Claude Michel (1738-1814). Washington, National Gallery of Art, Loula D. Lasker Fund 1976.10.1) In this model the standing putto (Music) plucks a lute his companion (Poetry), seated, holds a note-book in his lap, his right hand raised to his brow. On the ground before them in a wreath lie a trumpet and a slender cylindrical object the tip of which is cut obliquely and might represent the back of the beak of a duct flute with its characteristic block. What may be a recorder projects from beneath a drape in between the violist’s feet, namely the upper part of a cylindrical pipe the (unusually truncate) block and first three finger holes of which are visible but no details of a window/labium. It seems categorically different from the paper scroll in the model (see above), but could just as well represent a transverse flute.

Parrasio Micheli

Italian Mannerist artist who belonged to the apostolic patrician Michiel family (‘Micheli’ is  the surname he himself preferred); he was deeply influenced by Titian, but later in life began to imitate the style of Veronese; he painted religious, mythological and allegorical subjects and portraits; born Venice (1516), died Venice (1678).

• Concert (c.1560-1570), oil on canvas, Parrasio Micheli (1516-1678).  Private collection. Ref. Website: About Art Online (2020, col.) Three women with elaborately coiffured hair play viol, lute and violin. The violist and lutenist gaze upwards and to the right; behind them, the violinist seems to be preoccupied, gazing downwards. In the foreground and to the right, a winged putto holds a slender duct-flute (probably a recorder), the beak, window/labium and five inline finger holes clearly depicted, but others hidden by the putto’s hand. The violist, déshabillé and bare breasted, appears to represent Venus, although she looks almost apologetic. The little recorder player casts his eyes downwards, mirroring the gaze of the violinist. The Lute-playing Venus with Cupid (p.1550)  by Micheli in the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, strikes an almost identical pose.

Jean Michelin

French artist who started out in his career as primarily a bamboccianti painter but later branched out into religious themed paintings; born Langres (1623), died Jersey (1696).

• Citizens, canvas, 60.5 × 75 cm, Jean Michelin (1623-1696). Bordeaux: Musée des Beaux-arts, Bx 1964 11 3. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999). An old woman with a basket of wood on her back sits on a stone in front of a stone building. A young boy plays on a tiny duct flute (flageolet or recorder) watched by two smaller girls. A bearded man leans on his stick. There is a similar work in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin.
• A Family from Essen, canvas, 87 × 117 cm, Jean Michelin (1623-1696). Location unknown; offered for sale by Drouot-Richelieu, Paris, 24 February (1992), Cat. No. 25. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999). Two men and seven women sit around a long table served by two waiters. At the far end of the table one of the women is wearing a garland in her hair. To the side, a man plays a violin and a small boy plays a tiny duct flute (flageolet or recorder). Through a doorway the kitchen can be seen.

Jan Miel

Dutch painter, active in Rome and Turin, one of the Bamboccianti, a group of mainly Dutch artists that worked in Rome in the mid-seventeenth century, followers of Pieter van Laer, who was nicknamed ‘il Bamboccio’ (meaning puppet or large baby) because of his physically deformed body; most of Miel’s pictures are scenes of low life, but he also painted frescoes in Roman churches and palaces, and figures for Claude’s landscapes; born Beveren-Was, near Antwerp (1599), died Turin (1663).

• The Flute Player, oil on panel, 23 × 19 cm, Jan Miel (1589-1663). Location unknown; sold at Doullens (between Paris and Amiens), 27 November (1994). Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999). A man holds a slightly flared pipe which is blown by an old crone sitting on a step. There is insufficient detail to tell if a shawm or recorder is intended. The latter seems far more likely.
• Boy Playing a Flute (a. 1650), oil on canvas, 70 × 60 cm, attributed to Jan Miel (1589-1663). London: Agnew’s Gallery (exhbitied TEFAF, Maastricht, 13–25 March 2015, as Shepherd Boy, Bamboccianti School.); sold Cologne: Lempertz, Auction 1040, Old Master Paintings and Drawings, Sculptures, Lot 1042 ( 15 November 2014). A young lad in a floppy hat with a spray of flowers plays a soprano recorder with details of the beak, window/labium and fingering perfectly depicted. He is playing right hand lowermost with all fingers covering their holes. Interestingly, there are two holes plugged with wax instead of the usual one. In the player’s lap are a printed paper, a leafy twig and some fruit, possibly Bitter Oranges (Arancia amara) which might hint at the bitterness of love or simply represent growth and fruition — Botticelli’s  Primavera  is famously set  in a garden of Bitter Orange trees. Agnew’s give this work the title Shepherd Boy and attribute it to Bamboccianti School.

Hans Mielich [Muelich]

German artist; the leading painter in Bavaria in the mid-sixteenth century; born ca 1516, died 1573.

• The Bavarian Court Chapel (ca 1570), illumination, 59.9 × 44.7 cm, Hans Mielich (c.1516-1573). From Psalmi Poenitentiales by Orlando di Lassus. Detail. Munich: Bayerisches Staatsbibliothek, MS A11 f.187. Ref. Wangermée (1968: 274, pl. 97, col); Salmen (1976 : 156-157, pl. 106); Boydell (1978); Meer (1983: pl. 126, col); Schmid (1985); Langdon & Norwich (1991: pl. 4, col); Alamire M13 (1996); Ausoni (2009: 222, col.); Website: Bowed Strings Iconography Project, bsip356 (2022, col.); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-1660 (2023, col.) A contemporary painting of the Munich Hofkapelle in a hall of the palace. It shows Orlando Lassus standing by the side of the Duke on the extreme left listening to an ensemble of musicians depicted in realistic detail. Salmen identifies among the many instruments a bass recorder and a ? tenor recorder. The bass recorder with its distinctive bocal and window is very clear, though only the upper section is visible; in addition there actually appear to be at least two other duct flutes, possibly an alto and tenor recorder, immediately to the basset recorder player’s right. Schmid (1985) claims that the bass recorder depicted here may by one of the two 16th-century great basses by Hans Rauch von Schratt that survive in the Musikinstrumentenmuseums München.  Boydell (1978) has argued that the instrument immediately behind the seated viol player is a windcap instrument rather than a recorder. Other instruments include virginals, dulcian, flute, trombone and cornetti of various sizes. The musicians, whose names are listed on the scroll below, were recruited by the composer in Flanders, Germany and northern Italy.
• The Banquet (1548), Hans Mielich. Detail. Hartford: Wadsworth Atheneum. Ref. Wollitz (1982: 124, detail, b&w); Website: Will Kimball, Trombone (2015, col) Musicians (both male and female) play all kinds of instruments including harpsichord, trombons, viols, lute, transverse flutes, and a long pipe with a flared bell (probably a tenor recorder, judging by the position of the lower hand which shows the little finger covering its hole).

Frans van Mieris the Elder

Dutch artist from an illustrious family of goldsmiths and painters; his minutely proportioned subjects with bright colors, a shiny finish, and precise attention to detail were painted on small wooden or copper panel; he represented common incidents in the lives of the working class as well as the habits and customs of the wealthy; born Leiden (1635), died 1691); father of Jan van Mieris and Willem van Mieris (1635-1681).

• Boys Playing Flute and Drum, oil on panel, 18.5 × 14.0 cm, follower of Frans van Meris (1635-1681). Ref. Sotheby’s (New York), Sale NO8166: Old Master and 19th Century European Art, 28 January 2006, Lot 81; Bonham’s (Knightsbridge), Sale 13502 – Old Master Paintings, 14 June 2006, Lot 198. Beneath a small bird-cage, a boy in a soft hat with a feather beats a drum which he leans on a bench beside him. In the background, another boy plays a duct flute (flageolet or recorder), only the head of which is visible. One of a pair of paintings auctioned together, the other depicting a man leaning against a table with a large roemer in his right hand. The present whereabouts of the original paintings by van Mieris is unknown.

Willem van Mieris

Dutch artist and teacher from an illustrious family of goldsmiths and painters; he adopted his father’style, but besides genre pieces also produced portraits, landscapes, history pieces and mythological subjects; after 1700 Van Mieris specialised in shop and kitchen interiors; his dispassionate, meticulous style was much admired; born Leiden (1662), died Leiden (1747); son of Frans van Mieris (1635-1681), brother of brother of Jan van Mieris.

• Daphnis and Chloe (1689), canvas, 63.5 × 80.5 cm, Willem van Mieris (1635-1681). Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Documentatie, illustration 149309 (2014, col) Location unknown: auctioned Sotheby’s, London, Old Master Paintings, 16 December 1999, Lot 55. Whilst Chloe sits beside a stream beneath a tree stroking a lamb she is entertained by Daphnis playing cylindrical pipe. No details of the pipe can be seen, but his fingers are perfectly disposed for recorder-playing. Beside Daphnis his dog sits patiently. At Chloe’s feet a baby crawls towards the river bank. A couple are swimming in the river.

Pierre Mignard, called le Romain

French painter and frescoist in the classical Baroque manner, active in Rome and Paris; known primarily for his court portraits (many of them allegorical), but also historical and regious paintings; his style was based on the approved models of the Carracci, Domenichino and Poussin; he was strongly opposed to the Académie royale, and, in spite of his own stylistic origins, championed the Venetian or ‘colourist’ school; born Troyes (1610), died Paris (1695).

• St Cecilia Playing the Harp (1691), oil on canvas, 74 × 56 cm, Pierre Mignard (1610-1695). Paris: Louvre, Inv. 6641. Ref. Dalla Corte (1936, 2: 179); Mirimonde (1974: 179, pl. 139); Mirimonde (1975: fig 91, b&w); Haynes (1988: 32, fig. 17, b&w); Sadie (1990: pl. 26, b&w); Pottier (1992: 49, pl. XXXV, b&w; 1995: 134, pl. 8, b&w); Lallement (1997: 200, 202, pl. 15, b&w); Louvre (1974: no. 572); Joconde Website (1999); Visual Collection, Fine Arts Library, Harvard University, 375.M585.38C; Rasmussen (1999, Tambournine); Magni Dufflocq (1929: 548); Paolo Biordi (pers. comm., 2000); Burgess & Haynes (2004: pl. 19, col.); Rowland-Jones (2007: 7 & fig. 3, b&w); Website: gallica (2012, b&w). Looking heavenward, St Cecilia plays the double harp; a cherub (winged putto) at her side sings from a music book. Leaning against a table beside her is a viol; on the floor lie an oboe, a timbrel, and a baroque alto recorder with ivory mounts. Elements of this work found their way into the frontispiece of Handel’s Alexander (1726) engraved by John Cluer (?-1728) and again for the title page of Handel’s Admeto (1727). Eva Legêne (cited in Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.) believes this to be ‘the earliest representation in French painting of a late Baroque recorder’. Whilst that may or may not be true of paintings, a number of French precedents are to be found in the present enumerative catalogue, including:
  • The Elements: L’Air, tapestry, Le Brun (1664). Florence: Palazzo Pitti
  • Spring, tapestry, Le Brun (before 1680), Château de Versailles
  • Title Page: La fuite de roi à Angleterre, à trois instruments (1689), engraving, Dérosier, Amsterdam
  • Frontispiece: Piéces de clavecin composées par J. Henry d’Anglebert …- Paris, l’auteur (s.d.) Gravure d’après P. Mignard (1689), engraving, Cornelis Vermeulen
  • Title page: Les Trios des Opera de Monsieur de Lully (1690), engraving, published by Amédée le Chevalier
  • Musical Still-life (ca 1680-1690), oil on canvas, Desports, present location unknown
  • Hearing, tapestry, Le Brun (1691 or before), Château de Versailles
• La Musique, engraving by C. Vermeulen after Pierre Mignard (1610-1695). Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, Département des Estampes et de la Photographie, Kd 3 t1; Cliche Giraudon 73 C 61661. Ref. Mirrimonde (1975: pl. 12, fig. 19, b&w); Pottier (1992: 38, pl. XXIV); Archiv Moeck; Website: gallica (2012, b&w). Seated on a ball, a personification of Music plays the lyre. Around her, cherubs (winged putti) sing and play violin, transverse flute, organetto. A viol stands in one corner, a harpsichord in the other. On the plinth in front lie a lute, a score, a violin and a turned baroque recorder. A garland above the harpsichord contains oboe, syrinx, horn, and straight trumpet.
• St Cecilia Playing the Harp, engraving by François Chereau after Pierre Mignard (1610-1695). The Hague: Gemeentesmuseum, Music Department. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). Engraving from the painting of the same name (Paris: Louvre, Inv. 6641). “The beak of the recorder is strongly curved with a strengthening bulge in the ivory mouthpieces just above the window/labium. The bore opening at the bell can be seen, showing little widening in relation to the thickness of the ivory. There is considerable baroque decoration at the joint between the foot and the body. This appears to be a recorder of ca 1680-1690” (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)
• St Cecilia Playing the Harp, engraving by Claude Duflos (1665-1725) after Pierre Mignard (1610-1695). The Hague: Gemeentesmuseum, Music Department; London: British Museum, Prints & Drawings, Inv. 1954,0315.15 . Ref. Website: gallica (2012, b&w). Another engraving from the painting of the same name – see description above.
• St Cecilia, 41.0 × 31.7 cm, engraving by Jacques Bouillard (ca 1747-1806), possibly after a drawing by Jean Dubois the younger (1644-1694), or by his brother Louis Dubois the younger (1647-1702), after the painting St Cecilia Playing the Harp by Pierre Mignard (1610-1695). Washington DC.: Library of Congress, Dayton C. Miller Flute Collection, 0590/V. Ref. Jan Lancaster ex Robert Bigio (pers. comm., 2007). See description above.
• St Cecilia Playing the Harp (? ca 1850), anonymous engraving after Pierre Mignard (1610-1695). The Hague: Gemeentesmuseum, Music Department. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). Another engraving from the painting of the same name – see description above.
• Jephtha’s Daughter, painting, Pierre Mignard (1610-1695). Location unknown. Ref. Website: gallica (2012, b&w); Website: Web Gallery of Art (2013, col) Jephtha was a great Old Testament (Judges 11:30-40) warrior, who was called upon to lead the Israelites in their war against the Ammonites. On the eve of the battle he made a pact with God, that, in return for victory, he would sacrifice ‘the first creature that comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return’. The battle won, ‘who should come out to meet him with tambourines and dances but his daughter, and she only a child’. In this painting, Jephtha on his horse approaches his daughter who is accompanied by her female companions, one strewing flowers, one playing a tambourine, one a harp, and one holding an one-piece alto-sized recorder, the beak, window/labium, and slightly flared foot clearly depicted.

