c. 1610—Loreto, Italy: Artist Cristoforo Roncalli, known as “Pomarancio,” makes a set of preparatory red chalk drawings for a fresco to be painted on the cupola of the Basilica di Loreto (fresco now largely lost). Among the drawings is an angel-trombonist (see below image; public domain).

There are several historical examples of multiple versions of the same trombone image. I’ve already mentioned some of these in earlier blog posts. See, for example, The Evolution of a Trombone Painting, about a painting by Baldassare Franceschini, or Canvas, Paper, Silver, and Glass: St. Cecilia Trombone Image in Many Forms, about an image originally by Pieter de Witte. Also, along similar lines, Young Trombonists in Four Montserrat Paintings looks at two different pairs of similar trombone paintings.

My latest find begins with a fresco painted by Guido Reni in 1609 in San Gregorio Magno, Rome. Below is a color detail of the left side of the painting, as well as a black and white of the full painting (notice that there is another angel-trombonist on the far right) (see below 2 images; public domain).

Another 17th-century image, supposedly by an anonymous artist from Southern Netherlands, is almost certainly either a preparatory sketch for or a copy of Guido Reni’s fresco (see below image; public domain) (Paris, Louvre; Wangermée vol. 1 287).

Finally, in the early 18th century, French artist Etienne Parrocel made a chalk drawing of three of the angel-musicians (see below image; public domain; Avignon Musée Calvet Inv. 996.7.31). The angel-musicians are obviously taken from Reni’s fresco; however, going from left to right in the original full image, only the first, sixth, and eighth instrumentalists are included by Parrocel. The trombonist’s left-hand grip may have been modified from the original underhand position.

For many more drawings and paintings of trombone-playing angels, see Angel Trombonists Throughout History: 50 Images.

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c. 1545—Italy: Giorgio Vasari paints a fresco of a quintet of wind musicians, 4 cornetts and a trombone, playing from a window or balcony. The player’s grip of the trombone is somewhat unorthodox and the player is also holding the instrument left-handed. The bell is partially obscured by the player’s head (see below image; public domain) (source: wikimedia commons; Stewart Gardner Museum).

1535—Florence, Italy: According to Giorgio Vasari, Florentine artist and historian, at the ceremony for the installation of the garrison of a fortress in Florence, “The very earth seemed pleased with the Gloria that I heard intoned by the Most Reverend Bishop, who was answered by a multitude of trombones, cornetti, and voices, so that one inclined one’s head owing to the sweetness as when one grows sleepy around the fire. At the conclusion of the oration, the Veni, Sancte Spiritus was begun by harmonies of trombones…” (Cummings 148-49).

1566—Giorgio Vasari’s image of a muse holding an instrument features what Edmund Bowles labels an alto trombone. If it is indeed a trombone, it is a somewhat awkwardly-rendered depiction. The image is associated with a performance of The Genealogy of the Gods for the wedding festivities of Prince Francesco de’ Medici and Johanna of Austria (see below image from festival book; public domain) (Bowles, Musical Ensembles 55).

c. 1530—Augsburg, Germany: Hans Burgkmair (or his circle) paints a pair of images, Concert of Sacred Music and Concert of Secular Music, on wood panels. Concert of Sacred Music includes trombone and cornetto players performing with a group of singers in front of a large music stand (see below image; public domain).

c. 1670—Italy: Bartolomeo Bettera’s Still Life with Musical Instruments includes a trombone in the center of the image (see below image; public domain).

1652-55—Preonzo, Switzerland: A fresco in the ceiling of Chiesa Santi Simone e Giuda features a number of angel-musicians, including a trombonist (see detail and full image below; public domain image).

1725-30—Vienna, Austria: A fresco by Johann Michael Rottmayr in the Karlskirche (St. Charles’s Church) includes a trombone-playing angel (see below image; public domain).

1591—Dresden, Germany: A group of elaborately-costumed musicians, documented by artist Daniel Bretschneider, includes a trombonist. The group is part of a larger procession celebrating the baptism of the daughter of Elector Christian I, Dorothea (see below image—click picture for larger version; public domain) (Dresden, Sächsische Landesbibliothek).

1607—Dresden, Germany: A depiction of a portion of a procession features a trombone player and 3 shawm players on horseback (see below image; public domain) (Dresden, Sachsische Landesbibliothek).

1614—Dresden, Germany: An image documenting a procession in honor of the baptism of Duke August depicts two trombones and a cornetto, followed by a person dressed as Mercury (see below image; public domain) (Dresden Staatsarchiv).