Trombone History: Painting of Female Trombonist

Although it has perhaps not been widely known, there are records of female trombonists throughout trombone history, dating back to the 16th century. The Trombone History Timeline shows, for example, entries from 1594, 1600, 1613, 1618, 1630, and 1632 that detail activities of trombone-playing nuns in the Italian cities of Ferrara, Venice, and Bologna. The following painting by Italian Pietro Paolini (or his school), dating from c. 1625, offers a rather clear representation of a female trombonist among a group of musicians (source: Patrizia Giusti, Pietro Paolini: pittore lucchese, 1603-1681. Maria Pacini Fazzi editore in Lucca, 1987, p. 158).