Heroman [Herman] van der Mijn

Netherlandish portrait and still-life painter known particularly for his flower paintings; born Amsterdam (1684), died London (1741).

• Still-life, oil on panel, 93 × 70 cm, Heroman van der Mijn (1684-1741). Munich: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek, Inv. 5233. Ref. Munich RIdIM, Mstag – 459 (2013, b&w). A putto steps towards the viewer, a bird on his right wrist. He is surrounded by numerous plants, animals and objects, which are arranged as a kind of still-life. To the left a large bouquet of flowers which are entwined around the putto. A dog barks at the right. Amongst the many scattered objects are a violin (only the scroll and pegbox visible) and a duct flute (only the mouthpiece visible). And there are music books, one of which is open.

Natasha Milashevich

Contemporary Russian painter whose subjects include child portraits and still-lifes; born Dushanbe (Stalinabad), Tajikstan (1967).

• Flute Player, oil on canvas, Natasha Milashevich (1967-). Ref. Website: I am a child, children in art history (2014, col.) A young girl with a pony tail and wearing a red T-shirt and a long multi-coloured skirt sits on a step playing a neo-baroque soprano recorder, right-hand uppermost.

Gustav Adolph Millar (18th century), Austrian

• Frontispiece: Gradus ad parnassum by Joseph Fux (1725), engraving, Gustav Adolph Millar (18th century). Ref. Blume (1949-1963, 4: pl. 48); Angelo Zaniol ex Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). As the winged horse Pegasus spreads his pinions above, a personification of Music seated at the top of a stair crowns the composer before an audience of scantily clad nymphs. An ornamental frame around the scene includes trophies of masks and musical instruments including trumpets, harp, lyre, musette, bagpipe, organ, oboes, syrinx (duct flute style), viol, tambourine, shawms and a three-piece alto baroque recorder.

Lloyd Miller

Contemporary USAmerican graphic artist and designer based in New York with a reputation for creating complex hybrid images. Artist’s Web-site.

• Still-life with Recorder, cover image, Lloyd Miller (contemporary). American Recorder 48 (2): front cover (2008). A stylised recorder split longitudinally into two colours is seen against a table with a blank scroll of manuscript paper and a vase with a leafy stem. In the background is an open window with billowing curtains.

Carl Milles

Swedish sculptor, born Carl Emil Wilhelm Andersson; apprenticed as a cabinetmaker and studied sculpture at evening classes followed by study in Paris where he worked as a coffin-maker and at other jobs while attending lectures at the Sorbonne; later joined Auguste Rodin’s studio; born Uppsala (1875), died Millesgården (1955).

• Boy with a Recorder, bronze sculpture, ? Carl Milles (1875-1955). St Louis: Missouri Botanic Gardens, Shoenberg Temperate House. Ref. Website: Webshots (2004, col.) A young boy sits, legs astride, playing a long cylindrical recorder. At his foot is a frog; on his knee a bird is perched.

Hendrick van Minderhout

Dutch artist; born Rotterdam (1532), died Antwerp (1696).

• Landscape with the Rape of Europa, Hendrick van Minderhout (1632-1696). Rouen: Museés des Beaux Arts, Inv. 818.1.16 Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). At right foreground Mercury (pretending to be a shepherd) watches a cowherd. Mercury’s caduceus and winged helmet are on the rock nearby. He plays a slender duct flute (flageolet or recorder), right hand uppermost, the left with the second, third and little finger raised. The detail is too small for any finger holes to be visible, but the beaked mouthpiece is clear.

Pablo Minguet e Yrol

Spanish writer and engraver who published a series popular manuals on subjects ranging from from religion to magic tricks. Among them were Academia musical de los instrumentos (Madrid, 1752-1754), a set of instrumental tutors.

• Title page: Academia Musical de los Instrumentos (1752-1754), engraving, Pablo Minguet e Yrol. Published Madrid. Ref. Early Music 9 (4): 559 (1981); Thomson & Rowland-Jones (1995: 86, pl. 25): Pascual (1997: 32); Tyler (1980: 113, pl. 22); Website: alamy (2019, b&w, col.) Musicians play around a harpsichord, including a baroque recorder with flute, harp, violin, guitar, and a plucked dulcimer: a flageolet with 5 finger holes visible lies on the bench on which the harpsichord stands. In front, from left to right, are tiple, vandola, citara, bandurria (Tyler, loc. cit.)

Misume (contemporary)

• [Untitled] (1975), drawing, Misume. Ref. Advertisement for Roessler, Early Music 14(1): 150 (1986). Stylised drawing of a young boy playing a soprano recorder.

Agostino Mitelli

Italian painter active in Bologna and Madrid; specialised in quadratura (illusianistic ceiling painting); born 1609, died 1660.

• Untitled, chalk drawing, Agostino Mitelli (1609-1660). Munich: Staatsliche Graphische Sammlung, Inv. 2810. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999, Mgs – 442): Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm. 1999). A landscape with an Arcadian loggia decorated with musical instruments which seem to include a recorder, although it is in shade and difficult to identify.

Nicoletto [Rosex] da Modena [called Nicolo Rosa]

Italian painter and engraver known from about 78 engravings; born Modena, active ca 1500-1520.

• Mercury the Flute Player, engraving by Nicoletto da Modena (op. 1500-1522). Britsh Museum, Inv. 1873,0809.696; Paris: Louvre, Rothschild Cabinet. Ref. Mirimonde (1977: 28, pl. 3) Website: gallica (2012, b&w). Mercury stands before an archway in his winged helmet and sandals, his caduceus in his right hand and in his left a one-piece recorder of alto size, the beak, window/labium, finger holes and flared bell of which are clearly depicted. The lowermost finger hole is offset to the others. The engraving is signed “N.J.RO”, i.e. NICOLETI MODENENSIS ROSEX. The close diagonal hatching indicate that it was made before 1500.

Jean Baptiste van Moerkercke

South Netherlandish artist and member of the Guild of Saint Luke in Ghent from 1659-65; known from a few religious scenes, portraits and still-lifes; born  Kortrijk (1623); died Kortrijk (p.1669); brother of painter Pieter van Moerkercke (1625–1666) and Joanna Coninck; married Elisabeth van Hakendove.

• Still-life with Musical Instruments, oil on canvas, 82.0 × 104.8 cm, Jean Baptiste van Moerkercke (1623–p.1669). New York: Sothebys, Old Masters Day, Sale 117037, Lot 188 (2017). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2001, col.); RKD–Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis, Illustration  1001235176 (col.); Fine Art America (2016-col.)  On and around a table are scattered a carved nautilus shell, an elaborate vase, a statuette, fruit, sheet music, a violin, a large cittern, and a cylindrical alto-sized recorder the window/labium and seven finger holes (in line) are clearly depicted. According to the RKD, the music on the table may be the Nectar caelicum sive cantiones sacrae, II, III, IV vocibus cum basso continuo by Francesco Colombini (1588-1671) published in Antwerp by the heirs of Petrus Phalesius in 1639.

Isaac Moillon

French decorative painter, designer of tapestries, painter of military and historical scenes, and portraitist; born Paris (1614), died 1673; son of painter, art dealer and pawnborker Nicolas Moillon (15654-1619).

• Allegory of Music, Isaac Moillon (1614-1673). Paris: Musée du Louvre, RF 1996-11. Ref. Lallement & Devaux (1997).  In a garden a man in a brown toga sings something interminable from a long piece of paper, doubtless his latest creation. He is accompanied by an enormous woman in baggy, dissaranged drapes who plays an equally outsize lute. Beside them, an emaciated looking violinist awaits his entry. Before them are some music books and a small conical pipe which may represent a recorder. In the background are dancers and a woman playing a tambourine. On a balcony is a statue of a man climbing up a rock: he looks as if he is about to jump off, so the performance must sound as awful as it looks – hence the allegory, one might suppose.

Rafel [Rafael] Mòjer [Moguer] (1424 – op. 1489), Spanish (Balearic Islands)

• Virgin and Child, painting, Rafel Mòjer (1424 – op. 1489). Location unknown. Ref. Website: gallica (2012, b&w). Two angels stand before the Virgin, enthroned, with the Child on her lap and surrounded by angel musicians playing a small lute, harp, ? psaltery and three recorders. One of the recorders is conical and the others cylindrical; each has a beak made of a darker material than the body, and in each the window/labium is clearly depicted. One of the cylindrical recorders (on the right) has clearly depicted paired holes for the little finger of the lowermost (right) hand.

Antonio Mola and Paolo Mola

Italian intarsia artists active in Mantua; known from 1489, died 1532 and 1545.

• Intarsia (? 16th century), Antonio Mola (op. 1489 – m.1532) & Paolo Mola (op. 1489 – m. 1545). Mantua: Palazzo Ducale, Studiolo of Isabella d’Este. Ref. Website: Web Gallery of Art (2014, col) Intarsia on a cupboard door lining the walls. Instruments depicted are a lira da braccio, two shawms, an ocarina in the shape of a bird, a guitar, a ? straight cornetto, and two duct flutes side by side. One of the latter is twice as long as the other but of equal diameter. Both instruments have four finger holes. These would appear to represent double pipes rather than recorders.

Pier Francesco [Pierfrancesco] Mola

Italian artist, one of the chief representatives of a distinctively romantic strain in Roman painting in the mid-17th-century, whose style is characterized by warm colouring and soft modelling; he painted frescoes in Roman churches and palaces, but his best-known works are small canvases with religious or mythological figures set in landscapes; born Coldrerio, near Como (1612), died Rome (1666).

• Mercury Putting Argus to Sleep, oil on canvas, 58.7 × 99.4 cm, Pier Francesco Mola (1612-1666). Oberlin: Allen Memorial Art Museum, Inv. 61.85. Ref. Archiv Moeck; Rowland-Jones (1998: 16; 1999); Paulo Biordi (2000, pers. comm.) A scene from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Argus leans heavily on his staff whilst Mercury (Hermes), seated on a log, soothes him to sleep by playing on a flared-bell, one-piece recorder. A goat and Io (whom Jupiter has turned into a white heifer) look on. Four other versions of the same subject by the artist are known: a painting in the Staatliche Museen, Berlin, and another in Birmingham which includes a flute rather than a recorder; and a preparatory drawing for the Berlin painting now in the museum in Orléans; and an etching.
• A Wooded Landscape with Mercury and Argus, oil on canvas, 81.3 × 111.8 cm, attributed to Pier Francesco Mola (1612-1666). Location unknown. Ref. Website: artnet (2016, col)
• Mercury and Argus (ca 1640), painting, Pier Francesco Mola (1612-1666). Berlin: Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Gemäldegalerie. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). “Mercury plays a tenor-sized pipe, right hand lowermost. The instrument has a cylindrical body and a short medium flare. The playing position and the lower little finger possibly covering the offset finger hole suggest a recorder, but other details are not visible” (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)
• Mercury Putting Argus to Sleep (1640s), preparatory drawing, Orleans: Musée des Beaux-Arts. Ref. Pinterest (2016, col) Sitting beneath a tree, Argus leans sleepily on his staff. Sitting opposite him, Mercury plays a slender recorder, his sword hidden behind him.
• Mercury and Argus, engraving after Pier Francesco Mola (1612-1666). Ref. Bartsch (1854-1870, 19: 207.6). Seated on a rock, Mercury plays a flared-bell pipe to Argus who reclines beneath a tree. In the background is Io (who has been turned into a white heifer by Jupiter). A dog seems as rapt in the music as Argus himself. The beak of the pipe is very narrow (more like a reed pipe) and no window/labium is visible, but there are holes for all four fingers of the lowermost (right) hand so this probably represents a recorder.
• Adoration of the Shepherds, canvas, oil on canvas, 75 × 100 cm, Pier Francesco Mola (1612-1666). Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Inv.-Nr. GG_9117. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999); Paulo Biordi (2000, pers. comm.); Innsbruck RIdIM (2001, Nr 325); CD cover: Stöltze, Christmas Oratorio, CPO 999 735-2); Prof. Tilman Seebas (pers. comm., 2001). Mary cradles the Christ-child, watched by an admiring angel. Joseph stands to one side, leaning wearily against the wall. A shepherd kneels before the Holy Family, his offering of a lamb lying at his feet; a second shepherd stands behind him waiting to make his own offering, his wife beside him with a basket of produce; a third shepherd, also with a basket, kneels playing an alto sized flared-bell recorder; behind, two boys look on through a gap in the wall.
• [Recorder Player], pen and brown ink with black chalk, 175 × 141 mm, Pier Francesco Mola (1612-1666). Location unknown. Ref. Warburg Instittute, London. A man sits playing a long, flared-bell, one-piece recorder (slightly bent) to a younger man beside him.
• Bacchante, Pier Francesco Mola (1612-1666). Location unknown; offered for sale by Casa d’Aste Pitti, Florence, 4-8 November (1976), No. 549. Ref. Paulo Biordi (2000, pers. comm.) The head and shoulders of a Bacchante clutching with her left hand a cylindrical duct flute (almost certainly a recorder), the head, window/labium of which are clearly visible. She points with her right hand as if to capture our attention.
• Episode in the Life of Bacchus, oil on canvas, 40.5 × 47.0 cm, Pier Francesco Mola (1612-1666). Location unknown; auctioned Sotheby’s, London, 8 December (1976), No. 45. Ref. Sotheby’s Catalogue (loc. cit); Paulo Biordi (2000, pers. comm.) Bacchus as a young boy with a jar of wine at his feet as big as himself, tootles on a duct flute (probably a recorder). The instrument is cylindrical with a flared bell, the end of the bore clearly visible and the window/labium can just be glimpsed beneath his pudgy hand. His efforts are watched by an admiring Bacchante.
• Young Musician Playing a Viola da Gamba, oil on canvas, 213.0 × 134.5 cm, Pier Francesco Mola (1612-1666). Bellinzona: Palazzo Governativo, Sala del Consiglio di Stato. Ref. Ferino-Pagden (2000: 137). A young man plays a bass viol in the form of a large cello (? violone). On the ground before him, together with music, a shawm and what appears to be a small trombone, is an alto recorder. The mouthpieces is beaked and the window/labium is very clear. Where the head merges into the body and where the body merges into the foot there are a incised rings possibly at joints. All seven finger holes are visible and the lowermost is offset to one side. Below the lowermost hole there is a gradually increasing bell flare.

