Artists–W

Rosina Wachtmeister

Contemporary Austrian painter, collage artist, children’s’ book-illustrator and marionette designer whose work combines naïve and realistic elements; has lived, studied and worked in Brasil for many years returning to Europe in 1974; for a living she sold her artwork on the Piazza Navona in Rome where she was discovered; her art reflects the charm and simplicity of everyday life at La Rocca, her farmhouse in Capena, a picturesque little village in the hills of Lazio (Italy), where she lives, surrounded with family, friends, her animals and her music which are prominent themes in her oeuvre; born Vienna (1939). Artist’s website.

• [Title] (1985), greeting card, Rosina Wachtmeister (1939-). Ref. Greeting card: Paper Hearts, Netherlands. A solo recorder player depicted against a Handelian collage (Rowland-Jones, pers. comm.)
• Sonatine per Due, offset lithograph (foil embossed), 44 × 52 cm, Rosina Wachtmeister (1939-). Ref. Greeting card: Paper Hearts, Netherlands AC 39758 (1985 – col.); Website: ARTinaClick.com (2003 – col.); Website: art.com (2003 – col.). Depicts two recorder players with stylised recorders against a background of the score of Beethoven’s Pathétique Sonata.
• I Musicisti, offset lithograph (foil embossed), 25 × 30 cm, Rosina Wachtmeister (1939-). Ref. Website: art.com (2001-col.) A stylised violinist and piper in a garden arbor. The pipe is cylindrical, as long as the violin and has the suggestion of a window/labium: it could thus represent a recorder.
• Flutist, offset lithograph 30 × 40 cm, Rosina Wachtmeister (1939-) Ref. Website: Artland.co.uk (2003 – col.) Against a background of a fragmented musical score, a flutist wearing a golden crown and flowers on each shoulder. The “flute” is clearly a duct flute (probably a recorder), the window/labium of which is clearly depicted.
• Ensemble, offset lithograph, Rosina Wachtmeister (1939-). Ref. Website: Galerie-B.com (2003 – col.) Two singers, a violinist, a piper, and a keyboard player make music together. The pipe narrowly flared and has the suggestion of a window/labium, and the fingers and thumb are well-positioned for recorder-playing.
• Two Golden Flutes, lithograph, Rosina Wachtmeister (1939-). Ref. Website: postershop.ch (2007). Two girls wearing roses play narrowly flared pipes, one with just a hint of a window/labium and the fingers and thumb well-positioned for recorder-playing.
• Recorder Player, mixed media on card, 24.o × 58.8 cm, Rosina Wachtmeister (1939-). Ref. Babette’s Collectables & Jewelry (eBay 2010). Against a background of a musical score and a multicoloured sun, a musician plays a narrowly conical duct flute, possibly a recorder, the window/labium clearly depicted.

Cornelius [Corneille] de Wael

Flemish painter, draughtsman and art dealer; he may have collaborated with van Dyck and with the landscape painter Giovanni Battista Vicino ( op. ca 1650); born Antwerp (1592), died Rome (1667); son of the artist Jan Baptist (Hans) de Wael I (1558–1633); brother of Lucas de Wael (1591-1661).

• Auditus [Hearing], etching & engraving, 22.5 × 29.7 cm, by Jan Baptist de Wael II (1632-p.1669) after Cornelius de Wael (1592-1667). Ref. Olimpio in Furlani (1956: 1226); Paolo Biordi (2000); Website: C. & J. Goodfriend, Online Exhibition – The Musical Scene Five Centuries of Prints and Drawings of Musical Subjects, Item 31, 2011. Musicians around a table play lute, colascione, viol, violin and a pipe with a very slender beak which could be a recorder or cornetto. This plate comes from a set of The Five Senses but the other four are by an anonymous etcher.

Johann Caspar Wagniger

Although clear enough, this artist’s name seems obscure. He was possibly the Slovenian baroque painter Johann Caspar Waginger [Wäginger] (aka “Clery”) from Seibersdorf; known for his religious and mythological frescoes in churches and castles in Slovenia and Austria. 

• From Wenzel Ludwig Edler von Radolt’s Der Aller Treüesten Verschwignesten und nach so wohl Frölichen als Traurigen Humor sich richtenten Freindin [To my most true and confiding friend inclined both to the merry and to the sad humors, herewith in the company of other faithful vassals of our innermost sensibility]: Frontispiece (1701), coloured engraving, Johann Caspar Wagniger (17-18th century). Ref. Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, Inv. SA.78.D.25/2.4.5 MUS MAG;  Website: Lute Iconography, Image 3034, #2 (2023, col.) Austrian composer and lutenist Wenzel Ludwig Edler von Radolt (1667–1716) published an extraordinary work printed by Johann Michael Nestler, Vienna in 1701. It contained 12 so-called concerti in five parts for one or more lutes, flute, and strings. Before a billowing curtain, the composer seated at a table works on a manuscript watched over by a Roman military personage holding a spear and shield bearing the image of a double eagle (symbol of the Holy Roman Empire) and the motto Vinc. Aquilla nullus Timor [No fear will conquer the Eagle). Around him are scattered musical instruments — a lute, violin, bass viol, an ?oboe, and an alto- or tenor-sized recorder of 3-piece baroque design, details of the beak, window/labium, seven finger holes (in line) and flared foot clearly visible. It seems that by ‘flute’, Radolt may have intended the recorder, although he also mentions ‘oboe’ in the score. In the background, miners dig and delve into the side of a steep mountain, one scaling it by means of one of two ladders made up of strips of a musical score. Atop the mountain, Apollo and the Muses are doing what they do best — singing and playing musical instruments (lyre, viol, lutes, triangle — and they are joined by the Holy Roman Emporer  Joseph I himself, to whom Radolt’s concerti are dedicated! The winged horse Pegasus is taking off from a slope to the right. In the right middleground, two miners carry lumps of golden ore, each marked with the names of musical notes ‘mi’ and ‘fa’, to a furnace blazing with flames bearing the names of movements such as ‘canoni’, ‘concerti’, ‘gigue’, ‘motetti’, ‘fuge’ (sic.), etc. There is an uncoloured engraving of this in the Lute Iconography Database (loc. cit., #1 & 3), without attribution.

J.W. Walker Ltd

British firm of organ builders established in 1828 by Joseph William Walker (1802–1870) in London. Walker organs were popular additions to churches during the Gothic Revival era of church building and restoration in Victorian Britain, and instruments built by Walker are found in many churches around the UK and in other countries. The firm continues to build organs today.

• Continuo organ case (1989), carved oak façade, J.W. Walker & Sons Ltd (1828–). Lawrence: Kansas State University, School of Music, Theatre & Dance. A gift of the late Marion Pelton, Kansas State University music professor from 1928–1972. The wooden pipe shade features a carved lute, viol, trumpet, oboe and recorder. If the instruments are to scale, then the recorder is a 3-piece baroque style alto. The case design is possibly the work of David Graebe (1937–2016).

Diethard Wahl

Contemporary German painter, illustrator, sculptor.

• Dad Plays Recorder (1960), oil on hardboard, 60 × 50 cm, Diethard Wahl. Ref. Blog: Bildwerke-Galerie Ars von D.Wahl (2009 – col.) Father is seen in side profile deeply absorbed in playing his neo-baroque recorder.

Timothy Wall, fl. 2009 (USA)

• Untitled (2009), cover image, Timothy Wall (contemporary). American Recorder 50 (3): front cover (2009). Three neo-baroque recorders scattered with violets against a background containing the number 70, in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the American Recorder Society.

Daryl Waller

Contemporary British visual artist and illustrator from Cornwall who works in a range of mediums such as painting, drawing, animation, video, performance, installation, public intervention, sound and photography; born 1978. Artist’s Website.

• Rambo with a Recorder (2008), oil on canvas, 40 × 40 cm, Daryl Waller (1978–). Location unknown. A young man with with a bloodied arm wearing a shirt with one sleeve torn off holds a neo-baroque plastic recorder in the air against a background of greenery. In the top two corners are two blue crosses.

Richard Wallwork

British-born painter, draughtsman, teacher and arts administrator living and working in New Zealand; born Stretford (1882), died Christchurch (1955); married to the artist Elizabeth Wallwork (1883-1969).

• The Trio, drypoint, 13.8 × 9.3 cm, Richard Wallwork (1882-1955). Auckland: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki,, 1930/15/1. The 12th of 25 copies printed. Three rabbits play syrinx, flute and a cylindrical pipe (probably a duct flute), respectively. They are conducted by a fourth Lagomorph.

Jutta Waloschek [Jutta María de las Manos]

German artist who spends her time between Buenes Aires and Vienna; works largely in oil-pastel crayons, watercolour and oil painting, drawing and illustrating books; also active in the field of textile designing, making big collages for wall decorations and colourful silk paintings; she is devoted to the artistic education of children; born Dresden (1931).

• Delight in Disorder (1990), line drawing, Jutta Waloschek (1931–). Rear cover of CD Delight in Disorder (2-part English Consort Music, 1640-80), played by Pedro Memelsdorff recorder) and Andreas Staier (harpsichord), Deutsche Harmonia Mundi CD 05472 77318 2. Shows stylised recorder & harpsichord players.
• Flute and Magic, IV: Tempelhalle, Tamino: “Sie lebt! Ich danke Euch dafür” (1996), line drawing, Jutta Waloschek (1931–). Ref. Flute and Magic, to texts of the Magic Flute of Emanuel Schikaneder and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Tamino plays his (duct-)flute, which is of tenor size and conical in profile, in a temple full of lions, tigers, elks and birds.
• Flute and Magic, VIII: Tamino, Papegano, Flöte und Glöchen, drei Knaben: “Seid uns zum zweiten Mal wilkommen” (1996), line drawing, Jutta Waloschek (1931–). Ref. Flute and Magic, to texts of the Magic Flute of Emanuel Schikaneder and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Tamino and Papegano rush towards each other with open arms. In the background one girl plays a bell tree, another ?sings, and a lad plays a recorder of which the beak, window/labium and finger holes (including one offset for the lowermost finger) are clearly depicted.
• Flute and Magic, X: Vorthalle der Feuer Wasserprobe, Flöte, Tamino, Pamina: “… es schnitt in einer Zauberstunde, mein Vater (die Flöte), aus tiefstem Grunde der tausendjährigen Eiche aus …” (1996), line drawing, Jutta Waloschek (1931–). Ref. Flute and Magic, to texts of the Magic Flute of Emanuel Schikaneder and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Beneath a tree, Pamina welcomes Tamino who holds a recorder the beak, window/labium, finger holes and bell of which are clearly depicted.

Goffredo [Gottfried] Wals

German painter, draughtsman and printmaker, active in Italy; born Cologne (ca 1595/1600), died Calabria (1638-1640).

• Mythological Scene, (early 17th century), oil on copper, tondo, 13 cm in diameter, Goffredo Wals. Location unknown: auctioned by Ketterer Kunst, Hamburg, 27 May 1998. One of two paintings (a pair). In the right hand painting a faun plays a pipe (possibly a recorder) to a nymph who is offered flowers by a putto.

Jacob van Walscapelle

Dutch artist who painted fruit and flowers against a dark background often including insects with transparent wings, snail-shells and dew drops; born Dordrecht (1644), died Amsterdam (1727).

• Vanitas Still-life with Roses (1685), canvas, 65.5 × 79 cm, Jacob van Walscapelle (1644-1727). London: Julius Weitzner. Ref. Bol (1969: 317, pl. 290); Palais Galleries (Paris), Catalogue (1964: 95); Griffioen (1988: 440-441). On a shelf stand a host of objects around a vase of roses, including papers, music, an ink-well, spectacles, a watch, a teapot, a necklace, a globe, an hour-glass, and a soprano flared-bell recorder, the bell decorated with turnings.

Antoni [Anthonie] Waterlo [Waterloo]

Dutch painter, draughtsman, etcher and publisher whose work predominantly consists of landscape drawings and etchings; born Lille (1609), died Utrecht (1690).

