Giorgio Vasari and the Renaissance Trombone

vasari window

I just added the top image and caption (c. 1545) to the 16th century timeline. Giorgio Vasari is a well-known Italian painter, architect, and historian. His book, Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, is one of the most frequently-cited art history texts of all time. Vasari springs up multiple times in relation to [...]

Early Trombone and the Dance

I recently found the below video, showing a number of different dances in which the trombone serves as a member of what is commonly called the alta capella. Below the video I have added a selection of entries and pictures from the Trombone History Timeline that highlight the trombone’s role in dance music, a major [...]

Milan: Fashion, Opera, and Trombone?

Luini Angels

Milan is a city known for both high fashion and opera (home of Giuseppe Verdi and La Scala opera house). But trombone? I recently added a number of entries centering around Milan to the Trombone History Timeline, revealing a fairly active trombone performance tradition in that city. The history of the trombone in Milan seems [...]

Earliest Depiction of Black Trombonist?

Detail, The Engagement of St. Ursula and Prince Etherius

Today I added a color version of the below image, along with a nice detail of the musicians, to the 16th century timeline. An apt example of the trombone in the wind band tradition (alta ensemble, waits, pifferi, Stadtpfeifer), it is one of only a small handful of trombone paintings from late 15th/early 16th century, [...]

Trombone History: The Trombone in Siena

Cesi detail

Added the below painting and entry to the 16th century timeline. The painting originates from Siena, Italy, the location of a surprisingly active trombone scene in the 16th century; there are many, many Sienese entries in the timeline drawn from D’Accone’s excellent book, The Civic Muse, which I include in the trombone history mini-bibliography. Herewith [...]

Trombone History: Trombone with 16th Century Wind Band

Pint detail

Added color version of Pinturicchio’s fresco (see below) to the 16th Century Trombone History Timeline. The painting provides one of the earliest examples of trombone iconography showing the instrument in a wind band setting (called pifferi in Italy). The color version of the fresco shows the vibrancy of the painting, as well as revealing the three [...]