Jan Miense Molenaer

Dutch artist known for his genre paintings of drinkers, lute-players, girls at the spinet and social gatherings, and dark accounts of peasant life; he also painted religious scenes, allegories and portraits; born Haarlem (ca 1610), died Haarlem (1668), husband of Judith Leyster (1609-1660).

• Woman at her Toilet (Lady World, Allegory of Vanity) (1633), oil on canvas, 102 × 127 cm, Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1688). Detail 1. Detail 2. Toledo, Ohio: Museum of Art, Inv. 1975.21. Ref. Ember (1984: pl. 40, b&w, detail, col.); Sutton et al. (1984: pl. 20); Griffioen (1988: 440-1); Welu et al. (1993: 305, fig. 33b); Southgate (2002, col.); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Documentatie, illustration 1000276592 (2014, col); Ausin (2009: 57, col); Website: gallica (2012, b&w); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-2266 (2023, col.) An elegantly dressed girl, her feet on top of a skull, is displaying a ring and holding up a mirror whilst a woman combs her hair. The latter stands in front of a map on the wall behind alluding to the sick condition of the sub-lunar world. Also hanging on the wall are a duct flute (recorder or flageolet), a small transverse flute, a small shawm, a violin, a cittern, a lute and a cello. A virginals stands open on the other side of the room. The instruments represent musica instrumentalis whilst at the same time alluding to sensual pleasures. Cf. A Boy Playing a Flute by Molenaer’s wife, Judith Leyster, National Museum, Stockholm in which the same instruments hang on the wall behind. The duct flute illustrated here, with its distinctive beak, is strongly reminiscent of the ‘Dordrecht-style’ recorder’s beak and foot which have turned tenons for just such additions. Although only six finger holes are shown it is oriented in such a way that there could be an offset hole for the little finger of the lower hand as well as a thumb hole.
• Girl with a Recorder (1650), 69.3 × 55.1 cm, after Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). Halifax, Nova Scotia: Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Inv. 1932.1; formerly Halifax: Laufer Family Collection. Ref. London: Courtauld Institute, Witt Collection; Thomson & Rowland-Jones (1995: 187, pl. 37, b&w); Website: gallica (2012, b&w). A smiling, happy girl wearing a feathered cap holds a flared-bell alto recorder. An 18th-century etching of this by McArdell seems to have provided the basis for an anonymous engraving and a 19th-century painted copy now in the Bate Collection, School of Music, Oxford University presented, along with his instruments, by French recorder player and teacher Jean Henry (Rowland-Jones, pers. comm. 2000).
• Girl with a Recorder (1743-1765), mezzotint engraving by James McArdell (1728/9-1765) after Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). The Hague: Gemeentesmuseum, Music Department. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). “Based on an original painting of unknown location (see above). The interesting thing about this well-known image is that the engraver has shown the whole recorder, with the bell end still well clear of the left edge of the picture. Has the engraver ‘extended’ his original or was Molenaer’s painting cut?” (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)
• Piping Girl (1760-1780s), mezzotint with some etching, 15.0 × 11.3 cm, after Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). London: British Museum, Inv. 2010,7081.2025 Ref. Website: British Museum (2012, col) Like the engraving by McArdell (see above), this shows the whole recorder with the bell end well clear of the left edge of the picture. A hand-written note at the foot of this etching records that the original on which it is based was “Painted by Frans Halls [sic.]”
• Girl with a Recorder (19th century), oil on canvas, 29.5 × 23.2 cm, after Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). Oxford: Bate Collection. Ref. Bridgeman Art Library OXM316028 (2013, col) Gifted to the University by French recorder player and teacher Jean Henry. A smiling, happy girl wearing a feathered cap holds a flared-bell alto recorder. Like the engraving by McArdell (see above), this shows the whole recorder with the bell end well clear of the left edge of the picture.
• The Duet (c.1629), oil on canvas, 64.1 × 50.5 cm, Jan Miense Molenaer. Seatle: Art Museum, 61.162. Ref. Sutton et al. (1984: pl. 19); Rasmussen & von Huene (1982: 32, fig. 6, b&w); Griffioen (1988: 440-441); Wind (1997, 1: cover, col); Rowland-Jones (1999e: 6, fig. 4, b&w; 2000c: 87); Seattle Art Museum (2001, col.); Website: gallica (2012, b&w); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, illustration 251783 (2014, b&w); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-59 (2023, col.) A woman (possibly the artist’s wife, Judith Leyster) holds a narrow, one-piece, flared-profile, alto recorder expanding gradually from beak to foot, accompanied by a male theorbist (possibly Molenaer himself) who is using a foot-warmer as a foot-stool. The role reversal here is emphasised by the presence of Molenaer’s signature on the foot warmer, a form of comfort normally reserved for women.
• Portrait of Musicians, oil on panel, 56.5 × 69.0 cm, Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668).  Zurich: Galerie Koller, 27 November – 1 December 1984, Lot 5064. Ref. Burlington Magazine 111: 314, fig. 62 (1969, b&w); Connoisseur 146: cover (1960, col); Rasmussen & von Huene (1982: 32, fig. 7, b&w); Griffioen (1988: 440-441); Paris RIdIM (1999); Bridgeman Art Library (2003: Image BAL14079, col.); Dutch University Institute for Art History, Florence (2011, b&w); Website: gallica (2012, b&w); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, illustration 251807 (2014, b&w). A girl (possibly the artist’s wife, Judith Leyster) holds a narrow, one-piece, flared-profile, soprano recorder expanding gradually from beak to foot, whilst her companion plays the violin, his left foot on a barrel. In the background a young boy holds a cat; in the foreground a girl is playing with a dog. Above the recorder player is a small window through which a maid is peeking.There are a number of versions of this painting, each a little different and with various titles, including:
  • sold by Beaux-arts, Brussels, October 1979
  • sold by Fisher, Lucerne, 1 December 1984
  • offered for sale by Sotheby’s (Amsterdam), 11 September 1999 (unsold); Phillip’s, 4 October 1990 (unsold)
  • Alan Jacobs Gallery, London, ca 2003
  • offered for sale by Sotheby’s (Amsterdam), 13 May 2003

  And a seemingly identical painting is attributed to Molenaer’s wife, Judith Leyster, as The Young Musicians.