• Mercury and Argus, etching, 20.2 × 24.1 cm, Anthoni Waterlo (ca 1610-1690). Ref. Bartsch (1843-1876, II: 129.127); Warburg Institute, London; Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000); Website: WorthPoint (2016-col.) In a beautiful hilly woodland, watched by Io (as a heifer), Mercury pipes Argus to sleep playing a flared-bell recorder, the beak and window/labium of which are more or less clearly depicted, the little finger of the lowermost (left hand) covering its offset finger hole. Sold on eBay 25 May 2014.

John Dawson Watson (1832-1892)

British illustrator, etcher and watercolourist who contributed to periodicals such as Good Words and London Society, produced a splendid edition of The Pilgrim’s Progress for the publisher George Routledge in 1861 and provided designs and illustrations for the anthology English Sacred Poetry in 1862; born 1832, died Conway (1892).

• Man with a Flute Serenading a Woman in a Woodland Setting (1876), ink & gouache, tondo, 43 cm in diameter, John Dawson Watson (1832-1892). London: Bonhams (Knightsbridge), Sale 14916 – Furniture, Works of Art, Carpets & Rugs, 24 July 2007, Lot 55. Ref. Blouin Art Sales Index (2012). A man and a woman sit together on a bank. He plays a very narrowly slender pipe, his fingers and thumb perfectly disposed for recorder-playing.

Samuel Watson

English sculptor and woodcarver, the chief woodcarver at Chatsworth House where he was assisted by Lobb, Young and Davis; born Heanor, died Heanor (1715). His epitaph at Parish Church of St Lawrence at Heanor reads:

Watson is gone, whose skillful Art display’d
To th’ very life whatever nature made.
View but his wondrous work at Chatsworth Hall
Which were so gazed at and admired by all.

• Trophy (1692-1694), lime-wood carving, Samuel Watson (m.1715). Chatsworth House: Great Chamber. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2003). A trophy of musical instruments: violin, viola, piccolo cello, tambourine (with jingle rings), a lyre and tenor-size baroque recorder complete in all parts.
• Trophy (1692-1694), lime wood carving, Samuel Watson. Chatsworth House: State Dining Room. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2003); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-2956 (2023, col.) A trophy of various vanitas objects – beaded necklace, leaves, flowers, shells, a medallion, a quiver, a sword, and a number of musical instruments: triangle (with jingle rings), lyre, baroque lute, viola, tenor-sized baroque recorder complete in all parts.
• Angel Musicians (ca 1689), wooden carving, Samuel Watson (m.1715). Chatsworth House: Chapel, Gallery. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2003). On the back wall of the gallery are many detailed carvings, amongst them four angels, one on each side with an instrument. The angel on the right has a violin, and that on the left holds up a tenor baroque recorder, perfect in all details.
• Trophy (late 1680s), over door lime-wood carving, Samuel Watson (m.1715). Stamford: Burghley House, 1st George Room. Ref. Postcard, Heritage House Group, Derby (2004 – col.); Rowland-Jones (2005b: 35-36 & ill. 1-b&w); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-2957 (2023, col.) An intricate and ornate trophy incorporating two birds, a quill, coin, watch, medallion, necklace, lute, violin, oboe (only the bell visible), and a baroque recorder only the head of which is visible (seen in side profile) from beneath an open music book and other decoration. This work has been attributed to Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721), who was in some way involved.

François(-Louis-Joseph) Watteau [Watteau de Lille]

French artist, assistant to his father and assistant curator of the Lille museum which he helped to establish; born Valenciennes (1758), died Lille (1823); son of (2) Louis Watteau.

• Rustic Dance, oil on wood, 29.3 × 36.2 cm, François-Louis Joseph Watteau (1758-1823). Lille: Museé des Beaux-Arts, P350. Ref. Bridgeman Art Library (2003: Image XIL16758 – col.); Joconde (2003). In the shade of a wooded hill, watched by two women and a man, a couple dance to the accompaniment of a man playing a tenor-sized flared-bell pipe. From the small reproduction the instrument looks like a clarinet, but a shadow just below the beak could represent a windway/labium, so a recorder remains a possibility. Their picnic things are spread out before them.

Jean-Antonie Watteau

French painter who typified the lyrically charming and graceful style of the Rococo. Much of his work reflects the influence of the commedia dell’arte and the opéra ballet, active in Paris and briefly in England; born Valenciennes (1684), died Nogent-sur-Marne (1721).

• L’embarquement de Cythère (1717), oil on canvas, 129 × 194 cm Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721). Paris: Musée du Louvre, Inv. 8525. Ref. Christina Rowland Jones (pers. comm., 2004); Artchive (2004 – col.) A slightly later companion piece to this painting (Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin), is entitled Pélerinage à l’île de Cythère [Pilgrimage to Cythera] (1718). These titles have caused much confusion in the literature. Perhaps all that need be said here is that if the lovers are departing Venus’ island in L’embarquement then they are shown arriving there in the Pélerinage. Cythera was the island where Venus was born. It was a special place only for lovers. The statue of Venus is bedecked with roses and garlands. Elegant gentlemen help the ladies to their feet. And perhaps the most touching aspect is the melancholy and sidelong glances of the women showing what surely must be their reluctance to leave this beautiful and restful place. L’embarquement shows French Rococo at its peak. The elegant men, the women dressed in their shimmering silks, and the rose-cheeked cherubs (winged putti) are all indicative of the style of this movement. Watteau’s theatrical influence is also apparent – his composition has been likened to a choreographed minuet. Indeed, this work has an ambiance of poignant longing. The day of love has come to an end. A recorder is not present in the painting itself but in its elaborately carved and gilded frame which appears to be contemporaneous. There is a small trophy at the top centre with what appears to be a small viol crossed with a rather stubby alto recorder of baroque design. The recorder is partly obscured, but the lower part of the body is clear with three finger holes in the body section and one in the turned foot-joint section. The end of the head sticks out opposite showing a beaked mouthpiece, though the window/labium is not visible.
• The Dance / Iris, oil on canvas, 97 × 166 cm, Jean-Antonie Watteau (1684-1721). Berlin: Gemäldegalerie (on loan from Government of the Federal Republic of Germany). Ref. Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz (1968: 113-114, pl. 95 – b&w); Thomson (1974: 74 & plate 5 – b&w); Roland Michel (1984: 207, detail – col.); postcard: Ernst Wasmuth, Tübingen-Berlin, EW 26 – col.; Bridgeman Art Library (2003: Image BLY21173 – col.) A young boy plays a gently flared soprano recorder (to judge by the position of the thumb of the upper and the little finger of the lower hands) for a dancing girl whilst his companions, a young lad with a shepherd’s crook and a young girl look on. A sleepy dog lies at the musician’s feet.
• Pastorale, anonymous engraving after Jean-Antonie Watteau (1684-1721). Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, Département des Estampes et de la Photographie, Cliche 81C 107421. Ref. Pottier (1992: 21, pl. VIII); Archiv Moeck. Based on The Dance (see above). A small boy plays a recorder (the beak, window/labium and fingering clearly depicted) while a girl dances and their companions and a dog look on.
• Company in a Park, copy of an original by Jean-Antonie Watteau (1684-1721). Munich: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Inv. 1161 (5062). Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999: Mstag 708). The original is in the Gemäldegalerie Dahlem, Berlin. In the foreground on the ground, lying across music are a lute, a violin, and a recorder with an ivory mouthpiece and ferrule at the head-joint Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 1999).
• La Lorgneuse [The Wanton Glance] (ca 1727), engraving, 38.8 × 28.5 cm, by Gérard Jean-Baptiste Scotin II (1698 – p. 1746), after Jean-Antonie Watteau (1684-1721). Pairs: Bibliotheque National, dB 15a t. 1 fol.; Washington: National Gallery, Print Collection, Db 15a t1; The Hague: Gementemuseum; Stockholm: Nationalmuseum NMG 84/1876. Ref. Cafritz et al. (1988: 155, fig. 146); Pottier (1992: 17, pl. IV); Archiv Moeck; RIdIM Stockholm (2000); Anthony Rowland-Jones (2000e: 86, fig. 4). A young couple are seated on a bank with a tower in the background. As the title would suggest, she casts a sideways glance at her companion who holds a cylindrical soprano recorder which he is doubtless about to play for her. “The recorder is depicted with the hands in perfect playing position. The instrument is completely cylindrical, with a beaked mouthpiece, a window/labium shown by a dark rectangular marking. The right hand is uppermost, all three fingers down. Three fingers of the left hand are covering their holes, with one more hole, in line, shown with the little finger in readiness” (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)
• Le Lorgneur, oil on canvas, attributed to Jean-Antonie Watteau (1684-1721). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2001 – col.) Beneath a tree a woman seated with her fan and a small child peering out from behind her are serenaded by a man standing with a guitar. Beside her a young boy plays a cylindrical pipe held somewhat to the side which may be a transverse flute or possibly a recorder. Auctioned 22 May 1990, sold (Gabrius, loc. cit.)
• Sketch of the Hands of a Recorder Player, Jean-Antonie Watteau (1684-1721). Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum. Ref. Pottier (1992: 54, pol. XL); Archiv Moeck. A turned baroque recorder is held in the hands of its player, reminiscent of Picart’s Recorder player’s Hands, the frontispiece of Principes de la flûte traversière (1707) by Jacques Hotteterre (1674-1763).
• Sheet of Studies, red and black chalk, 19.6 × 25.4 cm, Jean-Antonie Watteau (1684-1721). Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, PM 752. Ref. Michel (1984: 78, fig. 44); Mirimonde (1973: 242 – pl. 18, fig. 31); Archiv Moeck; Constance Scholten (pers. comm., 2005); Website: gallica (2012-b&w). An elderly woman holds out a baroque three-piece recorder to a young man who is held back by a little girl.
• Landscape with Waterfall (ca 1715), oil on canvas 72 × 106 cm, Jean-Antonie Watteau (1684-1721). St Petersburg: Hermitage, Inv. No. 7766. Ref. Eisler (1990: 336-337, col.) A finely-dressed couple walk beside a river towards a village, surrounded by snow-capped mountains. On the opposite side of the river, in the bottom right hand corner of the painting, a shepherd sits playing a cylindrical duct flute, almost certainly a recorder (all fingers of lower hand covering holes).
• Rustic Dance (ca 1710), oil on canvas, 51 × 59 cm, Jean-Antonie Watteau (1684-1721). Indianapolis: Museum of Arts, Inv. 74.98Ref. Michel (1984: pl. 207 – b&w). A young couple dance to an accompaniment provided by a man playing a musette, a youth playing a flared bell duct flute (flageolet or recorder), and a young girl playing a tambourine with jingles and pellet bells. Behind the musicians, a man in a feathered hat holds a glass. A child looks on, imploring the dancers to stop. In the background an older couple converse.
• Fêtes au dieu Pan, oil on canvas, 65 × 81 cm, Jean-Antonie Watteau (1684-1721). Los Angeles: Collection A. Hammer. Ref. Michel (1984: 212, pl. 209, b& w). Seated on a sloping bank a hatted and smocked man (‘Gilles’) plays a cylindrical duct flute (possibly a recorder) watched by semi-clad nymphs and a few fauns who are gathered under the trees of the forest.
• The Children of Bachus (ca 1750), engraving by Étienne Fessard (1714-1777) after Jean-Antonie Watteau (1684-1721). Paris: Bibliothéque Nationale, Print Collection. Ref. Pottier (1992: 67, LIII). Not seen. There is a painting by an anonymous 18th-century copyist after an engraving by Fessard after Watteau in the Musée; de Louvre, Paris (60 H ; 74 L), but in that the wind instruments are panipes (syrinxes) rather than recorders.
• Man Seated on the Ground Playing the Recorder, drawing, red chalk on cream paper, Jean-Antonie Watteau (1684-1721). Location unknown. Ref. CD and booklet, La Musique de Watteau, The Music Lesson, Harmonia Mundi HML 5908535.36 (2013: 43 & 44-col.) Pierrot sits with his legs to the left, playing a pipe with a flared bell, presumably a recorder since the beak is visible and all fingers are down except the third and fourth of the lower hand, under which the paired finger holes are just visible. The drawing is stamped ML in an oval, which may give a clue of its whereabouts. The CD and booklet was released to coincide with an exhibition Watteau, le leçon de musique at the Palais des Beaux-Arts (BOZAR), Brussels.
• A Pierrot Sitting: Sketch of Drapery, drawing, Jean-Antonie Watteau (1684-1721). Stockholm: Nationalmuseum, NM H 2822/1863, F 1309. Ref. RIdIM Stockholm (2000); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000); Website: gallica (2012-b&w). To the left of a sketchily drawn draped figure, a Pierrot sits leaning to one side playing a baroque style recorder. The mouthpiece and lips are sketchy. The left-hand is uppermost with the 1st and fourth fingers raised, the other fingers are down; the lower hand has the first and second fingers down, the others raised. No finger holes are visible. A window/labium may be partly visible behind the first finger. The decoration (with three small rings set apart in the foot area), slight bell flare, and the player’s attitude strongly suggest a recorder. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.)
• Fêtes au Dieu Pan, engraving by Michel Aubert (1700-1757) after Jean-Antonie Watteau (1684-1721). Stockholm: Nationalmuseum, NMG sn. Ref. RIdIM Stockholm (2000); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). In a valley surrounded by nymphs of the forest, Pierrot, seated on some steps beside a pool, plays a small cylindrical pipe (probably a recorder) to the accompaniment of one of the nymphs on guitar. The piper bears a striking aspect to Watteau’s sketch, A Pierrot sitting (Nationalmuseum, Stockholm), though he is seen here in reverse. He plays right hand uppermost with his thumb well tucked underneath. The first and second fingers of the left hand may be on the instrument, but although he is playing this hand is pulled slightly away. The beak is clearly shown, and a small mark possibly represents the window/labium. No finger holes can be seen. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.)
• Fêtes au Dieu Pan, engraving by Michel Aubert (1700-1757) after Jean-Antonie Watteau (1684-1721). Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, Print Collection, Db 15 G-H. Ref. Pottier (1992: 68, pl. LIV); Website: gallica (2012-b&w). Seated on a rock above a pool a man plays a pipe (possibly a recorder) surrounded by the nymphs of the forest.
• Les divertissements champêtres, oil on canvas, 128 × 193 cm, Jean-Antonie Watteau (1684-1721). London: Wallace Collection. Ref. Michel (1984: 205, fig. 198). In a forest finely clad men, women and children amuse themselves variously, presided over by a statue of a naked woman. Some converse, others stroll, a group at the rear listen to music played by ? Gilles on a pipe which could be a recorder.
• Feuille de paravent / Shepherd Dancing to the Sound of a Flute (1727), etching, 39.5 × 19.6 cm, by Louis Crépy (1680 – 1750) after a design by Jean-Antonie Watteau (1684-1721). Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, Département des Estampes et de la Photographie, Db 15A t. 2 fol. ; Cambridge, USA: Fogg Art Museum, M23349. Ref. Pottier (1992: 58, pl. XLIV); Archiv Moeck; Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2007). One of a series of etchings. Watched by a seated companion, a shepherd dances to an music played by his companion on a pipe. Elaborate marginal decoration includes a bagpipe, and a hanging trophy comprising a tambourine (with jingle rings) crossed with two baroque-style recorders. The seated shepherd holds an ambiguous pipe, possibly also a recorder.
• Evening Landscape with a Spinner (ca 1715), canvas, 55 × 66 cm, after Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) by Jean-Antoinne Watteau (1684-1721). Rotterdam: Museum Boyman Van Beuningen Inv. 2588. Ref. Postcard A2037, Art Unlimited, Amsterdam (2001, col.); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Documentatie 116291 (2010-col.) Based on an etching by Rembrandt. A young woman sits spinning on a bank at the edge of a forest, her distaff under her left harm, a note in her right hand. At her feet, a young man wearing a hat with an upturned brim and a bow holds a baroque-style recorder with characteristically turned beak and window/labium clearly visible.
• Indiscretion, engraving by Michel Aubert (1700-1757), after a painting by Jean-Antonie Watteau (1684-1721). Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, Département des Estampes et de la Photographie, Db 15a t2; Louvre, Cabinet Rothschild. Ref. Pottier (1992: 19, pl. VI); Archiv Moeck; Paris RIdIM (1999). A young woman sits on a mossy bank spinning with a distaff. Lying on the slope before her, a young man holds what is clearly a small recorder which is not quite long enough to reach the edge of the lady’s skirt. It’s hard to see who is being indiscreet. It could be that the lad is looking up the girl’s dress, but his eyes seem focused on his instrument. In Watteau’s painting L’Indiscret (Boymans van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam) a young man holds what is clearly a transverse flute. which he uses to lift a young woman’s skirt. A near identical scene is depicted in Rembrandt’s 1642 drawing Shepherd Playing a Flute to a Shepherdess (Seattle Museum) in which a sly young shepherd with a parrot on his back looks as if he is about to play his cross-flute but is casting his eyes up his young companion’s dress as she arranges some flowers into a wreath on her lap. The original model for all these works may have been Abraham Bloemaert’s 1627 painting Shepherd and Shepherdess (Nidersächsiches Landesmuseum, Hanover) which depicts a similar scene.