• Children Making Music and a Girl Holding a Cat, oil on canvas, 51.9 × 65.8 cm, school of Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1688). Location unknown: Offered for sale by Sotheby’s (Amsterdam), 11 September 1999 (unsold); Phillip’s, 4 October 1990 (unsold); auctioned 13/05/2003 (sold). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2002, col) A lad half-perched on a barrel plays the violin; a girl behind the barrel holds a cat; a girl seated in the foreground right plays with a dog; a young woman holds a flared-bell recorder in her right hand, pointing with her outstretched left arm at the violinist. The beak and window/labium of the recorder are clearly depicted but no finger holes can be discerned as the instrument is viewed from the side. There is no window above the recorder player in this version.
• Interior Scene with Children Making Music (ca 1628), oil on panel, 54.0 × 65.2 cm, Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1688). Location unknown: offered for sale by Sotheby’s (Amsterdam), 13 May 2003. Ref. Sale Catalogue: Old Master Paintings, Sale AM0885, Sotheby’s (Amsterdam), Lot 31 (13 May 2003: 44, col.); Constance Scholten (pers. comm., 2005); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Documentatie 114825 (2010, col) A lad half-perched on a barrel plays the violin; a girl behind the barrel holds a cat; a girl seated in the foreground right plays with a dog; a young woman holds a flared-bell recorder in her right hand, pointing with her outstretched left arm at the violinist. The beak and window/labium of the recorder are clearly depicted but no finger holes can be discerned as the instrument is viewed from the side. There is no window above the recorder player in this version. And in the background are the shadowy figures of two men absent from other versions seen.
• Merry Company, Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). Rotterdam: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Ref. Martin (1935: 378, fig. 225); Griffioen (1988: 440-441). A man sits at a fireplace holding his goblet out for a serving man to fill with wine. Half-turning in his chair he listens to his companion seated behind hime who blows a soprano-sized, flared-bell recorder.
• Peasant Wedding (ca 1662), oil on canvas, 93 × 133 cm, Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). Private Collection. Ref. Buijsen & Grijp (1995: 243, No. 28); Spliethoff (2000 37, col.); Weller et al. (2002: 171, no. 35); Rasmussen (2007, Bagpipe). A peasant wedding is set in a tavern. The marriage couple sit embracing in the centre of the room. Behind them guests are seated at a table; in the background, others dance to music provided by a fiddler, a bagpiper  and a hurdy-gurdy player on a raised platform at the back of the room; in the foreground, a young boy and a small girl play with a flared-bell pipe, very probably a recorder. Suggestively, the lad holds the recorder out for the girl to blow.
• The Artist in his Studio, oil on panel, 40.0 × 36.5 cm, Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668).  Private Collection.  A self-portrait which includes some of the same instruments on the wall as his own Woman at her Toilet and in his wife’s (Judith Leyster) Boy Playing a Flute, namely a violin, a flute with six finger holes and a flared-bell recorder with seven finger holes, the lowermost offset. Before his easel on which stands the painting (a grim vanitas still-life) on which he works, the artist, palette and brush at the ready, leans back on his chair whilst an old woman (her lap filled with gold and silver coins) implores him for attention by gesturing with one hand, the other grasping his arm.
• Vanitas with a Painter / Vanitas with a Standing Figure, Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). Uppsala: Universitet, Konstsamlingarna, UU 28. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000; 2002d: 96-97, fig. 8, b&w); Sidén (2001: 139, pl. 1, detail, col.); Rowland-Jones (2004: 43, fig. 6, b&w). A copy of an original in private hands in Sweden. The central subject, a richly clad painter, is shown holding an emptied flagon and a skeleton of Death hovers to his right. The portrait he is painting includes a globe and an old man. At the bottom centre is a skull. To the left are a lute, a kit, and two duct flutes (probably recorders) under the lute, in the shade. Both duct flutes are of soprano/alto size and cylindrical, the upper one less fat. One shows a beak, window/labium and at the lower end four finger holes in line and one offset. The other has a window/labium and six finger holes in line, and another close to the bell, with a decorative ring and a very wide bell-opening. At the right next to a cello, on a music book the lower part of another possible recorder is visible. The latter has a short gentle flare to the bell end and a wide bore opening, but no finger holes are visible. This is probably a late painting, perhaps after his wife’s death in 1660 (he died in 1668). The two recorders are very much in the shade (?=mourning) but are in a position suggesting marriage symbolism. The lower-right hand one is larger than the other. Notes by Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.)
• Interior, 34.5 × 34.0 cm, panel, Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). Location unknown; sold by Drout, Paris, 12 Mai (1975), Salle 10/11, #23. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999). A man sits at a table, dozing over his clay (smoking) pipe. Opposite him, sits another man holding a jug watching dog balancing precariously on his hind legs whilst a third man behind the table plays a cross-flute. On the wall hang a shawm, a kit and bow and (upside down) a small tapering recorder with seven finger holes clearly visible.
• Clarinet Player, oil on panel, 31.5 × 25.0 cm, Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). Rotterdam: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Inv. 1533. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, Illustration 25262 (2010, b&w); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). Three peasants amuse themselves in front of a fire. One drinks from a mug, one smokes, and a third with his foot on a stool plays a slender, conical pipe of soprano-alto size with a flared bell. No details of the instrument other than its profile are visible, but there is no reason to suppose it is a clarinet – especially since that instrument wasn’t invented until ca 1730!. Much more likely is a recorder or other duct flute. The instrument is held left hand lowermost, fingers covering or obscuring the holes, except for the third and fourth. The beak and window/labium are clearly depicted and the recorder has a gentle flare to a moderately wide bell end, with one decorative ring.
• Couple Making Music in an Interior, oil on panel, 29.2 × 22.9 cm, Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). London: Christie’s, Sale 6434, Important Old Master Pictures, 25 April 2001, Lot 12. Ref. Christies Catalogue (2001, April: 23, pl.); Gabrius, OMP (2001, col.); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001; 2002d: 96-97, fig. 9, b&w); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Documentatie 104981 (2010, col) A couple seated at a table sing together, possibly Jan Miense and his wife, the artist Judith Leyster. He sings, holding a lute upright on his knee; she sings from an open music book held in her left hand, apparently keeping time with her right. On the table itself lie a violin, a tankard, a small book, and a little clay smoking pipe. On a lower table in the bottom right-hand corner lie two pipes (probably recorders), as if to confirm their harmony in marriage. The largest has its bell facing forward and appears to be of Ganassi-style.
• Merry Peasants, Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). The Hague: Maritshuis, Inv. 407 (currently on loan to an Embassy). Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). In a crowded room, a group of peasants sit around a table smoking and talking. At the right of the table a woman with a music score on her lap plays a soprano/alto recorder of wave profile, right hand lowermost. All her fingers are on the instrument, but the second finger of her right hand is lifted and she supports the instrument with her little finger. There is an incised ring very close to the foot. The bell opening shows some flare. Opposite her a woman standing with her hand on one hip, a glass in the other, is being propositioned by her companion.
• Peasants in front of an Inn (ca 1630), Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). Haarlem: Frans Hals Museum. Ref. Charles Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). A group of peasants dance to music played by fiddle and recorder of soprano/alto size. The window/labium and possibly four finger holes show, but the other holes are covered by the player’s fingers.
• Peasants near a Tavern, Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). Location unknown: exhibited Frans Hals Museum, Judith Leyster, De eerste vrouw die meesterschilder werd, 19 December 2009 – 9 May 2010. Ref. Jan Bouterse (pers. comm., 2009); Website: gallica (2012, b&w). On the right, before a tavern a young man sits at a table his clay pipe in hand. Beside him another man plays a violin. Behind them a couple converse: he offers her a drinking glass; she holds a recorder. In the foreground, a young child sprawls across a barrel. In the centre, a woman seated tends her child. On the left is another tavern with people going about their business.
• Scene with Dwarfs (1646), Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). Dordrecht: Museum. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). At the top of the picture, a man underneath an inn sign holds a soprano recorder, right hand uppermost, all fingers down, the remainder obscured. The characteristic head and window/labium are clearly depicted.
• Painter in his Studio Painting a Vanitas Still-life, oil on panel, 42 × 48 cm, Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). The Hague: Museum Bredius, Inv. 191-1946, Cat. 125. Ref. Langemeyer & Peters (1979: 458); Vroom (1980, II, fig. 27); Buijsen & Grijp (1994: 269, col.); Griffioen (1988: 440-441); Francone et al. (1996: 30, fig. 17); Ferino-Pagden & Marques (2000: 150, no. I.30, col.); Rasmussen (1999-2004, Lute); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Documentatie 23015 (2010, b&w); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-808 (2023, col.) An artist paints at his easel a still-life based on the array of musical instruments, books, animal skulls, a sword, and a lamp on the table before him. Amongst the instruments are a lute, violin and a duct flute (flageolet or soprano recorder) shown end on with only two finger holes visible. A cello leans against the end of the table. There is a map on the wall behind the table. Formerly attributed to Gerard Donck (a. 1610 – ca 1640) and Hendrick Pot (ca 1585-1657) but reassigned by F. Meyer at the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie in conjunction with the painting’s current location at Museum Bredius (Debra Pring, pers. comm., 2006). The two skulls in the foreground were painted over and came to light after a restoration in 2001.
• Peasants Music-making and Drinking around a Table, oil on panel, 16.0 × 15.5 cm, Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). Stockholm: Bukowski, 26-28 November 1997, Lot 314. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Documentatie 37068 (2010, col) Around a table a group of peasants are drinking and amusing themselves with some rustic music-making. A large woman in a bonnet and apron sings from a sheet of paper. A man plays a recorder, the window/labium and bell-flare well depicted. Others join in by singing. Formerly attributed to Adriaen van Ostade, but reassigned to Molenaer by Fred G. Meijer (1997).
• Tavern Interior with Numerous Peasants Making Music and Merry-making, oil on panel, 62.5 × 79.0 cm, Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). London: Sotheby’s, Old Master & British Paintings Day Sale, 9 December 2010, Lot 127. In a busy tavern peasants drink, play cards, carouse and sing to music played on a violin. At a table to the right a man in a brown coat and hat sits holding a flared recorder. Although details of the window/labium and finger holes are not visible, the disposition of the fingers both hands and of the thumb of the uppermost (right) hand are unmistakable those of a recorder.
• Peasants Making Music in an Interior, Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). London: Christie’s. Ref. Instituto Universitatario Olandese di Storia dell’Arte Firenze (2011, b&w). A man and a woman singing sit beside each other at a table on which sits a musician with an arch-lute. In the background, another couple chat. In the foreground, a small boy plays a slender pipe with a large bell which, although it resembles a small shawm, might possibly be meant to represent a recorder, given the context.
• The Singer (1630-1635), oil on panel, 52 × 41 cm, Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). New York: Christie, Manson & Woods, Important paintings by old masters, 18 January 1983, Lot 192. Ref. Website: gallica (2012, b&w); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, illustration 251775 (2014, b&w). A woman seated at a table is practicing her singing; she holds a score in her left hand. On the table are a casket with a pearl necklace hanging out of it, and a hand fluyt, the beak, window/labium, and holes for seven fingers including one hole offset for the little finger of the lowermost hand.
• Group Portrait of two Women Playing Music and a Girl in an Interior (1634), oil on panel, 50.8 × 34.9 cm, Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). New York: Christies, Important Old Master Paintings, 16 January 1992, Lot 127. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, illustration IB00103712 (2014, col); Website: Wikimedia Commons (2018, col.); Website: Lute Iconogdraphy, Image LI-2674 (2023, col.) Watched by a young girl, a woman sits at the virginals accompanying another woman who sings from an open book. All are beautifully attired in black satin dresses with elaborate lace collars and hats. The virginals player has a foot-warmer. On the wall behind them hang a lute,  a flut, a perfectly depicted one-piece alto recorder, a portrait of another woman, and a seascape. An open door leads into a garden.
• A Family Merry-making (1638-1642), oil on canvas, Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). London: Victoria & Albert Museum, Inv. 536-1870. Ref. Weller et al. (2002: 151 & pl. 28); Rasmussen (2007, Bagpipe); Website: Victoria & Albert Museum (2016, col) An extended family share a meal around a small table. Amongst the party, a man plays a bagpipe, another sings; a boy plays a flute, another a small duct flute with a slightly flared bell (probably a recorder); a portly fellow blasts on a folded trumpet; and a serving girl plays the spoons. A ? girl in a red skirt dances. A dog sits beneath the table, seeming dazed by the racket going on around him.
• Music Party, painting, attributed to Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). Location unknown. Ref. Website: gallica (2012, b&w). A man standing plays the lute; another sitting on the edge of a draped table plays the violin. A woman sitting plays a very slender pipe which might represent a recorder; another standing drinks a glass of wine. Behind the table a woman wearing a large hat reclines. On the wall in the background is a map.
• Merry-making, oil on canvas, 96.5 × 135.6 cm, attributed to Jan Miense Molenaer (ca 1610-1668). New York: Central Picture Gallery (1968). Ref. Burlington Magazine 110 (no. 785): lxxxvi, advert. (1968); Rasmussen (2007, Bagpipe). Women sing and play a recorder, a man plays a bagpipe, and a boy astride a barrel plays a small flute.

Molinaretto = Giovane Maria delle Piane

Antonio Molinari

Italian baroque painter of the Venetian School; he typically painted tumultuous narratives of mythology and religion in large canvases; his characteristic manner of depicting figures was in poses of extreme torsion and vigorous movement; born Venice (1655), died Venice (1704).

• Mercury and Argus, drawing on paper, Antonio Molinari (1655-1704). Paris: Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts Graphiques, Inv. 17401, Recto. Argus leans against a tree, asleep, as Mercury plays his cylindrical pipe with one hand and draws his sword with the other.
• Mercury and Argus, drawing on paper, Antonio Molinari (1655-1704). Paris: Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts Graphiques, Inv. 17620, Recto. Argus sleeps with his head in his arms as Mercury plays his flared bell pipe with one hand and draws his sword with the other.
• Mercury and Argus, oil on canvas, 100 × 135 cm, Antonio Molinari (1655-1704). Versailles: Châteaux de Versailles, MV 7153. Ref. Website: Joconde (2011). In a riverside clearing in the forest, Mercury pipes Argus asleep whilst Io (as a white heifer) grazes. Mercury’s pipe is long and cylindrical with an abruptly flared bell.

[Helga] Jon Molvig

Australian expressionist artist, considered a major developer of 20th-century Australian expressionism, even though his career ‘only’ lasted 20 years. born Newcastle (1955), died South Brisbane (1970).

• Young Girl with Recorder (1955), conté crayon on cartridge paper, 55.1 × 37.6 cm, Jon Molvig (1923-1970). Sydney: Art gallery of New South Wales, Inv. 9288. Ref. Rumley (2002, 29. cat. 58). Not seen.

Paolo Monaldi

Italian figurative and landscape painter and frescoist, active in Rome; his works include bambocciate, scenes of simple country life (games, dances and drinking sessions) in settings that are characteristically amongst ruined buildings, and a few religious paintings; active 1720-1799.

• A Beggar Boy and a Boy Playing a Pipe, oil on panel, Paolo Monaldi (op. 1720-1799). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2002, col.) On a dusty road a beggar holding a score in one hand conducts a boy playing a greatly flared alto-sized recorder, the beak and window/labium of which are clearly visible.
• Peasants Resting and Making Music in a Landscape, oil on canvas, 61.5 × 47.4 cm, Paolo Monaldi (op. 1720-1799). Location unknown: Estate of Chester and Claire Kellogg; auctioned at Sotheby’s (London), Sale L06032, Old Master Paintings Day, 06 July 2006, Lot 226 (unsold). Ref. Sotheby’s Sale Catalogue LO6032 (2006: Lot 226); Gabrius Data Bank (2007, col.) A family rest beside the road under a tree. Mum slumps exhausted on a rocky ledge, her distaff under her arm, her work in her lap and in a basket on the ground beside her. A young girl sits on the ground with her dog, gazing in concern at her mother. Dad stands cross-legged, playing on a tenor-sized recorder with a strongly flared bell, the window-labium and several finger holes clearly visible. In the background, sheep and goats drink from a river. Another version of this composition by Monaldi is recorded by Andrea Busiri Vici (1975: 269) as on the Roman art market.

Cristoforo Monari – see Cristoforo Munari

Monogrammist AB (17th century), Italian (Bergamo)

• Still-life with Music and Musical Instruments, canvas, 116.5 × 82.5 cm, Monogrammist AB (17th century). Location unknown. Ref. Sale catalogue (colour photograph); Paris RIdIM (2000). on a table covered with a richly embroidered cloth lie a number of music part-books and musical instruments. The latter include violin and bow, harp, bassoon, soprano and tenor chalumeaux, mute cornetto, and two basset recorders of baroque design, both with a single key and one with a side-mounted bocal.
• Trompe l’Oeil (1664), painting, Monogrammist AB (17th century). Lisbon: Museu da Música. Hanging on a wall are a cornetto, a violin and bow, a shawm, and three flared-bell recorders of different sizes, soprano, alto and tenor. The soprano recorders is black with a serrated metal ferule at the foot; the alto has turned ornamental rings on the beak and foot, and a maker’s mark can be seen immediately beneath the window/labium; the tenor is not ornamented. The paired holes for the lowermost finger are visible on all three recorders. A ticket at the lower right of the painting reads “AB me fecit a 1664”.

Monogrammist AH (16th century), Southern Netherlands

• Altarpiece Nativity (16th century), oil on canvas, 120.5 × 70.0 cm, Monogrammist AH. Lyon: Musée des Beaux Arts, Inv. H 647 A. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2003); Website: Joconde (2013, col); Website: Wikimedia Commons (2013, col) Like many altarpieces this interestingly constructed painting contains several scenes from the Life of Christ in addition to the central Nativity, including the Visitation (top left), Annunciation to the Shepherds (top right), and their arrival at the gate leading to the manger (centre right). Both the latter show recorders. Very much in Byzantine positioning, the scene at the top right shows two shepherds looking up in response to the (golden) angel above, while a third, apparently unconcerned, sits below with his shepherd’s pipe. Although the detail of the pipe is too small for identification it has an elongated beak. It is at least a duct flute, possibly a recorder. The pipe held by the shepherd at the gate is in larger detail and more can be seen – again the sharp beak, though rather less elongated – the darker wood of the block, the cylindrical body, the flare at the bell. It seems to be just about alto size. This is but one in a series of paintings: others include Adoration of the Magi, Presentation in the Temple, Baptism of Christ, Washing of the Feet, Entry into Jerusalem, Doubting of St Thomas, Pentecost.

Monogrammist B

Italian engraver in the style of the Italian printmaker and painter Giulio Giulio (di Antonio) Bonasone (ca. 1510 – a. 1576); active mid-sixteenth century.

• The Seven Liberal Arts: Music (1544), engraving, 16.8 × 10.8 cm (image), Monogrammist B. San Francisco: de Young Museum 5050161212620016 A001416. Allegorical depiction of Music. A naked female figure sits with an open score on her lap, a long cylindrical pipe (probably a flute) in her hand, a lute beside her, a fiddle and bow at her feet. Behind her are a portative organ and a case for a number of wind instruments, possibly recorders.

Monogrammist CM

This artist may represent German book illustrator, glass painter and poet Christoph Murer [Maurer] (1558-1614).

• Jakob Micyllus’ Metamorphoses: Mercury and Argus (Leipzig, 1582), woodcut, Monogrammist CM. Beneath a tree, Argus nods whilst Mercury seated opposite him plays a slender cylindrical pipe. The latter is very likely a recorder since the little finger of the lowermost (left) hand is crooked to cover its hole, and a shadow appears to represent a window/labium. Borrowed from the designs from the cycle of 178 woodcuts produced by Bernard Salomon for a French (and Dutch) simplified Ovid, the Metamorphose figurée (Lyon, 1557), used by a number of Renaissance artists.

Monogrammist CS (17th century), northern Netherlandish

• Allegory of Music (1652), oil on panel, 41 × 36 cm, Monogrammist CS (17th century). London: Sotheby’s , 2007-04-24, Lot 484. Ref. Rijksbureau vor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, Image  0000194202 (2016, col) Auctioned with a pendant. Seated at a table, a man in a floppy hat plays a small violin, off the shoulder. On the table are an open book of music, a book, a small lute and a duct flute. The lower part of the latter is hidden between the lute and the music book, but it is proably a recorder. The bek, window/labium and fiurst two or three finger holes are visible.

Monogrammist CVN (1731-1795), Dutch = Cornelis van Noorde

Monogrammist CVP (17th century), Flemish

• Mercury and Argus, tableau in tiles, Monogrammist CVP (17th century). Antwerp: Museum Brouwershuis. Ref. Warburg Institute, London; Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). Mercury plays a long pipe with both hands, including the little finger of his lowermost (right) hand. His upper thumb is well under the instrument, but no window/labium is visible.

Monogrammist ES (op. ca 1440-1468) German

• A Fool and a Lady, engraving, Monogramist ES (op. ca 1440-1469). Ref. Lehrs & Mayor (1969: no. 138); Rasmussen (2004, Bells). “The fool has a recorder stuck in a purse and many bells on his cap. He fondles the lady and she tugs at his gown” (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.

Monogrammist FM (17th century), Dutch

• ? Apollo and the Muses, Monogrammist FM (17th century). Ref. Bartsch (1854-1870, 20: 56 UND). Apollo sits on a grassy knoll playing his lyre. Behind him, Pegasus canters across the sky and putti fly through the air and climb trees. At his feet, the Muses sing and play organ, viol, cymbals, lute, tambourine and triangle; one holds a straight trumpet, another bagpipes. Scattered in the foreground are papers and books and an astrolabe which a very small putto is turning. Behind the player of the viol can be seen the end of a tenor or bass wind instrument (shawm or recorder) with fontanelle and bore flare. In the centre foreground is a bearded old man in a loin-cloth above whom two winged putti hold a heraldic device of some kind.

Monogrammist FMD (18th century), German

• Serenade with Flute and Harp, grey pen and pencil drawing, Monogrammist FMD (18th century). Munich: Staatliche Graphische Sammlung. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999, Mgs – 945). Two men play a recorder and a small harp.

Monogrammist FP

• Mercury, Monogrammist FP. Ref. Bartsch (1843-1876: 17); Rowland-Jones (2000c: fig. 11). Mercury, naked but for his winged helmet and sandals, sits in the fork of a tree fitting seven duct flutes (with up to four finger holes) together to form a syrinx, his caduceus between his legs. He’s going to need that magic wand if his contraption is to work!

Monogrammist GB – See Guillaume Benson

Monogrammist GP = Georg Pencz

Monogrammist HS (early 18th century), ? Danish

• Portrait of a Young Man, oil on canvas, 105.2 × 88.0 cm, Monogrammist HS (early 18th century). London: Sotheby’s, 20010712 (auctioned as “The Property of a Gentleman”). Ref. Sotheby’s Catalogue (2001: 106, fig. 207). A youth wearing a red jacket stands full-length holding a baroque recorder of soprano/alto size recorder within a classical interior with a view of a courtyard beyond. On a window ledge behind him are his hat and sword.

Monogrammist H***W*** (op. 17th century), Dutch

• A Young Boy Blowing Bubbles with a Vanitas Still-life, oil on canvas, 79 × 116 cm, Monogrammist H***W*** (17th century). London: Sotheby’s Sale W05717, Old Master Paintings, 05 July 2005, Lot 491 (sold). Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Documentatie 122484 (2010, col) A young boy with flowing locks leans against a table holding in one hand a straw with a bubble to the light and with the other a shell. On the table are scattered an hourglass, a skull, a ? money bag tied at the top, a candlestick and holder, a framed mirror, a statue, a tankard, a violin and bow, and a soprano hand-fluyt, perfectly depicted, with the lowermost hole offset.

Monogrammist L.V.C. (17th century) Dutch

• Tryomph van Swerelts Rijckdom (1663), oil on panel, 76 × 97 cm,  Monogrammist L.V.C. Utrecht: Museum Catharijneconvent, Inv. RMCC s100. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). The hand of God weighs the arts against a canon and catholic regalia, the arts weighing much heavier. In this representation of the wide road and the narrow road, The figure of Wealth rides her car along the wide road surrounded by her followers, some partially hidden beneath an enormous cloth bearing images of heads representing the vices foolishness, drunkenness, lust, etc. Wealth and her train are immediately followed by Death whose cart, pulled by a bull ridden by Sampson, tramples princes, prelates, scholars all before him. In the upper-left corner one is the temple of human Fortune. To the right is the the narrow gate through which passes the narrow way to Jerusalem. Above, God’s hand holds the scales in which a copy of the bible outweighs a canon, armour and other symbols of pomp and worldly circumstance. Spread across the bottom of the picture are other vanitas objects including books, architectural drawings and many musical instruments, amongst them lutes, flute, violin, shawm, cornetto and, at the centre, an alto/tenor recorder. The latter is fairly cylindrical but the bell is slightly flared with three incised rings. Both the plug in the beak end and the side of the window/labium is visible. There are five finger holes and a sixth seems to be covered by a clay pipe. a number of moralizing texts and allegorical figures reminiscent of the world of rhetoric. This painting can be associated with the Haarlem rhetoricians. Partly based on prints by Cornelis Cort after a design by Maarten van Heemskerck from 1564, The cycle of human action, no. 2 and 3 (New Hollstein, Maarten van Heemskerck, 2, no. 483 and 484, pict.)

Monogrammist MA (16th century), German

• Maximilian I’s Prayer Book: Oratio omnis sancti tui que sumus (1514), black ink drawing, Monogrammist MA. Besancon: Bibliothèque municipale, BSB 2 L.impr.membr. 64. Ref. Website: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (2016, col.). With his cauduceus in one hand Mercury holds aloft an alto-sized duct flute with the other. At his feet is a snare drum lying on its side. To the left, a swan balances on an ornate line. The monogram MA is clearly seen at the bottom right. The figure of Mercury seems out of place in a prayer book. However, Maximilian had a particular interest in astrology and over the years his geniture was cast and analyzed numerous times by various astrologers. In his chart, Mars, Mercury and Saturn were singled out as particularly significant planets. On the reverse side of this page is another drawing in red ink, like those seen elsewhere in this book by Albrecht Dürer, which illustrates two women standing on a turtle/dog chimera and a winged putto riding a dog/fish chimera. This also bears the MA monogram.

Monogrammist MT, possibly Martin Treu (16th century), German

• [Title unknown] (1543), Monogrammist MT (possibly Martin Treu). Location unknown. Ref. Bartch (1854-1870, 9: 73.24); Warburg Institute, London. Two men in slashed jackets and breeches play drum and a conical pipe which could be a mute cornetto, but which just might be a recorder. Cf. Beham’s Three Soldiers.

Monogrammist PVK = P.V. Kerck

Monogrammist S

Printmaker of unknown provenance, active 1495-1530.

• A Young Couple Seated at the Table Surprised by Death (1505-1520), engraving on laid paper, tondo, 5.5 cm diam., Monogrammist S (fl. 1495-1530). Ref. Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-2761 (2023, b&w). Seated an octagonal table on an elaborate stand and plinth, A man serenades his wife on a lute. To their right, an older man and woman are deep in discussion. Behind the couple and to their left, a group of men and women seem to be partying to music performed by a lutenist, and a pipe and tabor player. The figure of Death leans in on the party through a window brandishing a long spear. In the foreground a little dog has fallen over in alarm. The table is strewn with food; and right in the front, centre-stage, are two crossed recorders, clearly symbolising death of the married couple.

Monogrammist SPQ (fl. 1560-1564), Italy (Venice)

• Frontispiece: LA MVSICA DEL MOLTO MAGNIFICO ET ECCELL. M. GIROLAMO FALETI TRADOTTA DAL VERSO HEROICO LATI NO IN OTTAVA RIMA DA G.M.V., illuminated manuscript, Venice (1560-1564), Monogrammist SPQ (fl. 1560-1564). Location unknown. Ref. Sale Catalogue, London, ? vendor (? date); Paris RIdIM (2000). A work authored by G.M. Verdezotti (1525-1600). However, in the top right-hand corner of the ornamental margin of the title page (opposite the frontispiece) in a small rectangular box the monogram SPQ appears, presumably that of the artist. In the frontispiece, the winged figure of Music sits before a lattice-work fence behind which is a bird and a stag. In her left hand she holds a lyre, with her right she points to a campanulate flower, presumably meant to represent a lily. Beside her throne stands a viol and on the ground lies a lute. Beneath her feet is a cylindrical duct flute (flageolet or recorder).

Monogrammist Z (18th century), German

• Musicians in a Church Interior (early 18th century), engraving, 15.4 × 18.1 cm, Monogrammist Z (18th century). German. The Hague: Gemeentemuseum. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001); Tibia 30(1): front cover (2005). A small choir (with two boys visible) in a protestant church with recorder and flute playing together with continuo played on both organ and harpsichord. The recorder player reads from a score entitled Cantata … Flauto balanced on the edge of the Italian-style harpsichord. The alto/tenor sized recorder is of the slender three-piece baroque style well fitted to the high tessitura of recorder parts by Bach and Telemann. Beneath the harpsichord the following verse appears:
  

  Rührt die Zauberthon empfindich deine Brust,
  Erregt dis Saiterspiel bey dir vergnügte Lust,
  Wird durch die Harmonie der Sinnen Kraft benomen:
  Gedencke nur dabey; sie ist vom Himmel Kommen.

  Stir the magical sounds from within your breast,
  Exite the strings for your pleasure and amusement,
  Only by means of harmony driven by the senses
  Will God descend from the heavens.

Bartolommeo/Bartolomeo Montagna

Italian early Renaissance painter, the most eminent master of the school of Vicenza whose paintings shows a crystal-clear sense of construction and volume; born Brescia (ca 1450), died Vicenza (1523).

• Polyptych, central panel: Virgin and Child Enthroned with Angel Musicians, Bartolommeo Montagna (ca 1450-1523). Detail. Lyon: Musée des Beaux-Arts, Palais Saint-Pierre. Ref. Walter Bergmann Collection, No. 45; LP Record Cover: L’Art de la Flûte, Volume I: La Flûte à Bec du Moyen-âge au XVIII^e Siècle, Roger Cotte et le Groupe des Instruments Anciens de Paris, Arion 30 A 070 (1969); Levenson et al. (1973: 324 – fig.); Burlington Magazine 98 (1956: 312 – fig.); La Revue des Arts 6 (1956: 81 – fig.); Rasmussen (1999, Tambourine); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm.); Websites: Joconde (2010); gallica (2012, b&w). A boy seated on the base of the predella beneath the enthroned Virgin and Child plays a tambourine, his legs crossed. On each side of him a boy kneeling on one leg plays a very clearly depicted, slightly flared recorder. The two side panels have been lost.

Claude Montgomery

North American painter of portraits and seascapes, known also for his work with the homeless; born 1912, died Portland, Maine (1990).

• Portrait of Friedrich von Huene (1972), oil on canvas, Claude Montgomery (1912–1990). Brookline: von Huene Collection. Ref. Burgess (2015: 208 & pl. 25, b&w); von Huene Workshop (2021). The noted wind instrument maker, Friedrich von Huene (1929-2016), seated in side profile, holds a three-piece baroque alto recorder with ivory beak, ferrules and foot, possibly one of the Bressan alto’s from his own collection. One of von Huene’s clients, the artist Claude Montgomery, spent the summers in Maine where Friedrich von Huene and his family also spent their vacations for some years at Indian Point. In 1972, Montgomery asked Friedrich, his wife Inge and their eight-year-old son Thomas to sit for him. As part payment for his services Friedrich gave Montgomery a basset recorder. The three portraits now decorate the family’s Brookline music room.

Carel de Moor

Netherlandish artist, the greatest of the so-called “Leiden Fine Painters”; born Leiden or Warmond (1656), died 1739.

• Still-life with Books and Musical Instruments, Carel de Moor (1656-1739). Location unknown; sold Hotel Drout, 1 July (1991), 14:30 pm, Salles 1 & 7, Cat. #21. Ref. Catologue de Vente (1991: #21 , col); Paris RIdIM (1999). Tarot cards, a picture, scarf, watch, papers, a violin, a small lute and the head of a turned baroque (Hotteterre-style) recorder crossed with the middle and foot of another. Probably a vanitas.

Charles Moreau (1830-?)

• Spellbound, Charles Moreau (1830-?). Location unknown. Ref. Greetings Card, Woodmansterne, London (1998: S 053118, col.); Website: Getty Images (2010, col) A young boy leans against a tree playing a peculiar pipe to a picnic basket, the lid of which is slightly open. The pipe has an ivory head and foot, the later campanulate. The body is made of wood and has a bulbous expansion near the foot. The boys cheeks are slightly inflated and there is no indication of a window/labium, so this may represent a capped reed instrument of some kind. However, all four fingers of the lower (right) hand seem to be covering their holes.