Louis-Joseph Watteau [Watteau de Lille]

French artist and teacher whose drawing from the nude created a scandal; much influenced by Teniers, his subjects included religious paintings and histories; born Valenciennes (1731), died Lille (1798); nephew of Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) and father of François-Louis-Joseph (1758-1823), also known as Watteau de Lille.

• Concert Champêtre (1773), red ink on paper, 22 × 20 cm, Louis-Joseph Watteau (1684-1721). Tournai: Musée des Beaux-Arts, Cat. 680. Ref. Institute Royal du Patrimonie Artistique / Koninklijk Instituut voor hef Kunstpatrimonium (IRPA/KIK), Brussels (2007). On the edge of a forest a group of young men and women enjoy a picnic together. Three of the party entertain the others by singing and playing bagpipe and a flared-bell pipe, very possibly a recorder. A dog sleeps; sheep browse, etc.

Sir Christopher Webb

English stained glass artists of repute who produced a large body of work; a traditionalist with a lightness of touch reminiscent of work of the fifteenth century. works on a large scale can be seen in the cathedrals of Chichester, Exeter, and Southwark and in the church of St Lawrence Jewry-next-Guildhall; his trademark was a spider’s web; born 1886, died 1966; brother of stained glass artist Geoffrey Webb.

• Thomas Weelkes, stained glass window (1949), designed by Sir Christopher Webb (1886-1966). Detail. Chichester: Cathedral, North nave aisle. Within the window, which commemorates Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623) a former organist at Chichester Cathedral. Weelkes, with a choirboy beside him, holds in his left hand an anachronistic tenor recorder of Bressan style in a dark-wood with ivory mounts. It is a much admired window, justifiably. At the top of the window in the tracery is a roundel with a slender oboe, with a fontanelle and butterfly key, crossed across a book with large initials ‘TW’, with a second tenor recorder of the same design as the other but with an ivory mouthpiece as well as the rings. The choirboy sings from a music-book entitled Hosanna to the Son of David, while Weelkes keeps time with his right hand. Webb consulted Carl Dolmetsch on the design of the recorders, as the latter used to take part in an annual event in the Cathedral organised by Bishop Bell who did great things in the artistic embellishment of Sussex churches. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000 & 2001).

Max Josef Wechsler

German painter and illustrator living and working in Munich; known for his portraits; he was a member of the Reichsverband bildender Kuenstler Deutschlands (RvbK); born 1884, died 1945.

• Female Workers as Musicians (ca 1935), coloured print, Max Josef Wechsler (1884-1945). Location: offered for sale on eBay (Germany) by Martin Bernhard, Hamburg, Germany, June 2012; akpool.de (Feb. 2021, col.) Ref. Postcard: Verlag G. Franz’schen Buchdruckerei G. Emil Mayer, München. Three women wearing blue uniforms, red scarfs and swastika broaches play violin and two soprano recorders of neo-baroque design. They don’t seem to be having much fun!

Jan-Baptiste Weenix [Weeninsk] the Elder (1621-1663)

Dutch painter of Italian landscapes with ruins, antiquated buildings and figures, genre pieces, portraits, and  large still life pictures of dead game or dogs; born Amsterdam (1621), died Vleutum (1663); father of Jan Weenix the Younger (1640-1719).

• Fantasy Characters in a Boat (1656), oil on canvas, 68 × 61 cm, Jan-Baptiste Weenix the Elder (1621-1663). Paris: Musée du Louvre, Inv. RF 1943-7. Detail. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999); Website: Louvre cl010059863 (col.); Website: Joconde 000PE008687 (1999, col.); Website: Wikimedia Commons (2017, col.); Website Alamy (2021-detail, col.). In the centre of an elegant one-masted boat a young woman plays a cittern, leaning against her companion who clicks his fingers with delight. Beside and slightly behind the couple a man stands playing a perfect little recorder. A man in nothing but a loincloth steadies the boat, holding it to the shore with a long rope. The other passengers include: an elderly woman, recumbent; a man wearing a cuirass, a young boy who gazes into the water, a saddled horse, and a hound which cringes in embarrassment. A curious swan swims alongside. On the shore is a sombre castle amongst whose pillars a corpulent man in a turban stands watching as two men carry some baggage down the steps to the boat. In the harbour behind stand several stately galleons.

Johann Christoph Weigel

German engraver of maps, book illustrations, title pages, music, etc.; born Redwitz (1654) , died Nuremberg (1725/1726).

• Title page  from Musicalishes Theatrum (ca 1720), engraving, Johann Christoph Weigel (1654-1725/1726). Ref. Weigel (1720, facsimile 1961); Website: IMSLP: Petrucci Music Library (2011). In reference to the musical contest between them a triumphant Apollo, tramples Pan underfoot, pointing down to his hapless competitor with one hand and up at the sky with the other in which he holds an arrow. The walls, pillars and floor of the hall in which this scene takes are littered with musical instruments, amongst them a horn, two lutes, a keyboard, a large drum, a kettle-drum, a trombone (only the slide visible), a cornetto, a tromba-marina, a rebec, a trumpet, a small viol, a harp, a syrinx, a monochrod, a tambourine, a triangle (with rings and beater), and a ? sistrum. Seen in side profile, the recorder hangs upside down and is an alto of the three-piece baroque kind, the characteristic beak and joint bulges clearly depicted.
• Flûte Douse [sic] from Musicalishes Theatrum (ca 1720), engraving, Johann Christoph Weigel (1654-1725/1726). Ref. Weigel (c.1720, facsimile 1961: 12); Clemencic (1968: 84, pl. 95 – b&w); Hunt (1975); Website: IMSLP: Petrucci Music Library (2011); Website: Archiv für Künst und Geschichte, AKG115564 (2014-col.) A gentleman seated on a high-backed chair with one leg perched awkwardly on a footstool (perhaps he has gout) plays an ornately carved baroque alto recorder. A verse below extols the efficacy of the recorder as a serenading instrument.
• Basson Flûte from Musicalishes Theatrum (ca 1720), engraving, Johann Christoph Weigel (1654-1725/1726). Nuremberg: German National Museum. Ref. Weigel (v.1720, facsimile 1961: 13); Website: IMSLP: Petrucci Music Library (2011). A gentleman in a tricorn hat poses elegantly on some steps playing a perfectly depicted baroque basset recorder. Through an archway we glimpse a courtyard. The following verse below, reads:

Das besser zweÿ den eins die Weißheit selbsten lehret
so ist die Flöte zwar ein schönes Instrument,
das man vor sich allein mit gröster Lust anhöret
allein mein Basson baut darzu das Fundament:
so kan ein edles Paar die Zeit galant passiren
und beÿ dem zarten Volck zugleich sich engagiren.