Jean François Moreau (18th century), Netherlands

• Musical trophies (1733-1736), gold-relief in wood, Jean François Moreau (18th century). Gouda: St Janskerk, organ console balcony. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2004). There are two trophies with musical instruments on each side of the balcony, including trombone, viola, oboe, and the head of an alto recorder, up to the third finger hole before the rest is hidden. The recorder is shown side-on with a turned-over beak and clear window-labium.

Hippolyte François Moreau

French sculptor who worked in bronze and marble; born Dijon (1832), died Neuilly-sur-Seine (1927); second son of the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Moreau.

• Rustic Recorder, bronze sculpture, Hippolyte François Moreau (1832-1927). Brussels: Horta, 17 March 1997, Lot 116 . Ref. Artfact (2004). Not seen.
• Young Man with Recorder and Lady with Cymbals, bronze sculpture on red marble base, Hippolyte François Moreau (1832-1927). Antwerp: Amberes Veilingen, 26 May 1997, Lot 815. Ref. Website: Artfact (2004). Not seen.

Paulus Janszoon Moreelse

Dutch painter, miniaturist and architect, best known for his portraits of shepherds and blonde shepherdesses with a deep decolletage; designed the Catherine Gate (destroyed) and possibly the façade of the Meat Market in Utrecht; born Utrecht (1571), died Utrecht (1638).

• Shepherd with a Pipe, 94.0 × 71.5 cm, Paulus Jansz. Moreelse (1571-1638). Edinburgh: National Gallery of Scotland. Ref. Kettering (1983: fig. 5); Griffioen (1988: 440-441). A shepherd in a loose fur cloak an wearing a hat with flowers in it, holds a soprano hand-fluyt as if about to play it left-hand up. There is no entry for this in the database of the National Galleries of Scotland. A copy in the Uffizi, Florence, provides the basis for a self-portrait by Jacob Backer.
• Flute Player, Paulus Janszoon Moreelse (1571-1638). Munich: Bayerisches Nationalmuseum. Ref. Archiv Moeck. A man holds a cylindrical duct flute. The bell is slightly turned; the head is in shadow, but the fingering is as of a recorder.
• Shepherd with a Pipe (1636), oil on panel, 66.4 × 55.2 cm, Paulus Jansz. Moreelse (1571-1638). Aschaffenburg: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Staatsgalerie Aschaffenburg Inv. 6527. Ref. Brochhagen (1964); Website: Il Flauto Traverso Nell’Arte (2005: 2); Munich RIdIM. A shepherd holds a cylindrical pipe which he is about to play. This picture is presented on a web-site devoted to the transverse flute. However, the instrument seems more like a cylindrical duct flute. The head is in shadow, but the position of the player’s thumb and the fingering with the little finger of the lowermost (right) hand down strongly suggest a recorder.
• Shepherd and Shepherdess or Man with a Tulip, Paulus Janszoon Moreelse (1571-1638). Münster: Westfälisches Landesmuseum. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). A man holds a tulip with his right hand. His left holds a cylindrical duct flute, fairly fat and showing the windway opening from beneath, and the outline of the block. There is a decorative incised ring, well below which appear two holes spaced obliquely. The rest of the instrument is obscured
• Saint Cecilia Playing the Lute (1620), oil on canvas, 11.3 × 109.5 cm, London: Bonhams , 9 July 2002, Lot 40. Ref. Rijksbureau vor Kunsthisorische Documentie, Image 140126 (2016, col.); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-819 (2023, col.) A woman seated in a high-backed chair looks heavenward as she plays the lute. Before her is a desk on which is a large open book (presumably a bible), a long partially unfurled document, a violin and bow from underneath which projects the foot of a recorder, the characteristic offset lowermost finger hole clearly visible.

Moretto da Brescia [born Alessandro Buonvicino (or Bonvincino)]

Italian artist, active mainly in his native Brescia where he was the leading painter of his day; he established a large practice as painter of altarpieces and other religious works, the best of which display a characteristic gravity and poetic feeling for nature; also painted portraits and is now credited with introducing the independent full-length portrait to Italy; born Brescia (ca 1498), died 1554.

• Virgin and Child in Glory with Five Female Saints also known as The Virgin in Glory with Five Martyrs (1540), canvas, 288 ×  193 cm, Moretto da Brescia (ca 1498-1554). Detail. Verona: San Giorgio in Braida. Ref. Gombosi (1943: cat. no.189, pl. 77); Mirimonde (1974: pl. 71); Art Bulletin 64 (1982); Visual Collection, Fine Arts Library, Harvard University, 372.M815.34; Paris RIdIM (1999); Rasmussen (1999, Lute); Website; gallica (2012, b&w, etching); Website: Fondazione Federico Zeri, item 42332 (2017, b&w); Website: Lute Iconography LI-352, detail (2023, col.) The Virgin and Child sit comfortably on a cloud. Beneath them the Martyrs (Saints Catherine, Cecilia, Lucy, Agatha and Agnes) variously discourse amongst themselves, read a book or gaze heavenward. St Cecilia seems to have a bet each way, one eye gazing upwards, the other down, whilst she holds her organetto upside down such that its pipes must surely fall to the ground where lie scattered a number of other musical instruments including a rebec (with an elaborately carved back) and bow, a lute, a cornetto, and two flared bell duct flutes, one an alto recorder with seven finger holes (including an offset hole for the lowermost finger), the other of soprano size but with only six finger holes showing. The window/labium area of each is clearly depicted. Cecilia’s face is similar to Raphael’s depiction of the same scene, but here the instruments scattered at the Saint’s feet are not broken.
• Adoration of the Shepherds, Moretto da Brescia (ca 1498-1554). Berlin: Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Gemädergalerie. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999, Bgd – 90); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001); Website: Stiftung St Matthäus (2014, col) Shepherds arrive to pay homage to the infant Jesus who lies in a wicker basket. One of the shepherds in the act of doffing his cap and kneeling, turns away from us, in his belt an alto-sized cylindrical recorder with a clear window/labium, a slightly flared bell with a small decorative ring, and holes for seven fingers, including paired holes for the lowermost finger. In the background a second shepherd climbs over a wall a flared-bell pipe in his hand.

Barbara Brooks Morgan

American artist whose drawings, prints, watercolors and paintings were widely exhibited in the 1920s and 1930s; she turned to photography in 1935 exploring both expressionist and manipulated image photography; she became well-known for her penetrating studies of modern dancers such as Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, and José Limón; born southern California (1900), died 1992.

• Girl Playing Recorder (1945, printed ca 1980), gelatin silver print, 40 × 50 cm, Barbara Morgan. New York: Swann Galleries, Photographic Literature and Photographs, 6 June 2002, Lot 399; New York: Bruce Silverstein Gallery (2003). Ref. Website: Artfact (2003 – photo available by subscription). A young girl sits on a roof-top playing a recorder. There is a lake in the background. But is it art?

Andrea Morinello

Italian artist known for his altar pieces and religious paintings; born Val Bisagno near Genoa (ca 1490), died after 1529; son of the painter Giacomo Morinello (m. 1510).

• Shepherd with a Flute, etching and engraving on paper, 39.80 × 30.30 cm, Lorenzo Lorenzi (fl.1750-1780) after Andrea Morinello (c.1490–p.1529).  Edinburgh: National Gallery of Scotland, Inv. P 5321. A shepherd wearing a feathered cap, a ragged shirt and a fur cape, holds a perfectly depicted one-piece flared bell recorder, left hand uppermost.

Berthe(-Marie-Pauline) Morisot

French painter and printmaker; an original, influential and highly regarded member of the Impressionists of whom she was the most intimate, depicting people happy and at home; with her sister Edma, she worked as a copyist in the Louvre; born Bourges (1841), died Paris (1895); grand-daughter of the artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806), and sister-in-law of the Realist painter Edouard Manet (1832-1883).

• Edouard Manet’s Daughter Playing the Recorder, coloured pencil on paper, 20.3 × 14.0 cm, Berthe Morisot (1841-1895). Private Collection. Ref. Bridgeman Art Library (2001: Image AGN130351, col.); Macmillan (2008: 136). A young girl, Julie Manet, seen in side profile sits playing a slender cylindrical pipe. Macmillan (loc. cit.) claims this is a recorder, but it is very sketchily drawn and might just as well be a flageolet – or a drinking straw.
• The Flageolet, pastels on paper, Berthe Morisot (1841-1895). Private Collection: Auctioned 15 May 1990 (unsold). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2002, col.); Website: The Pleasant Companion (2007, col.) Two girls (one in straw hat) sit in a garden playing cylindrical duct flutes. However, as French flageolets were still being played in France during the period when Morisot was active, it seems possible to take this work at face value.
• Study for The Flageolet, pastels on paper, Berthe Morisot (1841-1895). Location unknown: Auctioned 9 April 2002 (sold). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2002, col.) A girl faces us playing a wind instrument. A very vague sketch for the above.

P. Morley

• Girl with a Recorder, oil on board, 64.8 × 37.8 cm,  P. Morley (20th century). Warnham: Denhams, Fine Art, Antique and Collectables Auction, 8 June 2014, Lot 838. Seated on a bench, a rather sour looking girl plays a neo-baroque recorder. Leaning against the bench beside her is a lute.

Giovanni Battista Moroni

Italian Renaissance painter notable for his sober and dignified portraits of almost photographic precision; born Abino (1525), died Bergamo (1578).

• Concerto, (?1556), 136 × 186 cm, variously attributed to Bernardino Licinio da Pordenone (ca 1498 – a.1565) and Giovanni Battista Moroni (1525-1578). Vercelli: Museo Francesco Borgogna. Ref. Limberg (1992: 121, fig. 7, b&w); Paolo Biordi (pers. comm., 2000). A patrician young man and a woman play cornetti and two young women hold cylindrical duct flutes (probably recorders). The women on the right holds an open score which is probably readable.
• A Composer with a Recorder and Music Manuscript, pen and brown ink on laid paper, 12.1 × 94.0 cm, attributed to Giovanni Battista Moroni (1525-1578). Location unknown: auctioned 1993 by Goodfriend ex coll. Padre Resta (the so-called Borghese Collection). Ref. Goodfriend (1993: 22-23, pl. 77); Michael Fleming (pers. comm., 2006). The attribution to Moroni is given in Padre Resta’s hand on the recto of the sheet. Resta (1635-1714) is generally considered reliable. An oddly pear-shaped, sour-faced man stands at a table on which lies a music manuscript. In his right hand he holds what looks like a container of some kind (for the pipe, perhaps), in his left a pipe (probably a recorder). Only part of the body and one end of the instrument can be seen. Four finger holes are depicted and there seems to have been some attempt to depict the beak and window/labium of a recorder. It has been suggested that the drawing depicts Orlando Lassus (1532-1594). One of the Bassanos is a remote possibility, too. But this may just as well be a picture of a member of a distinguished Venetian family, shown to set off his musical gifts – even to the extent of portraying him rather dishabille. There is a painting of almost identical composition in the Detroit Institute attributed to Titian, probably in error; although the faces of the subjects are different there must be some connection between them (see below).
• Man Holding a Flute (ca 1560-1565), oil on canvas, 122.2 × 100.3 cm, ? Giovanni Battista Moroni (1525-1578). Detroit: Detroit Institute 27.385. Ref. Goodfriend (1993: 23). An oddly pear-shaped man stands at a table on which lies a music manuscript. In his right hand he holds what looks like a container of some kind (for the pipe, perhaps), in his left a pipe (probably a recorder). Only part of the body and one end of the instrument can be seen. Only part of the body and one end of the instrument can be seen. Holes for seven fingers are depicted, including paired holes for the little finger of the lowermost hand, and there seems to have been some attempt to depict the beak and window/labium of a recorder. The beak appears to be sheathed in metal. This painting is attributed to Titian by the Detroit Institute. However, given its striking similarity with a drawing attributed to Moroni (see above), the latter artist seems more likely. Titian used recorder symbolism in a variety of ways, and was generally rather careful in how he depicted the instrument. Neither the drawing nor the painting shows the instrument at all accurately.

William Morris

British craftsman, designer, writer, typographer, and socialist; his career as a designer led to the formation of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. in 1861 (later renamed Morris & Co) was particularly well-known for its stained glass, examples of which can be seen in churches throughout Britain. Morris produced some 150 designs which are often characterised by their delightful foliage patterns; born Walthamstow (1834) died Hammersmith (1896).

• Musical Angels (1873), stained glass, design by William Morris. Detail. Over Stowey, Somerset: Church of St Peter and St Paul, North aisle, West window. Ref. A.B. Sainsbury ex Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm, 2004); Website: flickr, Over Stowey Church (Nov. 2011). Angels plays rebec, cymbals, harp and an ambiguous cylindrical pipe which might be taken to represent a recorder.

John Hamilton Mortimer

British draughtsman and painter of historical and romantic literary themes, also of portraits and conversation pieces; he was a wild and flamboyant character who, throughout his youth, led an outrageous lifestyle filled with revelry and excessive drinking; despite his short life his output was prodigious; born Eastbourne (1740), died London (1779).

• Comedy (ca 1776), pen & grey ink and grey wash, 10.9 × 7.2 cm, John Hamilton Mortimer (1740-1779). London: British Museum, Inv. 1868,0822.7597. Ref. Website: British Museum (2012, b&w). Wearing classical drapery and crowned with ivy, a personification of Comedy stands with a recorder in her right hand holding a quill pen and an open book which rests upon a short column decorated with swags of leaves and theatrical trophy (mask, panpipes and oboe), sitting beside her a child holds a mask of an old man before his face and a tambourine (with jingle rings) between his knees. The recorder is of alto size, the beak and first few finger holes clearly depicted, the foot hidden behind the child’s elbow. An engraving of this by John Hall was used as the frontispiece to the Comedy volumes of the 1780 edition of John Bell’s British Theatre.
• [Peasant Girl] (1784), etching on bluish paper, 8.3 × 10.7 cm, by Thomas Rowlandson (1757-1827) after John Hamilton Mortimer (1740-1779). London: British Museum, Inv. 1866,1208.377 & 1872,0608.281. Ref. Website: British Museum (2012, b&w). A female peasant seen from behind almost in half-length, her hair in a knot, and wearing loose-sleeved garment, plays a recorder or flute.