Wisdom itself teaches: better two than one
So the recorder is indeed a beautiful instrument,
which one listens to by himself with the greatest pleasure
my bass alone builds the foundation of it:
so can a noble couple pass the time gallantly
and be engaged with gentlefolk at the same time.

• Music-making,  from Musicalishes Theatrum (ca 1720), engraving, Johann Christoph Weigel (1654-1725/1726). London: Royal Academy of Music, Inv. 2003.2465. Ref. Weigel (c.1720, facsimile 1961). In the notes at the end of the 1961 facsimile edition of Musicalisches Theatrum, a proposed date between 1715 and 1730 for the series of engravings is suggested; the publication also suggests that, since the surviving copies are of sets of loose sheets, other unrecognised engravings belong in the same series but are not included in their facsimile. This plate appears to be an example of the kind. Here, a young man in expensive clothing and fashionable wig is seated in an elegant pose at a table playing a lute, reading from music propped up on a small stand. Another sheet of music is nearby, and a small recorder lies on the table in front of the music stand. Only the upper head of the recorder is visible but the beak and window/labium are clear enough. The chair on which the lutenist is seated has a monogrammed embroidered panel on its back. The pedestal of the table is in the form of a kneeling human figure, in the image and costume of an exotic servant, both figure and fabric presented as ‘real’ and not purely as a simple carving; this could suggest wealth by trade. Through the rear of the balconied columns is a grand building topped by Classical statuary, further conveying the general richness of the scene. The printed inscription (from Horace) on the top of the print, which is numbered ‘4’, reads: ‘Corda movere sono testudinis atqe canendo. Ducere, quo velles’ (Horat.)  Below the image the inscription is headed ‘Musiciern’ (‘Music making’) and the two verses, in German, read:

Wann sich ein Adelich Gemüth,
Nebst deinen Büchern und den Waffen,
In etwas, das die Sinnen zieht,
Will eine Lust-Vergnügung schaffen,
So wird es seinen Zweck erzielen,
Durch Anmuth volles Lauten-spielen.

Wie dieses edle Instrument,
Vor allen kan den Vorzug führen,
So ist dess Künstlers Hand gegönnt,
Die Herzen, wie die Sait zu rühren,
Dass mancher, über sein verhoffen,
Durch ein partie partie getroffen.

Whereas in Ars poetica Horace tells that Amphion: saxa movere sono testudinis et prece blanda / ducere quo vellet’, within this particular print it is not a big stone (saxum), but the heart (cor), which is directed by the sound of the lute to that which one desires. The German verse says much the the same thing, in its tangled way.

• Der Pfeiffenmacher [The Wind Instrument Maker] (1698), engraving, 20.6 × 15.2 cm, possibly after Caspar Luiken (1672-1708), by Johann Christoph Weigel (1654-1725/1726). Published in Nuremberg. Washington DC: Library of Congress, Dayton C. Miller Collection, 0353/Z. Ref. Advert: Zuleger & Co. (1974); Revista de Flauta de Pico 10: 14 (1998); Lancaster (2007: 20, fig.); Alpert (2016). This engraving comes from a book of professions and trades published by Christoph Weigel in Regensburg in 1698 and entitled Abbildung der Gemein-Nützlichen Haupt-Stände von denen Regenten…biß auf alle Künstler und Handwercker… It includes plates and texts on many occupations. In this illustration an instrument maker is seated at his bench with his tools and various instruments including bassoons, cornetto, conjoined double recorder and a three-piece, baroque-style recorder with a very elaborate bell. Details of the double recorder depicted included the window/labium of each element, their holes for seven fingers. This has been used as the basis for a somewhat fanciful reconstruction by Swiss recorder maker Andreas Schöni of the fiauti d’echi called for by Bach’s Fourth Brandenburg Concerto BWV 1049.  The old German text at the top of the page reads:

The Wind Instrument Maker
He who practices charity is silent: he who takes proves himself loud.

The six lines of verse beneath the image read:

Poverty is like a pipe;
When it makes felt the breath of love,
When generosity arouses the fingers,
Its sound of thanks makes you rich with joy
By piercing the clouds
And bringing blessings in return.

Thomas Weisenberger

German sailor and artist; perhaps best known as a printmaker with a focus on musical and maritime themes, but also creates three-dimensional and digital work. born in Stuttgart (1956). See artist’s Home Page.

• Flute and Strings (2005), print, 30 × 40 cm, Thomas Wesenberger (1956-). Neo-baroque recorders with mandolin.

Paul Weisse (ca 1535-1591), German

• Pewter flagon (ca 1570), Paul Weisse (ca 1535-1591). Ref. Drury (1986: 215, fig.); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). This flagon has the town mark Zittau (Saxony) on the handle, with the maker’s mark. Made for a butcher’s guild and would have been intended for display. The reliefs were cast in a series of moulds. One includes three musicians in Roman costume, one playing a gently flared ? tenor recorder played right hand lowermost, the beak and window/labium visible, but no finger holes although all fingers are down. The attitude suggests a recorder. Notes by Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.)

Hans Adam Weissenkirchner

Austrian painter who studied with Johann Carl Loth in Venice and took on much of his master’s forceful, Caravaggesque style; he also travelled to Rome, Florence and Bologna, where he absorbed the ideas of the classically minded Bolognese academy, which were better suited to his talent; his entire future output was thus suspended between idealism and Venetian naturalism; born Laufen (1646), died Graz (1695).

• Mercury and Argus, oil on canvas, Hans Adam Weissenkirchner (1646-1695). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2000 – col.) Mercury pipes Argus asleep. His instrument is small and slender with a prominently flared bell. Although Mercury’s cheeks are slightly inflated, the hint of a window/labium indicates that a duct flute (possibly a recorder) may be intended.

Manfred Welzel

German sculptor and teacher living and working in Stuttgart in clay, bronze, wood and stone; born Berlin (1926).

• Girls Playing Recorders (1960), bronze sculpture, Manfred Welzel (1926–). Stuttgart: a school (the Waldorf School, perhaps). Ref. Archiv Moeck. Three girls stand in a circle playing slender, cylindrical pipes (stylised recorders).

Adriaen van der Werff

Dutch architect and court painter whose highly finished paintings of seductive groups against a dusky, park-like background, including only one or two figures, bought him great fame and wealth; born Kralingen (1659), died Rotterdam (1722); brother of Pieter van der Werff (1665-1722).

• Lovers Spied Upon by Children (1694), oil on panel, 37 ×  30 cm, Adriaen van der Werff (1659-1722). Detail. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, Inv. C 265. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, illustration 1000313841 (2014-col.) A highly erotic subject in which two naked lovers embrace under the watchful eye of a statue (? Pan). At their feet a recorder with a flared bell and ornamental turning lies discarded.
• Pastoral Scene (1689), oil on oak panel, 58.5 × 47.5 cm, Adriaen van der Werff (1659-1722). Dresden: Gemäldegalerie. Ref. Website: Web Gallery of Art (2001); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm. 2001). In a garden, against a background of statues, a semi-clad shepherd embraces a young woman whose dress has fallen from her shoulders. At their feet are scattered a belt and purse (made from a gourd), a lamb and a crook. From underneath the shepherds discarded cloak the foot of a recorder can be seen, the bottom two finger hole clearly visible, the lowermost offset. The bell-end of the instrument is in Virdung-style. There is a drawing of this at the National Gallery of Scotland, Edingburgh.
• Flute-playing Faun and Nymph, drawing, Adriaen van der Werff (1659-1722). Edinburgh: National Gallery of Scotland. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie 10779 (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm. 2001). In a garden, against a background of statues, a semi-clad shepherd embraces a young woman whose dress has fallen from her shoulders. At their feet are scattered a belt and purse (made from a gourd),a lamb and a crook. From underneath the shepherds discarded cloak the foot of a recorder can be seen, the bottom two finger hole clearly visible, the lowermost offset. The bell-end of the instrument is in Virdung-style. There is a painting of this at the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden.
• Shepherd and Shepherdess (ca 1696), oil on canvas, 294 × 155 cm, Adriaen van der Werff (1659-1722). Kassel: Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Inv. GK 314. Ref. Exhibtion De kroon op het werk: Hollandse schilderkunst van 1680-1750 [Topping it off: Dutch painting from 1680 to 1750], 18 February – 27 May 2007; Munich RIdIM (2009, Kksg – 78). An almost naked shepherdess (? Chloe) leans soulfully against her shepherd (? Daphnis) who idly fingers a cylindrical pipe with a flared-bell. His finger position is strongly suggestive of a recorder, although other characteristic details are not clear. Other versions of this painting can be found in the University of Stockholm Collection and in the Hoogsteder Collection, Amsterdam (see below).
• Pastoral Lovers, oil on canvas (transferred), 69 × 61 cm, Adriaen van der Werff (1659-1722). Stockholm: Stockholms Universitet Collection, No. 128. Ref. RIdM Stockholm (2000); Anthony Rowland-Jones (2000e: 85, fig. 3). An almost naked shepherdess leans soulfully against her shepherd who idly fingers his flared-bell pipe. His finger position is strongly suggestive of a recorder, although other characteristic details are not clear. This painting is a reduced version of a larger painting with the same motif in Kassel, Germany.
• Flute-playing Shepherd, oil on canvas, 76.6 × 60.0 cm, Adriaen van der Werff (1659-1722) & workshop. The Hague: Hoogsteder & Hoogsteder (2009). An almost naked shepherdess leans soulfully against her shepherd who idly fingers a cylindrical pipe with a flared-bell. His finger position is strongly suggestive of a recorder, although other characteristic details are not clear. This is a larger version of the Shepherd and Shepherdess in Kassel.
• Faun Playing the Flute, oil on canvas, 72 × 63 cm, Adriaen van der Werff (1659-1722). Stockholm: Nationalmuseum, NM 697. Ref. RIdM Stockholm (2000); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). A shepherd holding a soprano flared-bell recorder (with paired finger holes for the lowermost finger) gazes into the eyes of a shepherdess as they sit at the foot of a statue beside a stream. The instrument is a typical Dutch hand-fluyt with wave profile and a wide bore opening at the bell end. The players right hand is uppermost; the third and fourth finger of the left (lower) hand are raised enough to show two in-line finger holes under them (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.) There is another version of this in the Anton Ulrich-Museum, Brunswick entitled Shepherd and Shepherdess, attributed to Caspar Netscher. In both version the models appear to be identical to those used in Werff’s Pastoral Lovers
• Young Shepherd with a Flute, oil on panel. 25.5 × 19.0 cm, attributed to Adriaen van der Werff (1659-1722). Cologne: Lempertz, Auction 1126, Gemälde des 15.-19. Jahrhunderts, Lot 110, 20 March 2019 (sold). beneath a tree in a forest, a young shepherd sits holding a one-piece soprano recorder, right hand uppermost. Details of the beak, window/labium and foot are clearly depicted, as are the top three fingerholes and that for the little finger of the lowermost (left) hand. the foot is flared with a raised bead. In the distance is a castle ruin.
• Portrait of a Gentleman (1660), oil on canvas, 96.8 × 85.7 cm, circle of Adriaen van der Werff (1659-1722). London: Christie’s, Sale TIPPLE-526, 21 October 1994, Lot 80 (sold). Ref. Website: Brouin Art Sales Index (2012-col.); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, illustration IB00106857 (2014-b&w). A man half length in a brown coat with slashed sleeves and a plumed hat holding a musical score, a recorder and a baton is viewed through an open window with a shutter.

Pieter van der Werff

Dutch painter; born 1665, died 1722; brother of Adrian van der Werff (1659-1722) with whom he collaborated.