Carla Moss

American graphic artist and sculptor working in clay, bronze and other media; her works include, figurative, zoological, marine, and figurative subjects as well as public art; born San Francisco. Artist’s web-site.

• Flute Player 127 × 122 cm, Carla Moss (contemporary). Milpitas, California: City Hall, pond. Ref. Website: Carla’s Fine Art and Graphic Design (2014, col.) A young girl sits on a rock playing a slender cylindrical pipe, possibly a recorder.
• Flute Player 20.3 × 30.5 × 22.9 cm, Carla Moss (contemporary). Milpitas, California: City Hall, pond. Ref. Carla’s Fine Art and Graphic Design (2014, col.) A small replica (maquette) of the above. A young girl sits on a rock playing a slender cylindrical pipe, possibly a recorder.

John Mossman (1817-1890)

Scottish sculptor and teacher working in Glasgow, completing many well known statues, busts and friezes for public buildings and spaces there. These include statues of Sir Robert Peel, Thomas Campbell and David Livingstone, all in George Square; founder member of the Glasgow School of Art where he taught modelling; his firm of J & G Mossman produced an enormous quantity of monuments for cemeteries in Glasgow and elsewhere in Scotland; born 1817, died 1890.

• [Cherub Musicians], carved stone figures, 150 cm high, John Mossman (1817-1890). Edinburgh: Bonhams Sale 11788 – The Scottish Sale, 24 August 2005, Lot 771. A young boy (naked apart from a cloak across his back) plays stylised pipe (possibly a duct flute] and a young girl (in a tunic) holds an open book of music. These appear to be simply children rather than cherubs or putti.

Nercen Motamed

Contemporary Iranian born artist now living and working in the USA; commenced painting professionally in 1983 in a figurative style, later turning to a synthesis of abstract art and figuration, depicting Persian female rug weavers or people and nature. Artist’s Web-site.

• Shepherd (2002), oil on canvas, 100 × 140 cm, Nercen Motamed (op. 1983-). Location unknown. Against a background of stylised trees and flowers, a bearded man plays a tenor-sized pipe. No details of the instrument are shown; however, the disposition of fingers and thumb are highly suggestive of recorder playing, though it is probably kaval.

Christophe Moucherel

French turner, cabinet-maker, type-founder and organ builder; he built his first organ in 1716; by the time he was commissioned for the monumental organ at Albi Cathedral in 1734, he had already completed 12 organs and had worked on another 25; after completing the instrument at Albi in 1737, he went on to build the organs at Castres and Narbonne, and at the Abbey of Boulbonne; after 1761 there is no further trace of him; born Toul (1686), died p. 1761.

• Musical Trophies (1723-1725), organ case panels, carved wood, Christophe Moucherel (1686-p.1761). Mouzon: l’Eglise-Abbatiale Notre-Dame de Mouzon. Ref. Paul Motte (2011); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2011); Web-site: Orgue historique du Mouzon (Ardennes) (2011). This organ is the outstanding feature of the church’s interior. From 1988–1981 a complete restoration was undertaken since little of Moucherel’s original instrument remained, apart from the case, the pedal wind chests, and the pedal 6′ and 12′ ranks. From a web-site devoted to this organ and its restoration, it seems that the organ case was by the carpenter Henry Baillard Stenay, and the sculpture by Jacques Lemaire. Panels on left and right front of the case are carved with musical garlands. The right-hand panel comprises an upper garland of lyre, flute, oboe and serpent, above a lower garland of alto recorder, small bagpipe (cornamuse), bassoon, trumpet and oboe oboe. The left-hand panel comprises an upper garland of violincello piccolo (with five strings), oboe, tenor and soprano recorders, trumpet and ? flute, above a lower garland of syrinx, horn, two flutes and trumpet. On top of the positive organ (in front of the organ bench) a carved putto at the front of the case conducts, and on either side putti play flute and shawm.

Henry Siddons Mowbray

American artist known for his genre, figure and decorative paintings; born Alexandria, Egypt (1858), died 1929.

• Young Flute Player, oil on panel, 12.1 × 16.5 cm, Henry Siddons Mowbray (1959-1928). Bolton: Skinner, 20 March 2003, Lot 899; Fairfield: James D. Julia, Spectacular Maine 3 Day Auction, 20-22 August 2003, Lot 1567. An impressionistic scene with what appear to be two young mythological forest dwellers around a cauldron. One plays a small recorder-like pipe while another looks on. Signed lower right “H.S. Mowbray”. Housed in a pierced decorated gilt frame set in a burgundy velvet lined shadow box.

Wilhelmine Christana Müler (18th century), German

• Shepherd Scene (1773), watercolour on paper, Wilhelmine Christina Müler (18th century). Tübingen. Ref. Munich RIdIM (2003, Slm – 310). A shepherd plays a ? recorder to his shepherdess in an idealistic landscape.

Mulinaretto = Giovanni Maria dalle Piane

Albert Müller-Single (19th century)

• [Untitled] (1844), print after an original painting by Albert Müller-Single (19th century). Published in Munich. Ref. Archiv. Moeck. An elderly man (a walker judging by his satchel, hat and stick) sits on a bench before a kitchen fire playing a duct flute (flageolet or recorder) to two children and their mother. The instrument is narrow and cylindrical with a flared bell and an ornate, bulbous head.

Karl Friedrich Moritz Müller (1822-1865), German

• Tiroler am Feuerherd (Cooking Fire), Karl Friedrich Moritz Müller (1822-1865). Mainz: Mittelrheinisches Landesmuseum, Inv. 30. Ref. Munich RIdIM 1999, MZlm – 43). A young man plays a recorder; two young women stand by. Not seen.

Cristoforo [Cristofano] Munari [Monari, Monarico]

Italian artist specialising in still-life painting; his style is characterized by a realistic treatment of detail and a subtle play of reflections and transparencies, suggestive of the manner of such Dutch artists as Jan de Heem; born Reggio Emilia (1667), died Pisa (1720).

• Still-life with Musical Instruments (1706-1715), oil on canvas, 42 × 67 cm, Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). Detail. Florence: Galleria degli Uffizi, Inv. 135 (not on display, 2002). Ref. American Recorder 37 (5): cover (1996, col); Rowland-Jones (1997c: 12; pers. comm., 2002); Baldassari (1999: 170, no. 64); Badiarov (2005, col.); Ausoni (2009: 351, col); CD Cover: Brandenburg Concertos 1-6, English Chamber Orchestra, London (1995); de Avena Braga (2015: 225, fig. 3.11, col) Depicts books, music, a cello, a violin, a lute, an ornately decorated trumpet, a bowl of fruit, a typical 3-piece turned baroque recorder, Chinese porcelain, and an exquisite delicate glass container. A musical score is stuffed under the strings of the cello.
• Still-life with Musical Instruments (1706-1715), oil on canvas, 99 × 134 cm, Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). Florence: Galleria degli Uffizi, Inv. 7591 (not on display, 2002). Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999); Francone et al. (1996: 296-297, pl. 70, col); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002); Wikimedia (2010, col); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-1589 (2023, col.) Depicts books, music, a cello, a violin, a lute, an ornately decorated trumpet, a bowl of fruit, a typical 3-piece turned baroque recorder, Chinese porcelain, and an exquisite delicate glass container. A musical score is stuffed under the strings of the cello.
• Still-life with Musical Instruments, Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). Florence: Galleria degli Uffizi (not on display, 2002). Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999). A cello stands beside a cloth-covered table on which there is a jumble of objects including a lute and tea cups (without handles); falling off it is a plate with a joint of ham, flowers, fruit, some music, and a perfectly depicted alto baroque recorder in which all features are absolutely clear.
• Fruit, Pots, Books and Flute, oil on canvas, 172 × 146 cm, Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). Florence: Galleria Palatina. Ref. Website: Artothek (2007: 15921, col.); Exhibition on Tour: Still-Life Painting and the Medici Collections (2006-2008); CD cover: Giuseppe Sammartini, XII Sonatas for two German Flutes, I Fiori Musicali, Tactus; CD Cover:Telemann, Recorder Music (The Recorder Collection), 6 CD set, BIS-CD-1488-90. On a cloth-covered table is a jumble of objects including a wine-glass, a bowl, a basin, cups (without handles), a vase in which a rolled-up sheet of music is stuffed, an open book, lemons, and a perfectly depicted alto baroque recorder in which all features are absolutely clear. The recorder has an ivory beak and mounts.
• Trompe l’Oeil with Musical Instruments (ca 1707-1713), oil on canvas, 65 x 49 cm, Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). Florence: Galleria della Accademia, Musical Instrument Museum, Inv. 7745-1890; on loan from Galleria Palatina (Pitti Palace Gallery). Ref. Postcard: M34015, Woodmansterne Publications, Watford (1997, col); Paris RIdIM (1999); Bayer (2000: 41, fig. 27, b&w); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002); Website: gallica (2012, b&w); de Avena Braga (2015: 221, fig. 3.7, col); Website: Lute Iconography LI-1470 (2023, col.) A garland of musical instruments tied together, including a cornetto, violin, mandolin and a turned baroque recorder with ivory mouthpiece and ferrules.
• Still-life with Musical Instruments, oil on canvas, Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). Private Collection. Ref. Wikimedia Commons (2011, col); de Avena Braga (2015: 222, fig. 3.8, col) On a table covered in a crimson cloth are a bowl and a platter of fruit, a carafe of wine, a glass of wine, two porcelain cups on a tazza standing on top of a book with a ticket, and an alto-sized baroque recorder with ivory beak and mount, the foot not visible. Behind the table, a cello (with its bow) leans against the wall.
• Still-life with Musical Instruments and Fruit (ca 1707-1713), Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). Florence: Galleria Galleria dell’Accademia Inv. 1890_5139, on loan from Galleria Palatina, Inv. 1890_7591. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002); Website: Wikimedia Commons (2010, col): de Avena Braga (2015: 224, fig. 3.10, col); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-1468 (2023, col.)  At centre left, most prominent, stands a fine cello, with music lying in front of it. Beside it, on the ground, centre-stage, is a perfect alto recorder of late baroque design in light wood (? box). A lute, and cups on a table centre right with a wealth of fruit, notably watermelons – one uncut, apples and a gourd.
• Still-life with Musical Instruments (ca 1710-1715), oil on canvas, 140 × 100 cm, Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). Houston: Museum of Fine Arts, Samuel H. Kress Collection. Ref. CD cover, Baroque Recorder Concerti, Scott Reiss & Hesperus, Golden Apple GACD 7550 (1989, detail, col); Paris RIdIM (1999); Website: gallica (2012, b&w). On a table covered in a lavishly embroidered cloth are a tray with small decanters of wine and an ornate drinking glass balanced on top of a couple of books, a vase of flowers, a platter with some peaches and a couple of tea cups without handles, a violin, an ink well and quill, some music, and a turned alto baroque recorder.
• Still-life with Musical Instruments, Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). Bergamo: Private Collection. Ref. Archiv Moeck. A violin leans against a box on a table with a glass jug and glasses, playing cards, books, some fruit, papers and books, and a turned, 3-piece, baroque alto recorder.
• Still-life, after Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). Location unknown; offered for sale by Guglielmo Canessa at the Biennale des Antiquaires, Florence (1963); Rome: Christies, Sale ERACLE 130, Importanti dipinti, acquarelli, stampe e disegni antichi e del XIX secolo, 27 May 1987. Ref. Sale Catalogue (1963: No. 376); RIdIM (2000); Website: gallica (2012, b&w); Sale Catalogue (1987, front cover, col); Julier (2012, col) On a table covered in a lavishly embroidered cloth are two drinking tumblers, a cello and bow, and a violin and bow. Above the cello hangs a metal ring on which a bird is perched pecking at some cherries or other fruit. On a smaller lower table in the foreground are a bowl of fruit, some sheet music and a beautifully depicted alto baroque recorder with ivory beak, centre-joint and foot.
• Still-life, canvas, 98 × 73 cm, Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). Bergamo: Private Collection. Ref. Catalogue de l”Exposition de Bordeaux (1969); RIdIM (2000); Website: gallica (2012, b&w). On a table covered in a lavishly embroidered cloth are scattered a metal plate with biscuits, a mandolin, a book, sheet music, playing cards, a violin, a cabinet, a metal platter with glass-ware on it, and an alto baroque recorder with turned decorative rings on the beak and centre-joint (only the first two finger holes are visible) the lower part of the instrument is beyond the frame of the painting.
• Still-life, Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). Ref. Baldassari & Benati (1999). Location unknown. On a table lie an inkwell, a knife, music, a spinet, violin and bow, cornetto, a very small flared-bell duct flute of simple (renaissance) design. The latter is possibly a recorder, but it is viewed from behind and only the thumb hole is visible the position of which is more suggestive of a flageolet.
• Still-life / Allegory of Art, oil on canvas, 118 × 94 cm, Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). Reggio Emilia: Fondazione Pietro Manodori. Ref. Baldassari & Benati (1999); Website: Lute Iconography LI-1590 (2023, col.) On a table lie a bust with a laurel wreath, an ornate urn, a knife and bowl, an artist’s palette, books, music, a small mandolin, and a baroque alto recorder.
• Still Life with Violin, Fruit and Glasses, oil on canvas, 135 × 97 cm, Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). Modena: Galleria Estense, Inv. 2978. Ref. Cosetta (1985, 1: pl. 71); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). Includes a tenor recorder, cello, lute, and Milanese mandolin as well as the violin (? viola), and music which Cosetta says is legible but does not identify. The recorder is visible from the foot up to finger hole five. Notes by Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.)
• Still-life, oil on canvas, 100 × 75 cm, Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). London: Robilant & Voena (2014). Formerly, New York: Christie’s, Sale 1009, Important Old Master Paintings, 25 January 2002, Lot 41; Buenos Aires: J.C. Naon, D. Lorenzo Pellerano, his sale, Lot 350. Ref. Website: still life quick heart (2015, col); Sale Catalogue, Christies (New York) 2009 (2002: 57-58, col.; Artfact (2003); Artnet (2005). Porcelain cups and a façon de venise glass on a salver, with a ewer of wine, a peeled lemon, peaches and other fruit, all before a plinth with a cello and a recorder. [Beneath the latter can be seen the head of a transverse flute.] The same cello and recorder recur in a similar position in other still-lifes by the artist, which suggests that the artist may have actually owned the instruments. Interestingly only one of the many musical scores depicted by Munari can actually be read, which suggests he was not himself able to read music (Baldassari 1999: 21). The present work is a fine example of Munari’s ability to capture the subtle play of reflections and transparencies created by the careful choice and placement of objects, evident here in the rendering of the porcelain on the salver and the description of the glass and ewer. Munari used these and other motifs in numerous works, presumably as a means of exploring his interest in these effects – for example, the cup atop the upturned saucer on the salver can also be found in two other pictures (one in a private collection, Modena, the other in the Museo Civico di Palazzo Bianco, Genova (Baldassari 1999: 195-196, nos. 109-110), while the ewer of wine recurs in a still life in a private collection, Bergamo (Baldassari, 1999: 151, no. 29). Such artistic concerns reveal the influence of Flemish still-life artists such as Jan Davidsz. de Heem and the German painter Christian Berentz, who worked in Rome in the early part of the eighteenth century. Baldassari (1999: 213, no. 31) records a studio copy after the present work depicting only the lower left part of the still life, with the porcelain on the slaver and the fruit before it (Christie’s, New York, 10 January 1980, Lot 211). Description and notes from Christies Sale Catalogue 1009 (loc. cit.)
• Still-life, Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). Rome: Palazzo di Montecitorio, Camera dei Deputati. On a bench are a tray with a crystal glass decanter and goblet and two china tea-cups, a glass jug, a larger china bowl, a platter with a roughly cut-open watermelon, a napkin with apples and lemons on it, a small round pill-box, and a baroque recorder. Only the head and upper body of the latter is visible; it is without mounts.
• Still-life with Musical Instruments, Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). Montepulciano: Museo Civico e Pinacoteca Crociani. On a table lie two tea-cups, books, papers, music, a guitar, a lute, and a baroque alto recorder with ivory beak and mounts.
• Still-life, oil on canvas, 57.7 × 71.7 cm, Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). New York: Sotheby’s Sale N08645, Old Master & 19th Century European Art, 10 June 2010, Lot 42 (sold). Formerly Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art and Science, Acc. FMM 82.39. On a bench lie some books, a marble urn, an upturned bowl, an open book, a mandolin and a perfectly depicted alto recorder.
• Still-life, painting, Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). Location unknown. Ref. Website: gallica (2012-c&w). On a draped bench lie a glass, a bowl with a crenelate rim, an open book, a tea-pot and cups, one upturned, a bowl, three lemons, and a perfectly depicted alto recorder with ivory beak, ferrule and foot.
• Still-life with Musical Instruments, oil on canvas, 57.0 x 71.7 cm, Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720). London: Sotheby’s: 8 July 2010, Lot 174. Ref. Website: Lute Iconography LI-1587 (2023, col.) Perched precariously on top of a lute lying on its belly are a violin with a broken string, a three-piece baroque recorder with ivory beak and mounts and an open book of music.  This was paired with a similar still-life depicting a mandoline, violin and books. Both were restituted to the heirs of the famous pianist Paul Wittgenstein (brother of the the philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein).  Formerly attributed to Evaristo Baschenis, both paintings were first correctly attributed to Munari by Marco Rosci in 1971.