• Granida and Daifilo (1711), oil on panel, 37 × 29 cm, Pieter van der Werff (1665-1722). Cologne: Wallraf-Richartz Muzeum, Dep. 478. Ref. Website: Web Gallery of Art (2001-col.); Munich RIdIM (2009, KNwr – 90 a). Many Dutch artists painted scenes from the popular pastoral play Granida,written by Pieter Hooft (1605). Here, the shepherd Daifilo, looking suitably love-lorn, sits at the feet of the Persian Princess Granida as she holds out a flower for him to smell. Across her lap he holds a perfectly depicted soprano recorder with decorated turnings at the slightly expanded foot. On the ground in front of them lie a gourd in which he fetched water for her, and a shepherd’s crook.

Hans Werl [Wörl]

German painter, draughtsman and architect; court painter to William V, Duke of Bavaria, known for his carefully worked miniatures notable for their precision and factual accuracy, and for his subtle though hardly original altarpieces and devotional pictures; collaborated with Candid in painting scenes from Bavarian history, and painted the ceiling of the Schwarzer Saal (destroyed 1944), created as an architectural perspective; born Munich (ca 1570), died Munich (1608).

• Madonna in Glory with Holy Martyrs (1600), Hans Werl (ca 1570-1608). Bremen: Kunsthalle. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999: Bkh 80). Among a vast array of instruments played by angels on both sides of the Virgin is a cylindrical duct flute with six finger holes visible, but possibly a recorder.

Joseph Werner the Younger

Swiss painter and etcher known for his miniatures; he travelled widely working in Frankfurt, Rome, Paris, Augsburg, Berlin, Vienna, and Bern; his works include religious and mythological subjects and portraits; born Bern (1637), died Bern (1710).

• Polyhymnia (ca 1680-1685), painting, Joseph Werner (1637-1710). Basel: Museum für Musik. Ref. Jan Bouterse (pers. comm., 2012); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-2954 (2023, col.) Polyhymnia sits on top of a globe, a lyre in one hand, a quill in the other, a score across her lap; a dove flies above her head. Around her, putti sing and play organ, flute & violin. On the ground around them are a double-manual harpsichord, lute, viola, bass viol and, centre stage, a small recorder with a flared bell beside a music book and a branch of laurel. The viol leans against an anvil and three hammers. Above the harpsichord, hanging from a tree, is a musical trophy with pan-pipe, two oboes and a shawm.

Joseph West

British artist known for his friendship with Bonington (1802-1828); a two-day sale of his drawings at Christie’s 6-7 June 1834 included a collection of studies he made on a visit to the Continent, including pencil and watercolour studies after the great masters, many of which seem to have been gathered into an album by a later owner; that album was bought in at Christie’s South Kensington, 9 July 2009, Lot 633 and was later presented to the BM by Mrs Croft-Murray; active 1797-1874.

• Sisters (1829-1852), engraving, platemark 12.5 × 18.0 cm, by William Finden after Joseph West (op. 1797-1894). London: British Museum, Inv. 1875,0410.25. Ref. Website: British Museum (2012-b&w). Two young women stand next to a tree, listening to a young man playing an ambiguous pipe (possibly a recorder), reclining at right; thatched gazebo among trees in middle ground at right; lake and mountains in background; proof illustration to an unidentified publication.

Arnold van Westerhout

Flemish printmaker, painter, draughtsman, publisher and printer. He trained in Antwerp but mainly worked abroad, and in particular in Italy. He settled in Rome where he was a prominent printmaker and publisher. He is less known for his paintings, which covered religious and genre subjects, than for his work as a printmaker and publisher. Westerhout was born in Antwerp (1651), died in Rome (1725). See also Filippo Bonanni (1638–1732), and Stefano Sparigione (fl. 1722).

Jacob Jacobsz. de Wet

Dutch artist; born Haarlem (1640), died Amsterdam (1697); worked in Edinburgh and copied a series of paintings depicting the Kings of Scotland (Edinburgh, Pal. Holyroodhouse, Royal Col.), as well as executing some of the decorative work in Holyroodhouse; son of painter and draughtsman Jacob Willemsz. de Wet [Wett], the elder.

• Visit of Minerva to the Muses (mid-17th century), Jacob Jacobsz. de Wet (1640-1697). Rouen: Museé des Beaux Arts. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000); Website: Shrine to the Goddess Minerva (2015-col.) Minerva appears in the sky to the group of seated Muses. One of the latter has an open book, one plays a flute, one an eight-stringed harp, one (with a male companion) holds what looks like a shawm, and one with her back towards the viewer plays what appears to be a lute. On the ground are more books, a tambourine and what is possibly a tenor recorder. The latter has six or seven finger holes in a line and the beak is unclear, but its narrow bore in comparison with the wide, expanding bell-end of the shawm provides further evidence that this second wind instrument is a recorder. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000).

Hermann Weyer

German draughtsman about whom little is known, except that his father was a painter in Coburg and his brother also worked there as a portrait painter; he often used a technique recalling chiaroscuro woodcuts: dramatic and somewhat dark tonality, ochre wash combined with white body-color, and strong black ink lines; he depicted biblical, mythological and historical scenes, focusing on figural groups in landscapes; born Coburg (1596), died c.1621.

• Apollo and the Muses (1600-1621), ink and gouache on paper, 24.0 × 29.7 cm, Hermann Weyer (1596-c.1621). Cologne: Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Inv. Z 208. Ref. Munich RIdIM (2009, KNwr – 224). On a hill overlooking a city and mountains, Apollo sits with his back to us and plays the harp. To his left, two of the Muses play viols; to his right, Muses play positive organ a bass wind instrument (bassoon, recorder or shawm) only the upper part of which is visible. Two other Muses sing, two from a book, one of them beating time; a third plays a flute. Not seen.

Bernhard Heinrich Weyhe

German goldsmith active in Augsburg, born 1761, died 1763.

• Decorative table-piece, silver (1761-1763), Bernhard Heinrich Weyhe (1761-1763). Munich: Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Inv. 81/754. Ref. Müller (1985: 28); Munich RIdIM (2002: Mbnm – 483); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). Part of a spectacular 169-piece table service made by 11 leading silversmiths in Augsburg from 1757 to ca 1765 for the Archbishop of Hildesheim, Friedrich Wilhelm of Westphalia. From the concerts in the three centre-pieces to tiny details on handles of sauce-boats, the theme is music and musical instruments. Even in miniature, details of instruments are perfect. Recorders are the most frequently appearing wind instruments with very few flutes. The middle and most splendid of three centre-table decorations depicts a musical group under a canopy. A woman at the Clavichord and men with violin, flute, cello and two recorders. On the roof, three Indians, playing trumpets and one with a drum. Both recorders are alto, one beside the central concert but played outwards, and the other at an upper level.
• Decorative table-piece, 61 × 60.5 × 47 cm, silver (1761-1763), Bernhard Heinrich Weyhe (1761-1763). Munich: Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Inv. 81/217. Ref. Müller (1985: 39-40); Munich RIdIM (2002: Mbnm – 490); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). Part of the table service described above. One of the decorative pieces placed near the head of the table depicts violin, cello, double-bass, horn, trumpet, drum and recorder.
• Mustard-pot (1761-1763), silver, 19.7 cm high, Bernhard Heinrich Weyhe (1761-1763). Munich: Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Inv. 81/248,11-2. Ref. Müller (1985: 33-34); Munich RIdIM (2002: Mbnm – 497); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). Part of the table service described above. The base of the mustard-pots depicts a violin and recorder.
• Sauce-boat (1761-1763), silver, 7 cm high, Bernhard Heinrich Weyhe (1761-1763). Munich: Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Inv. 81/257 Ref. Müller (1985: 41); Munich RIdIM (2002: Mbnm – 494); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). Part of the table service described above. The handles on the centre of the hinged lid of each of 4 sauce-boats are decorated with instruments, one with hunting horn, lute and recorder, two with hunting horns only, and the fourth with lute and recorder.
• Salt-shaker (1761-1763), silver, Bernhard Heinrich Weyhe (1761-1763). Munich: Bayerisches Nationalmuseum. Ref. Müller (1985: 42); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). Part of the table service described above. The lid of the salt-shaker is surmounted by musical instruments including a horn and a lute from underneath which juts out the foot of a wind-instrument, probably a recorder as the bell is slightly flared.
• Decanters (1761-1763), silver, 7.2 × 20.8 cm, Bernhard Heinrich Weyhe (1761-1763). Munich: Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Inv. 81/235-81/247. Ref. Müller (1985: 47); Munich RIdIM (2002: Mbnm – 494); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). Part of the table service described above. The 13 decanters (the 14th is in a private collection) each have glass stoppers with elaborate silver handles, each with a different musical design. Some repeat the motif of recorder and lute, and recorders appear in others.
• Soup Tureen (1761-1763), silver, 30 × 44.5 × 21 cm, Bernhard Heinrich Weyhe (1761-1763). Munich: Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Inv. 81/220. Ref. Müller (1985: 50); Munich RIdIM (2002: Mbnm – 484); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). Part of the table service described above. Perched atop the lid is a youth playing a recorder underneath a tree. The recorder has a bulbous beak and a flared bell, and fingers and thumb are in perfect recorder-playing position. Other instruments on this item include flute, violin, cello, viol, trumpet, lute and horn.
• Tureen (1761-1763), silver, 31 × 50 × 23 cm, Bernhard Heinrich Weyhe (1761-1763). Munich: Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Inv. 81/222. Ref. Müller (1985: 51); Munich RIdIM (2002: Mbnm – 485); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). Part of the table service described above. This tureen depicts violin, cello, lute, flute, horn and a tiny duct flute only the head and upper body of which can be seen underneath the neck of a violin. Could it be a bird-flageolet?
• Tureen (1761-1763), silver, 29.7 × 43 × 21.5 cm, Bernhard Heinrich Weyhe (1761-1763). Munich: Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Inv. 81/219. Ref. Müller (1985: 53); Munich RIdIM (2002: Mbnm – 492); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). Part of the table service described above. This tureen depicts violin, recorder or clarinet, flute, cello, lute and horn. Anthony Rowland-Jones reports that he was unable to spot the recorder.
• Tureen (1761-1763), silver, 30.2 × 44.5 × 21 cm, Bernhard Heinrich Weyhe (1761-1763). Munich: Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Inv. 81/223. Ref. Müller (1985: 51); Munich RIdIM (2002: Mbnm – 486); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). Part of the table service described above. This tureen depicts violin, lute, recorder, cello and horn. The recorder has a bulbous beak and a flared bell. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.)

Susan Dorothea White

Contemporary Australian painter, draughtsman, sculptor, print-maker and writer; her art is is inspired by her passion for human rights issues, the environment, and by her love of family, art, and music; born Adelaide (1941). Artist’s Website.

• Genevieve Lacey (2003), pen drawing, 15 × 20 cm, Susan Dorothea White (1941-). Sketchy portrait of an outstanding Australian recorder player, seen in side profile playing a neo-baroque recorder.

William Whittaker

Contemporary US American realist artist living and working in Utah; specialises in portraits, figures and still-lifes in oils and pastels; born Chicago. See the Artist’s Website.

• The Recorder, William Whittaker (contemporary). A young woman with disheveled hair, is on her hands and knees on a carpet. There is a neo-baroque recorder in front of her.

Jerome [Hieronymous] Wierix

Flemish engraver; his works are mostly allegorical and political in theme and demonstrate a sympathy for those rebelling against the Spanish; born Antwerp (1553), died Antwerp (1619); brother of Jan Wierix (1549-1618), also an engraver.

• Jesus with Musical Angels, engraving by Jerome Wierix (1553-1619). The Hague: Gemeentesmuseum, Music Department. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). “The young Jesus, with a music book in his left hand, stands on a small cloud. One angel at the top left plays a tenor recorder which is mainly cylindrical but with a fairly strong but short bell flare, the window/labium clear. All fingers are down; right hand lowermost, including the little finger, presumably covering its hole. finger holes five and six are just discernible by their fingers” (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)
• Five Depictions of the Child Jesus Playing Musical Instruments, engraving, 9.5 × 6.6 cm, Jerome Wierix (1553-1619). The Hague: Gemeentesmuseum, Music Department; London: Wellcome Library, IVC No. 36217; London: British Museum, Inv. 1859,0709.3110. Ref. Kockelbergh (1994: 67, no. 17b); Rasmussen (2002-2004, Horn); Website: British Museum (2012-b&w). Christ playing musical instruments in the believer’s heart. The young Jesus plays violin, cello, cittern, harp and lute each within a heart. There are also unplayed musical instruments in the interstices: a gittern crosed with a flute; a recorder crossed with a fingered sigmoid horn; a pommer crossed with a cornetto; and a folded trumpet. Text below reads:

Jesu cordis tripudium;
Jesu dulcedo cordium,
Fons vivus, lumen mentium:
Mel, nectar, melos, suavium.
Excedens omne gaudium,
Et omne desiderium.

Thomas Wijck [Wijk or Wyck]

Dutch painter of port views and genre paintings; worked in Italy and the Netherlands, but settled in Restoration England where he played an important role int he development of English sporting painting;  born  1616 (Houbraken), died Haarlem (1677); father of artist Jan Wijck (1652-1700).

• Vanitas, oil on canvas, 67.5 × 58.5 cm, attributed to Thomas Wijck (1616-1677). Dordrechts Museum, Inv. 948/127. Ref. Website: Rijksbureau vor Kunsthisorische Documentie, Image 0000112977 (2016-col.) Formerly attributed to Jacques de Claeuw (1623-1694). On a bench is a jumble of objects, including a furled flag, a globe, a tazza, a jar, a skull, crumpled papers, a book, a ewer, the cranium of a human skull, a trumpet and a hand-fluyt, the beak, window/laibum and finger holes clearly visible, the lowermost hole offset.

Jacob Christian Poen de Wijs

Contemporary Dutch artist living and working in Den Haag; his works combine great realism with Jungian and other symbolic motifs; born Nijmegan (1948).

• The Four Elements: Air, oil on canvas, 120 × 120 cm, Jacob Christian Poen de Wijs (1948–). The Hague: De Twee Pauwen (Gallery). Ref. Website: De Twee Pauwen (2006 – col.) In the mid-ground a boy looks through a coloured telescope, three young girls blow, their cheeks inflated, and another girl wearing a newspaper hat holds her hands over her mouth. In the foreground is an exotic bird (a raptor of some kind). Scattered around the edge are a toy windmill, a flower, bubble-pipes and bubbles, a butterfly, a feather, a ribbon, and a clearly depicted three-piece baroque recorder. In the monochrome background stand people of different nations.
• Time and Space: Time, oil on canvas, 120 × 150 cm, Jacob Christian Poen de Wijs (1984–). Location unknown: offered for sale by De Twee Pauwen, The Hague (2005). Ref. Tableau 27: 2 (2005); Constance van Scholten (pers. comm., 2005). In the foreground a naked youth wearing a newspaper hat plays a perfectly depicted alto baroque recorder. Kittens gambol around him. Above and to the right hangs an antique clock. In the monochrome background are children of different nations.
• Compass Rose, acrylic, 80 × 80 cm, Jacob Christian Poen de Wijs (1984–). Location unknown. A rose and a baroque soprano recorder dismantled into its three parts.

Bridget E. Wilde

Contemporary American artist working in the filed of animé fan-fiction, cat-girl and fantasy art, and impressionistic still-lifes; born ?Elgin, Ilinois (1972).

• Moonlight Music (2001), pen and Prismacolours, Bridget E. Wilde (1972-). Ref. Website: Bewildered Furries (2003 – col.) A decidedly female fox sits on a slope playing a recorder, a spiral tunnel in the background. “The genesis of this drawing was a lovely black and white photo by Barbara Morgan, featuring a preteen girl playing a recorder on a rooftop. Needless to say, I made numerous changes to the subject matter, but the pose is very much the same” (Wilde, loc. cit.)

Sarah Wilkins

Contemporary US book and magazine illustrator.

• Cover: American Recorder 39 (2): Untitled (1994), Sarah Wilkins (contemporary). A young woman (stylised) holds a neo-baroque recorder from the finger holes of which sprout leaves.

Joseph Willems

Belgian modeller to whom some of the finest Chelsea porcelain figures have been attributed, born 1715, died 1766.

• The Music Lesson (ca 1765), Joseph Willems (1715-1766), soft-paste porcelain figurine with polychrome enamels and gilding, 38.7 × 27.9 cm high, modelled with alterations after the painting The Enjoyable Lesson by François Boucher (1748), by Joseph Willems (1715-1766). Made by Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory, UK. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Inv. 95.492; Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, Inv. D12-1990; London: Victoria & Albert Museum; Munich: Bayerischen Nationalmuseum; Perth: Art Gallery of Western Australia. Shows a flared-bell pipe (possibly a recorder) played by a shepherd (who fingers the instrument) and a shepherdess (who blows it). A little dog and two lambs are at their feet, and they are backed by flowering hawthorn and surrounded by flowers and foliage. From the Chelsea Manufactory’s gold anchor period. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, believe this to be modelled by Louis Francis Roubiliac (1695-1762).

Abraham Willemsen

Flemish painter working in Antwerp and Paris who was amongst a group of artists who provided copies of works by Rubens, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Frans Francken, and the Le Nain brothers for export and for the lucrative Antwerp art market; he also painted decorative landscapes on copper, often animated with religious scenes, and genre scenes; born Antwerp (c.1610), died Antwerp (1672).

• Old Peasants by a Fountain, Abraham Willemsen (1627-1672). Location unknown. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie 26837 (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). Five women around a fountain with a young man playing a soprano-sized flared-bell pipe (possibly a recorder), left hand lowermost.
• Milking Time, oil on canvas, 39.4 × 57.8 cm, Abraham Willemsen (1627-1672). London: Bonhams, 17 April 2002, Lot 187. Ref. Kunsthistorische Documentatie 108849 (2010-col.) Before a farm a man holds a pan of milk whilst a woman kneels, milking a sheep, watched by several of its companions and two goats. Another person looks over a gate, and a young lad plays a pipe with a flared bell, possibly a recorder, right hand uppermost.

Johan Willenges (1560-1625), German

• The Five Senses: Hearing, print by Johan Willenges (1560-1625) after Adriaen Collaert (ca 1560-1618). Lübeck: Museen für Kunst- und Kulturgeschichte, Inv. 1943.485i. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999: LÜmk 20). Among many instruments is a case (? of leather) designed to hold seven instruments. The lower part of a recorder protrudes from one of the compartments. For a similar case see Holbein’s The Ambassadors (London: National Gallery).

Evan Wilson

US American realist painter living and working in Hoosick, New York; his work include portraits, still-lifes, interiors and genre scenes; born Tuscaloosa (1953). See Artist’s Website.

• The Recorder Player, giclée on canvas, 20 × 16 cm, Evan Wilson (1953-). Hoosick: Evan Wilson (for sale). A woman wearing a black dressing gown sits on a chair beside her bed playing a baroque-style alto recorder in ebony with ivory mounts (or possibly a plastic one).

Étienne Windisch

Belgian/Canadian artist; born Belgium (1936), died Montreal (2014).

Angel Musicians, enamel on copper, 30.5 × 25.4 cm, Étienne Windisch (1936–2014). Ref. Website: Mutual Art (2022, col.) Three tousle-headed angels in white cassocks play SAT recorders of neo-baroque design. 

Jeremias van Winghe

Flemish draughtsman and painter; made pen-and-wash drawings in the manner of his father, although his full share of the extant drawings has not been determined; re-established himself as a portrait painter in Frankfurt; latter, he became a merchant in the jeweller’s trade but returned to painting again in 1640; also painted kitchen scenes and still-lifes; born Brussels (1578), died Frankfurt (1645); son of Joos van Winghe (ca 1544-1603).

• Elegant Company Making Music at Night, oil on canvas, Jeremias van Winghe (1578-1645). Location unknown: auctioned by Christie’s, 30 October 1998 (unsold). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2002 – col.) Identical to Musical Company, attributed to Joos van Winghe (see below). By the light of flares, musicians sing and play virginals and transverse flute. Beside the virginalist stands a harp. In the background a man is tuning a violone. On a table in the foreground lie a music book, a trombone, a lute, a small violin, a conical alto-sized recorder (apparently of wave design) of which the window/labium and finger holes visible, and a tenor recorder with a fontanelle, a window/labium, and holes for six fingers clearly visible. The beak of the latter is of curious construction, being metal-sheathed with a sort of flange and thus possibly represents a shawm rather than a recorder. This version is in poor condition.

Joos [Jodocus; Jost] van [a] Winghe

Flemish painter of ecclessiastical and domestic subjects; born Brussels (c.1544), died Frankfurt am Main (1603); father of Jeremias van Winghe (1578-1645).

• Musical Company, oil on canvas, 114.3 × 195.6 cm, Joos van Winghe (c.1544-1603). Vienna: Dorotheum, Old Master Paintings,  23 October 2018, Lot. 33 (attributed to Jeremias van Winghe);  Vienna: Dorotheum, 6 October 1999, Lot 184. Ref. Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Bulletin (1955, 4: 245); Rasmussen (2002, Lute); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Documentatie 61861 (2010-col.); Blouin Art Sales Index (2012-col.); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-2296 (2023, col.); Website: Bowed Strings Iconography Project bsip 219 (2022, col.) Identical to Elegant Company Making Music by Night, attributed to Jeremias van Winghe (see above). By the light of flares, musicians sing and play virginals and transverse flute. Beside the virginalist stands a harp. In the background a man is tuning a violone. On a table in the foreground lie a music book, a trombone, a lute, a small violin, a conical alto-sized recorder (apparently of wave design) of which the window/labium and finger holes visible, and a tenor recorder with a fontanelle, a window/labium, and holes for six fingers clearly visible. The beak of the latter is of curious construction, being metal-sheathed with a sort of flange and thus possibly represents a shawm rather than a recorder.
• Allegory of Music, 114 x 130 cm, oil on canvas, doubled, Joos van Winghe (ca 1544-1603). Munich: Hempel, Gemalde alte Meister – Teil II, 30 March 2023, Lot 277. A beautifully dressed woman with an elaborately feathered hat, plays a lute with a hemispherical body. Before her are an organetto, a viol and bow, and a slender, more or less cylindrical duct flute with eight fingerholes. The instruments are all clumsily depicted, and the duct flute is probably meant to represent a recorder.

[Johann] Chrysostomus Wink

German painter whose works include religious and allegorical themes; born 1725, died 1795.

• Laetitia [Happiness], ink & watercolour on paper, 21.3 × 18.2 cm, Chrysostomus Wink (1725-1795). Augsburg: Städtische Kunstsammlungen, Inv. G 5272. Ref. Munich RIdM (2009, Ask 266). A garden scene which includes a Bacchante with an oboe or recorder and another with a lute. Not seen.

Leo Winstead

US artist who has been involved in numerous publications, film productions, and art programs; worked as a production assistant for Dreamworks Feature Animation and learned from such noted animation talents as Tom Sito; worked for design firms (Paper Magic Group, Inc., etc.) as well as painting works on commission.

• Vanitas, oil on wood, 45 × 60 cm, Leo Winstead (contemporary). Ref. Website: Leo Winstead (2002 – col.) “This painting was inspired by 17th century Dutch still-lifes. In many still-life paintings of that time, the theme of mortality was stressed through the inclusion of one or more items which symbolized the worthlessness of material existence. The human skull was among the most popular of these symbols” (Winstead, loc. cit.) On a bench lie a skull, a book, coins, a scarlet cloth, a candlestick with a pink candle, a neo-baroque tenor recorder with one key on the foot, and a brass platter on which the recorder bag and a candle-snuffer are placed.

Hendrik de Winter

Dutch engraver who lived and worked in Amsterdam; born 1717, died 1782.