Vic Muniz

Brazilian-born artist who now lives and works in Brooklyn, NY and Sao Paolo; born Sao Paolo (1961). Artist’s web page here.

• Pictures of Junk: Mercury, Argus and Io, photograph, 40.0 × 101.6 cm, after Jacob Van Campen, by Vic Muniz. San Francisco: Rena Bransten Gallery, Exhibition: Bulfinch’s Recycling Yard: Vik Muniz Pictures of Junk , 13 April 13 – 27 May 2006. For his series Pictures of Junk Muniz has chosen domestic and industrial detritus to reinterpret old Master paintings of the Greek and Roman gods by artists ranging from Titian to Velasquez. Using a warehouse floor as his canvas, Muniz’s arrangement of everything from hub caps, tires, squashed coke cans, nuts, bolts, gaskets, pipes, coils of wire and broken appliances, to an upright piano, is photographed from an elevated gantry, the height reducing these objects to the size of brushstrokes. The work detailed here is a parody of Campen’s original. Here, Argus reclines on a pile of junk slumped against a tree made of junk.

Serapio Hernández Muñoz

Spanish woodcarver and writer born in Avila where he worked as a shepherd from the age of 6 for 3 pesetas a day until he was old enough for military service; he taught himself woodcarving to while away the hours; later he performed various jobs and emigrated to Germany, after many years returning to Madrid. Artist’s web page.

• Sculptured lectern (? date), carved wood relief, 34 × 50 cm, Serapio Hernández Muñoz (contemporary). Ref. Website: Anges Musiciens (2010, col) Amongst swirling foliage, four winged putti sing and play a baroque-style recorder, violin and viol. In the centre is an organetto above which is an urn. A banner across the top reads “Mvsica AETATEM FLORIDAM FACIT” (Music improves health).
• Carved bass recorder (ca 1995), carved maple relief, Serapio Hernández Muñoz (contemporary). Detail (head joint). An elaborately carved Moeck ‘Tuju’ bass of neo-baroque design. The head features a variety of designs. The window is the mouth of a man, with a beard extending beneath the labium; on the other side is the head of a cat. Around the middle are a standing man playing a lute and a kneeling man playing a recorder. The latter is taken from Plate 19 of Filippo Bonanni’s Cabinetto Armonico (1716, 1723, 1776).
• Carved tenor recorder (ca 1995), carved ebony relief, Serapio Hernández Muñoz (contemporary). An elaborately carved basset recorder of baroque design, probably a Moeck ‘Rottenburgh” tenor. The details are obscure in the photograph.
• Lute Player (2010), carved wood panel, Serapio Hernández Muñoz (contemporary).  A man plays a renaissance lute. Before him are music books, a violin and bow, and a perfectly depicted renaissance recorder. Based on Caravaggio’s Lute Player.

Ramón de Mur

Spanish (Catalan) painter; known primarily as an imitator than a creative artist, but he was a fine colourist and there is a sense of richness and elegance in his works, reminiscent of Franco-Flemish manuscript illumination; active in Tàrrega and Montblanc (1412-1435).  Attempts to identify Ramn de Mur with Bernat Martorell have not been generally accepted, although he may  have worked in Ramón’s atelier, and their works have been confused.

• The Expulsion from Paradise: Moses on Mount Sinai from an altar-piece from the church of Guimerà (ca 1402-1412), Ramón de Mur (op. 1412-1435). Vic: Museu Diocesà. Ref. Rowland-Jones (1997b: 15, fig. 13, b&w, detail). Three shepherds watch over their sheep; one shepherd plays a cylindrical duct flute (recorder or flageolet).
• Virgin Suckling the Child  (1415-1425), tempera and gold leaf on wood, 205.7 × 133.7 × 5.5 cm, Ramón de Mur (1412-1435). Detail. Barcelona: Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Inv. 015818-000. Ref. Gudiol (1986: 40, col.); Woodfield (1984: 23); Ballester (1990: 172-173 & pl. 92; 2000a: 12, fig. 2, b&w); Rowland-Jones (1997b: p. 10, fig. 6, b&w); Paolo Biordi (pers. comm., 2000); Web Gallery of Art (2004, col, attributed in error to Pere Serra); Pedros (2007: 167-169 & fig. 50, b&w); Wikimedia Commons (2015, col, attributed in error to Pere Serra); Website: Lute Iconography LI-558 (2023, col., attributed in error to Pere Serra); Lasocki (2023: 41). Central panel of an altar-piece dedicated to the Virgin, from the church of Santa Maria de Cervera, Spain. Mary is shown breastfeeding the infant Jesus (Maria lactans) . One of the surrounding angels plays a cylindrical recorder which has rather more holes than fingers; others play lutes, rebec and harp.

Francesco de Mura

Italian late baroque painter of religious subjects and portraits active in Naples and Turin; his later style tends to neoclassicism; born Naples (1696), died Naples (1782).

• Allegory of Spring, 237 × 128 cm, Francesco de Mura (1696-1782). London: Sotheby’s, 8 December 2010, Lot 33, unsold. On a garden balcony a woman plays a tambourine. On a step below her a young boy plays a duct flute, probably a recorder given the disposition of his fingers. Between them a putto leans against a terracotta pot observing the piper. One of a pair, the other titled Allegory of Autumn in which a seated woman with a lap full of grapes offers some to a lutenist whilst a small boy watches.
• Earth, ? painting, Francesco de Mura (1696-1782). Location unknown. Ref. Website: gallica (2012, b&w). Four putti play tambourine (with jingle rings), castanets, spoons and a pipe with a flared bell and a bulbous swelling below the mouthpiece. The player’s fingers are deployed as if for recorder-playing and a hole for the little finger of the lowermost (right) hand is just visible.

 Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1618-1682)

Spanish Baroque religious painter noted for his soft sfumato and idealized, sometimes precious manner; born Seville (1618), died Seville (1682).

• Boy Playing a Flute, oil on canvas, 54.0 × 43.8 cm, attributed to Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1618-1682). Salisbury: Mompesson House, National Trust Inv. 724345. A smiling boy wearing a laurel wreath holds a small recorder. A copy of this without provenance attributed to Giacomo Francesco Cipper (1664-1736) is reproduced in Wikigallery (2013, col) And there are copies in Munich, Chartres and Newcastle upon Tyne.
• Laughing Shepherd Boy, oil on panel, 54 × 41 cm, attributed to Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1618-1682). Munich: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Bayerischer Oberster Rechnungshof, Inv. 5206 (3157). A smiling boy wearing a laurel wreath holds a small recorder. A copy of this without provenance attributed to Giacomo Francesco Cipper (1664-1736) is reproduced in Wikigallery (2013, col) And there are copies in Salsilbury, Chartres and Newcastle upon Tyne.
• Boy playing a Flute, oil on canvas, 54.8 × 45.9 cm, after Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1618-1682). Newcastle upon Tyne: Laing Art Gallery, Inv. TWCMS:G547. Ref. Website: vads (2013, col) A smiling boy wearing a laurel wreath holds a small recorder. A copy of this without provenance attributed to Giacomo Francesco Cipper (1664-1736) is reproduced in Wikigallery (2013, col) And there are copies in Salisbury, Munich and Chartres.
• The Flute Player, attributed to Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1618-1682). Chartres: Palais Episcopal. Ref. Rowland-Jones (1995b: 45, footnote 8). Shows a recorder with double holes for little finger of lowest hand. A copy of this without provenance attributed to Giacomo Francesco Cipper (1664-1736) is reproduced in Wikigallery (2013, col) And there are copies in Salisbury, Munich and Newcastle upon Tyne.
• [The Proposition] (1755-1811), mezzotint, 45.5 × 33.0 cm, by John Dixon (ca 1740-1811) after Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1618-1682). London: British Museum, Inv. 2010,7081.2911. Ref. Website: British Museum (2012, b&w). An old man offering a gold chain tries to embrace a young woman who sits at a table on the right, her gown slipping to reveal her breast, wearing a plume in her hair, holding a one-piece alto recorder with a flared bell and turning away from him. On a table beside her are fruit and a glass. Below the image with the title, a couplet reads:
  

  With him in mirth, the hours went by,
  He woo’d in words, so soft and pretty.

Domenico Muzzi

Italian court painter and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts of Parma; born Parma (1742), died 1812.

• Four designs for book illustrations: Putti Making Music and Studying Astronomy and Navigation, black chalk, pen and brown ink, grey wash, 204 × 137 mm, Domenico Muzzi (1742-1812). London: Christies, Sale 7367, Master Drawings from the OPPè Collection, 5 December 2006, Lot 56. Comprises four scenes. In the second, putti play violin, triangle and a slender, cylindrical pipe (possibly a duct flute). A lute and an open music book lie either side of them.

Pietro Muttoni – see Pietro della Vechia

Roz [Rosemary] Myers

Contemporary English lithographer, print-maker, wood-engraver and painter with a dual focus on recording buildings which are old and in danger of vanishing, and on cats; lives and works in Cambridge.

• Tiger Rag (1997), watercolour, Roz Myers (contemporary). Ref. Pride Magazine 179: front cover, col. (1997). Depicts a pussy-cat playing a soprano recorder. A portrait of the famous feline composer Cataturian, perhaps!

Cite this article as: Nicholas S. Lander. 1996–2024. Recorder Home Page: Artists–M. Last accessed 31 December 2024. https://recorderhomepage.net/recorder-iconography/artists-m/