• Title page: Maendelyks Musikaels Tydverdryf [Monthly Choice Music] (1751-1752) by Antoine Mahut and Kornelis Elzevier, engraved by Jan Punt (1711-1779) after a design by Hendrik de Winter (1711-1782), published by A. Olofsen, Amsterdam. London: British Museum. Ref. Fraenkel (1968: pl. 158); Website: dbnl – Digitale bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse letteren (2015). A collection of Dutch songs collected and edited by Dutch flautist, composer and editor Antoine Mahaut (c. 1720–1785) and published monthly between 1751 and 1752. The title details are surrounded by an ornate border. In the bottom right hand corner a woman sits playing a chamber organ. Behind her sit two putti, one playing a flute, the other holding a score with one hand and banging something with the other. The border itself is made up of musical instruments including two oboes, lute, two horns, a flute, a violin, two folded trumpets and a flared-bell recorder the beak, window/labium, five finger holes, and ornamental beading are clearly visible.

Jacob de Wit

Dutch artist, the leading decorative painter of 18th-century Holland, specializing in Rococo ceiling, chimney, door and other room decorations, and groups of putti painted naturalistically in colour, or as imitation reliefs en grisaille; born Amsterdam (1695), died Amsterdam (1754).

• Allegory of Science (1724), oil on canvas, 120 × 90 cm, Jacob de Wit (1695-1754). Amsterdam: Kunsthandel Jacques Fÿnaut. Ref. Staring (1958: 145: fig. 100); Constance Scholten ex Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2008). A vanitas which includes three putti, the middle one of which holds a recorder.
• Allegory of Autumn (1751), oil on canvas, 88.5 × 85.0 cm, Jacob de Wit (1695-1754). Enschede: Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Inv./cat.nr NK 2891. Ref.  Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, illustration 14970 (2014-b&w). Three putti gambol amongst bubbles on a balcony, watched by a young man. Leaning against the balustrade are a tambourine (with jingle rings), a viol, and a recorder. Only the head of the latter is visible, in rear view. The composition is very odd; there is nothing particularly autumnal about it.
• Putti with the Muse of Music, ink on paper, 14.5 × 56.7 cm, Jacob de Wit (1695-1754). Frankfurt: Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie, Inv. 2813. Ref. RIdM Munich (2009, Fsm 538). Frieze design with putti playing music. The centerpiece is a putto holding a locket with a picture of Euterpe (Muse of music and lyric poetry), who plays on a lyre. On the far left is a putto with a pipe, another beside him plays a bagpipe. Next, in the foreground, is possibly a guitar; above, a putto plays on a harp. Next are two putti one of whom holds a lyre on which the other plays. To the right of the medallion a putto with a trumpet in each hand is running. To his right is a putto with a recorder.

Circle of Matthias Withoos

Dutch painter of still-lifes and city scenes, best known for the details of insects, reptiles and undergrowth in the foreground of his pictures; born Amersfoot (162), died Hoom (1703); father of the botanical painter Alida Withoos (c. 1661/62-1730).

• Vanitas Portrait of a Woman, oil on panel, 49 × 39 cm, circle of Matthias Withoos (1627-1703).  London: Christie’s, Sale 8063, Old Master Pictures, 8 July 1998, Lot 351. Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2001, col.); Webiste: artnet (2019, col.). A rather large and uncomely woman sits on a throne. At her feet are a globe, a bovine-skull, beads, papers, sheet music, and musical instruments. The latter include a large drum, a lute, and a flared-bell pipe (very possibly a recorder) only the foot and body of which can be seen beneath some of the papers. Inscribed ‘YDEL HEYT’ (All is Vanity). This singularly unattractive painting was formerly attributed to Leonard Bramer (1596–1674), but was reassigned to Jan Jansz. Bursem Bursem by Fred G. Meijer in 1994. It was auctioned in 1998 as by Christie’s as ‘circle of Matthias Withoos (1627–1703)’.

James de Witt (op. ca 1675), Dutch

• [Putti Teaching Birds to Sing], painting, James de Witt (op. ca 1675). Location unknown: exhibited Frank T. Sabin Fine Art, London. Ref. Newspaper cutting ex Walter Bergmann (ex Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm. 2003 – b&w). Six putti are teaching birds to sing. One plays a small baroque recorder (its beak, window/labium and flared bell clearly depicted) to a bird in a cage partly covered with a cloth as advocated by Meares in The Bird Fancyer’s Delight (1717). One of the putti holds a T-shaped perch and has just let a couple of birds fly free which yet another putto tries to catch. Two putti lean against the cage seemingly in earnest conversation. The remaining putto holds his finger to his lips, calling for quiet so that the training can commence.

Johan de Witt

• Young Woman with a Recorder, oil on oak panel, 67 × 51 cm, in the manner of Johan de Witt (1625–1672). Munich: Hampel, Sale ‘Gemalde 16-18 Jarhundert’, Lot 511, 11 April 2013. Ref. Website: Artnet (2021, col.) A beautiful young woman with a hat with a fern leaf, a cornflowers and a poppy in her hair, rouged cheeks, a red coral beaded necklace, and a brown fur cloak seen in side profile looks at us knowingly. In her right hand she holds a small one-piece duct-flute (probably a recorder), the beak, window/labium, slightly flared foot and several finger holes of which are clearly depicted. The painter may have integrated the allegory of the four seasons into the portrait, such as the flower for spring, the ears of wheat for summer, the fern for autumn and the fur for winter. But the recorder hints at something else.

Hans Witten and Franz Maidburg (fl. 1503-1525), German

The German sculptor Hans Witten was one of the last exponents of the late Gothic period; he developed his own distinctive style which was influenced by the engravings of Martin Schongauer and Dürer; born Brunswick (1470/1480), died ? Antwerp (p.1522). Like Witten, Franz Maidburg was a German sculptor of the late Gothic and early Renaissance; probably born Frieberg (c.1480/1485), died Frieberg (1533).

• North portal (1525), stone carving, 11 m high, Hans Witten (fl. late 15th to early 16th century) & Franz Maidburg (fl. 1503-1525) Chemnitz: Schloßkirche. Ref. Archiv Moeck; Website: The Schlossviertel (castle quarter) of Chemnitz (2001). The portal has been restored and placed inside the church for protection from the weather. It was originally coloured. At the bottom, are the founders of the cloister, the Emperor Lothar and his wife Richenza, as well as the Bishop and Abbot who are in the middle. Above, is St Benedict of the cloister’s order and Scholastika; in the centre is Mary with the infant Jesus as patroness of the cloister. The outer parts depict John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. At the top is the Throne of God with the Holy Trinity, God the Father sitting on the throne, Jesus the son at the Cross; above the beam is a dove, as the Holy Ghost. On both sides angels play instruments. Three angels play crumhorns; two play lutes; two play stout, flared-bell pipes (shawms, trumpets or possibly recorders), their wings outstretched.

Moyses van Wittenbrouk

Netherlandish painter; born The Hauge (1595/1600), died 1648.

• Mercury and Argus,  (1595/1600-1648). Berlin: Gemädergalerie. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). Mecury plays a soprano/alto-size pipe to a reclining Argus. His right hand is uppermost, and the first finger of each hand is lifted high. There are no identifying details.

Jan Baptist [Baptiste] Wolfaerts [Wolfert, Wolffordt]

Flemish painter; born 1640, died 1658; son of the painter Artus Wolfaerts (1581-1641).

• Garden Landscape with Shawm Player, Jan Baptist Wolfert (1640-1658). Ref. Bernt (1959, 2: 1415). The ‘shawm’ is more likely to be a soprano-size duct flute, as cheeks and lips are relaxed. The left hand is lowermost, and there is a slight bell-flare. The instrument is of very small size and the details are unclear. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000).
• Landscape with a Shepherd and his Flock (1640-1658), Jan Baptist Wolfaerts (1625-1687). Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie 34959 (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm. 2001). The shepherd plays a probable flared-bell soprano recorder, right hand lowermost.

Michael Wolgemut and Wilhem Pleydenwurff

The German painter and woodcutter Michael Wolgemut was the head of a large workshop which produced altarpieces, memorial pictures, portraits and designs for glass paintings in late 15th-century Nuremberg; he also provided notable innovations in the art of the woodcut. He is famed as the teacher of Albrecht Dürer; (1471-1528); born Nuremberg (1434–7), died Nuremberg (1519).

The German painter and woodcut designer Wilhelm Pleydenwurff trained in the workshop of his stepfather Michael Wolgemut; born Nuremburg (ca 1460), died Nuremberg (1994) Liber chronicarum cum figuris et ymaginibus abinitio mundi, known as the Nuremberg Chronicle, is one of the most famous books of the 15th century. The text is a history of the world from creation to the year of publication, 1493. It was written by Nuremberg physician, Hartmann Schedel, and printed by Anton Koberger, one of the leading printers/publishers of his day. The Chronicle is famous for its woodcuts from the workshops of Nuremberg artists Michael Wolgemut and his stepson Wilhelm Pleydenwurff. Albrecht Dürer was an apprentice in Wolgemut’s workshop and may have assisted in the production of some of the woodcuts. There are 1,809 illustrations in the Chronicle produced from 645 unique woodblocks. The Latin edition was published in July 1493; a German language version, Das Buch der Croniken und Geschicheten, translated by Georg Alt, was issued five months after the Latin edition.

• Liber chronicarum cum figuris et ymaginibus abinitio mundi [The Nuremberg Chronicle of the World]: The Lord as Ruler of the Cosmic Harmony (1493) by Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514), woodcut, Michael Wolgemut (1434-1519) or Wilhelm Pleydenwurff (ca 1460-1494). Cambridge: Harvard University Art Museums; Clinton (New York): Hamilton College, Library; Dartmouth College: Rauner Library; Eugene: University of Orgegon, Library; Durham (North Carolina): Duke University, Library; Hamilton (Ontario): McMaster University, Library; London: University of London, Kings College, Library; Missouri: University of Missouri, Museum of Art and Archaeology; Poughkeepsie (New York): Thompson Library, Vassar College; Syracuse: University Library; Washington: Washington University Library; Wolfville (Nova Scotia): Acadia University, Special Collections. Ref. Schedel (1493/2001); Meyer-Beyer (1970: 2); Rasmussen (1999, Lute); Munich RIdIM (1999, Bartsch 10a). Illustration for the seventh day of creation. Angels encircle God the Father playing music on lute, recorder and a small harp.
• Liber chronicarum cum figuris et ymaginibus abinitio mundi [The Nuremberg Chronicle of the World]: fol. 10, Family Tree (1493), by Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514), woodcut, Michael Wolgemut (1434-1519) or Wilhelm Pleydenwurff (ca 1460-1494). Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Art Museums; Durham (North Carolina): Duke University, Library; Clinton (New York): Hamilton College, Library; Dartmouth College: Rauner Library; Eugene: University of Orgegon, Library; Hamilton (Ontario): McMaster University, Library; London: Kings College, Library; Missouri: University of Missouri: Museum of Art and Archaeology; Poughkeepsie (New York): Thompson Library, Vassar College; Syracuse: University Library; Washington: University Library; Wolfville (Nova Scotia): Acadia University, Special Collections. Ref. Schedel (1493/2001). Men and women arranged in a family tree play musical instruments including rebec, organetto and ? fiddle; a women holds a small recorder, the characteristic beak, finger holes and flared bell of which are clearly depicted.

Sylvia Woodcock-Clarke

Contemporary Scottish artist who lives and works in Cyprus; she exhibits regularly and successfully in Edinburgh and the borders and has won favourable attention from the national press; born London.

• Night Recorder Lessons Under Starry Sky, oil on paper, 15 × 10 cm, Sylvia Woodcock-Clarke (20-21st century). Edinburgh: Lyon & Turnbull, Sale 154, Lot 114, 1 September 2006. Ref. Website: Artfact (2007). A stylised child plays a stylised recorder beneath a stylised starry sky.

John Woolston

English stuccoist; active early 18th century.

• Trophy (ca 1738), wall decoration, John Woolston (early 18th century). Northampton: Lamport Hall, ‘High Room’ or ‘Music Hall’ (original entrance hall), East wall. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (2000, pers. comm.) One of a number of panels containing trophies of musical instruments alternating with profile busts in roundels. One of the trophies comprises a book of music (not legible), lyre, drum and a short straight trumpet, with other instruments including a five-pipe syrinx with whistle mouthpieces, and a probable recorder. The characteristically beaked mouthpiece and window/labium of the latter are clearly depicted, but the body of the instrument is hidden below the second finger hole behind the music-book and other instruments

Edward Irving Wortis – see Avi

Frans [Franz] Wouters

Flemish artist and dealer who devoted himself to history and landscape painting, though he also executed ceiling decorations with mythological themes; he became Court Painter to Ferdinand II in Germany, and later Court Painter to Charles I; born Lierre, Brabant (? 1612/14), died Antwerp (1649/59).

• Le Concert Champêtre: Allégorie de la Volupté [The Rustic Concert: Allegory of Pleasure ], Frans Wouters (? 1612-1659). Dijon: Museum, Cat. 41. Ref. Mirimonde (? date-4: 281, fig. 27-b&w); Mirimonde (1965; 1977: 189, pl. 117); Paris RIdIM (1999); Website: gallica (2015-b&w). A couple sit beneath a tree. She is in a fair state of undress and holds a stout cylindrical recorder with an offset hole for the little finger of the lowermost (right) hand, though she seems unfamiliar with how to play it. The beak and window/labium of the recorder are underneath and not seen. He grasps the finger-board of his theorbo. In front of them lies an open score from which, doubtless, he has been playing a little earlier — obviously very effectively. A goat with huge horns grazes contentedly beside them. In the distance a road stretches towards a village.
• [Vanitas], Frans Wouters (? 1612-1659). Antwerp: 602. Ref. Bernt (1969, 2: 1420). A clear ‘baroque’ tenor recorder is seen from underneath, but why the lower hole? This is at the bottom right with a confusion of other objects. At the centre one putto blows a bubble and another watches. If turnery indicates joints, then this instrument is in four sections with a joint at the centre. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000).
• Pastoral Scene, Frans Wouters (? 1612-1659). Private Collection. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). A young man in a velvet waistcoat sits beside a lightly clad woman who holds a cylindrical soprano-sized duct flute (possibly a recorder) in both hands. The beak and three finger- holes are visible.
• Bachanalian Scene in a Landscape, oil on panel, Frans Wouters (? 1612-1659). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2001-col.) Revellers dance in a circle to music played by a bagpiper sitting in a tree, and a man playing a flared-bell pipe (possibly a recorder) at the foot of the tree. Auctioned 7 November 2000 and 8 May 2001, unsold (Gabrius, loc. cit.)
• The Triumph of Silenus, oil on canvas, Frans Wouters (? 1612-1659). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2001-col.) Revellers carry Silenus from his mule into a clearing in the forest. Beside the mule a small naked child holds what appears to be a flared-bell pipe (possibly a recorder). Auctioned 4 October 2000, unsold (Gabrius, loc. cit.)
• The Andrians, oil, attributed to Frans Wouters (? 1612-1659). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2001-col.) An interpretation of Titian’s Bacchanal of the Andrians with some differences. Two women in the centre both hold more or less cylindrical duct flutes (recorders). Auctioned 8 July 1999, sold (Gabrius, loc. cit.)
• Shepherd Couple with Putti Dancing and Making Music, oil on canvas, 4.5 × 69.5 cm, Frans Wouters (? 1612-1659). Vienna: Dorotheum, Alte Meister, 15 October 2013, Lot 721. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, illustration 1000311465 (2014-col.) In a clearing in the forest a buxom young woman attended by a dashing you man with a spear in his hand and hounds at his side is entertained by a crowd of putti who dance in a circle to music provided by two of their comrades playing viol, bagpipe and a small narrowly cylindrical pipe with a pronounced bell.

Michaelina Woutier [Woutiers, Wautier] 

Flemish artist from Mons of exceptional talent and who painted in an unusually wide variety of genres – flower-painting, portrait, history, altar-pieces, mythology, still-life and genre; details of her life are few, but from her works, which include a self-portrait, she was clearly highly educated, and her style hints at an excellent artistic training.; born 1604, died 1689.

• The Five Senses: Hearing (1650), oil on canvas, 70 × 61 cm, Michaelina Woutier (1604–1689). Naples (Florida): Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection. Ref. Drout, Sale, 28 May 1975, Salle 6, me J. Ph. Bondu. Ref. Sale Catalogue (photo); Paris RIdIM (1999). One of a series of paintings showcasing Wautier’s innovative conception, complex choreography of glances and gestures, and ability to convey different textures.  Here, a young lad in a red cap sits on a chair as he plays a flared-bell recorder, the hole for the little finger of the lowermost (right) hand clearly shown.

Philips Pauwelsz. Wouwerman [Wouwermans] (1619-1668), Dutch

Dutch painter and draughtsman; born Haarlem (1619), died Haarlem (1668); eldest son of the painter Paulus [Pauwels] Joostens Wouwerman of Alkmaar (m. 1642), whose two other sons, Pieter Wouwerman (1623–1682) and Johannes Wouwerman (1629–1666), also became painters.

• The Hare Hunt, oil on canvas, 77 × 105 cm, Philips Pauwelsz. Wouwerman [Wouwermans] (1619-1668). Madrid: Museo Nacional del Prado, Inv. P002148. Ref. Sopeña Ibañez & Gallego (1972: 193). A panoramic view in which hunters, animals and picturesque buildings are set in a sweeping landscape. “One of the hunters, on horseback, blows a hunting horn; others seem inactive. Another group of people make merry in a field: seated on the ground one plucks a lute; beside them another, standing, plays a duct flute (perhaps a recorder). On top of a tower, another group contemplates the scene, listening to the playing of a cittern (the curved peg-box of which is unmistakable) and to another musician who plays an ambiguous pipe (perhaps a second duct flute). To complete the scene, a stone figure blows a curved trumpet from which spurts a jet of water” (Transl. from Sopeña Ibañez & Gallego, loc. cit.) This is a companion piece to Hunting Party and Fishermen (P2147).

Daniel Wright, Jr

• Frontispiece: Daniel Wright The Compleat Tutor for ye Flute … (ca (1734). Ref. Vinquist (1974: 58, 213-214). A seated gentleman recorder player is pictured in an idyllic setting playing duets with a cherub while four more of the horrid little things dance in the background.
• Frontispiece: Daniel Wright The Compleat Tutor for ye Flute… (1745), London, engraving. The Hague: Gemeentemuseum. Supervised by his tutor, a young man practices the recorder seated at a small semicircular table. On the wall behind, above a second semicircular table, hang three more recorders.

Joseph Wright

Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797) was one of the most interesting and innovative British artists of the 18th century. He initially trained as a portrait painter but his reputation was made by his unique and dramatic series of paintings on scientific and industrial themes. Painted in striking contrasts of light and shadow these paintings truly capture the spirit of the Age of Enlightenment.

• Maria and her Dog Silvio (1781), oil on canvas, 160 × 115.5 cm, Joseph Wright (1734-1797). Derby: Art Gallery. Ref. Lasocki & Prior (1995: 248 & 249, footnote 5). “Christopher’s [ie Christopher Bassano’s] grandson Richard (1750-1815), who lived in Derby, married Mary Waterfield (1759-1833) in 1780; a year later she sat for the portrait … The literary reference is to the melancholic young widow in Lawrence Sterne’s Sentimental Journey (1767) who played a ‘pipe’. In the portrait she clearly holds in her right hand a descant recorder, the instrument on which her ancestors-in-law had such a distinguished career.” Maria sits, dressed in white, in a pitiful manner. Her father has died, she has been deserted by her lover and she fears for her sanity. Only her little dog Silvio remains true to her. An engraving by Peltro William Tomkins (1759-1840) entitled Maria may represent the same scene.
• Edwin (1778), oil on canvas, 158 × 117 cm, Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797). Private Collection, formerly Christie’s (London), Important British & Irish Art, 11 November 1999, Lot 5. Ref. Artfact (2003); Blouin Art Sales Index (2012). A portrait of Edwin from Dr James Beattie’s The Minstrel; Or, The Progress of Genius (1771), an account of the childhood of Edwin, who will become ‘The Minstrel’, but who is here still a budding ‘genius’. The child of a humble shepherd and his wife, he grows up free to roam the countryside, tutored only by nature; yet Edwin is ‘no vulgar boy’. Habitually solitary, sensitive to nature in all her moods, he prefers above all to frequent ‘the deep untrodden groves’. It is in such a grove that Wright chooses to depict him, musing in solitude, holding the ‘one short pipe of rudest minstrelsy’ (clearly a recorder, though only the head is visible behind Edwin’s right knee) which is his only possession. Wright sees Edwin as a youthful image of melancholy. He does not depict a specific episode in Beattie’s long poem, but seems rather to take his cue from Stanza XXII, which suggests the emotions reflected in Edwin’s face:

Even sad vicissitude amused his soul:
And if a sigh would sometimes intervene
And down his cheek a tear of pity roll
A sigh, a tear, so sweet he wished not to control.

On a rock behind Edwin are inscribed the words:

… exulting view’d in Nature’s frame.
Goodness untainted, Wisdom unconfined
Grace, Grandeur and Utility combined.

There is a crude copy at Smallhythe Place, Kent (see below). A mezzotint by John Raphael Smith was published by Hannah Humphrey (see below).

• Edwin, oil on panel, 24 × 16.5 cm, after Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797). Smallhythe Place, Kent. A crude copy of the above, also called Mrs Siddons as ‘Rosalind’ (in Shakespeare’s As You Like It). Hardly any detail is visible and the recorder appears to be absent.
• Edwin (1778), mezzotint, 50.4 × 35.5 cm, by John Raphael Smith (1751-1812) after Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797). London: British Museum, Inv. 1888,0716.411. Ref. Website: British Museum (2012-col.) An accurate engraving after the original painting. On a rock behind Edwin are inscribed the words:

… exulting view’d in Nature’s frame.
Goodness untainted, Wisdom unconfined
Grace, Grandeur and Utility combined.

And below the image with the title are four lines from Book XVI:

And yet poor Edwin was no vulgar boy
Deep thought oft seem’d to fix his youthful eye
Dainties he heeded not, nor gaude, nor toy
Save one short pipe of modest minstrelsy.

Peter Wtewael [Wtenwael, Wttewael] = Peter Uytewael

Moyes van Wtenbrouck = Moyes van Uyttenbroek

Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt

English architect, graphic designer and historian who served as one of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s ‘Art Referees’, a select group of men and women engaged on a consultancy basis to advise the Museum on significant acquisitions. Other art referees included such luminaries of the art and design world as William Morris, Sir Frederic Leighton, Fanny Palliser and Walter Crane. Wyatt, however, wrote the lion’s share (938) of the art referee reports between 1864 and 1886.

• Report on a Flageolet (1869) detail, ink drawing and notes on paper, Matthew Digby Wyatt (1820-1877). London: Victoria & Albert Museum Archive, Inv. MA/3/31. Ref. Smith (2014, fig.-b&w); Avena Braga (2015: 60-61). In 1869 Wyatt advised on a group of 18th-century musical instruments of the type that Handel might have been familiar with but which would have been regarded as historical curiosities by the time the group were purchased from the Parisian dealer M. Bauer. Wyatt believed this flageolet to be a ‘fine and rare specimen of … Neapolitan work’ and ‘a really fine specimen of the feasibility of applying art to musical instruments of a similar class’. Actually, the instrument in question is an alto recorder, possibly Neopolitan, c. 1730-1750, turtle shell veneer, gold piqué, mother of pearl inlay, Inv. 1124-1869. Before the museum acquired this object, it formed part of a decorative trophy of old wind instruments that hung on a wall of the Paris apartment of Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868), the great Italian composer of light opera. For further details and images see here.

Cite this article as: Nicholas S. Lander. 1996–2024. Recorder Home Page: Artists–W. Last accessed 23 December 2024. https://recorderhomepage.net/recorder-iconography/artists-w/