Getting a Grip
September 8, 2010 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Close-up showing trombone grip from Triumph of Maximilian, 1526
I mentioned in this blog a few weeks ago that I had written an article for HubPages called How to Hold a Sackbut: The Grip of the Early Trombone in Pictures on iconography and the grip of the trombone in the Renaissance and Baroque. Since then, I’ve added 7 more images to the article, bringing the total to an even 40. You can check it out here.
Trombone History: 41 Images of Angel Trombonists
August 11, 2010 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Added an article, Angel Trombonists Throughout History: 41 Images, to HubPages. The pictures span from the 15th century through the 18th century and include many not generally known in the “trombone world.” Check out the article here.
Two More on Paper: Sketches for St. Cecilia Trombone Images
July 13, 2010 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
About a month ago I posted Canvas, Paper, Silver, and Glass: St. Cecilia Trombone Image in Many Forms, tracing the life of an image originally conceived as a painting through several artistic media. Since then I have located two sketches of the image (source: Volk-Knüttel 31-33, pl. 101; for full citation see Trombone History Bibliography). The first drawing, in which it is a little tricky to spot the trombone, is probably a preparatory sketch for the original painting by Pieter de Witte (c. 1585); the second, which has the same dimensions as the engraving by Sadeler (c. 1590), is probably a preparatory drawing for that engraving. In total, we end up with a pretty remarkable count of two sketches, a painting, an engraving, a silver relief, and a painted glass window. And the trombone makes it through to the end!
Preparatory Sketch, Possibly by Pieter de Witte, for St. Cecilia
Preparatory Drawing, Possibly by Sadeler, for St. Cecilia
Angel Musicians of Florence’s Santissima Annunziata
Two weeks ago I added the below trombone history image & caption to the 17th century timeline (1st half), as well as posting The Evolution of a Trombone Painting, a blog post that included not only the painting, but several sketches that preceded it.
1644—Florence, Italy: Il Volterrano (also known variously as Baldassare Franceschini and Franceschini Baldassare detto Volterrano) is commissioned to paint a lunette fresco in Florence’s Santissima Annunziata. The image features angels playing violin, trombone, and lute (see above image; public domain) (Strozzi 332; Falletti 76).
Since then, I tracked down a color image and changed out the black & white one in both the post and the timeline page. I also found two other images depicting angel-musicians from the same artist and same area of the church (the Grazzi Chapel of Santissima Annunziata). It’s interesting to see which other instruments (and combinations of instruments) were depicted by the artist in his work in the Florentine church, and it provides at least some idea of what was being played at the time and how instruments were perceived by people. I would also point out, once again, what a prolific half-century 1601-1650 was for trombone iconography! The source for the images is Falletti, 55-78 (see Trombone History Bibliography for full citation). Here they are, below–click on image to enlarge:
Euterpe, Greek Muse of Music, Playing with a Trombonist?
June 23, 2010 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Last week I posted on an image by Peter de Witte (Peter Candid) that can be found on an impressive array of media: canvas, paper, silver, and glass. While I was researching that image, I found another by the same artist that includes a trombone. It features Euterpe, Greek muse of music. At her feet, putti play trombone, flute, and cornetto, and a shawm rests nearby. The drawing has been added to the 17th century timeline.
1611—Pieter de Witte (also known as Peter Candid) includes an angel playing trombone in his drawing, Euterpe (see bottom-left of below image) (Volk-Knüttel 102).
Missing Something? Bell-less Trombones in Art
June 20, 2010 by wkimball · 3 Comments
The slide is one of the most identifiable visual characteristics of the trombone in artwork. However, when a slide turns up without a bell, it can be problematic. Could it still be a trombone? Are we trying too hard to make it a trombone? Was it just artist error? Artistic license? A mistake in a restoration process? A literal representation of some unusual permutation of the trombone? An obscured area of the painting? Some other instrument? They’re all possibilities, of course.
I am not going to try to come to any real conclusions with this post, but I would suggest the early rear-facing trombone as one possibility. There are at least two iconographical examples of rear-facing trombones from the 17th century or earlier (see here), as well as many others from the 19th century (see here). In the case of the first three examples below with no apparent bells, the bell on a rear-facing instrument could easily be obscured by the player’s head and/or other parts of the image, such as cap, halo, and wings. In the final example, from the 19th century, the bell is very likely obscured by the player’s helmet; there are multiple other examples of rear-facing trombones in iconography of this precise period and region.
c. 1474—Asciano, Italy: Matteo di Giovanni’s The Assumption of the Virgin, the center panel of an altarpiece in S. Agostino, includes what may be an angel-trombonist along with several other angel-musicians. The instrument has what appears to be a slide but no visible bell (see below detail and full image; public domain) (Belán 111).
1503-1529—Spain: Joan Gascó’s painting, God the Father and the nine angelic choirs, includes what appears to be a trombone-playing angel, grouped with 2 other wind-playing angels, although no bell is apparent on the trombone (see below detail and full image below that; public domain) (Ballester).
1598-1606—Valencia, Spain: Bartolomé Matarana paints a fresco of angel musicians in the the church of Real Colegio–Seminario de Corpus Christi that includes what are probably 2 trombones. Only the slide portions are obvious, although possible bell flares can be seen upon close inspection (see details and full image below) (Olson, Angel Musicians).
c. 1850—Brussels, Belgium: Musicien et trompette de cuirassiers, a lithograph by Henri Hendrickx, portrays a Belgian infantry musician playing on what may be a rear-facing trombone, the bell obscured by the player’s helmet (see below image; public domain) (Bibliotheque royale Albert I; Wangermée vol. 2, 263). See other Belgian rear-facing trombones from the same time period at this post: Belgian Military Trombonists.
Canvas, Paper, Silver, and Glass: St. Cecilia Trombone Image in Many Forms
Last week I posted Evolution of a Trombone Painting, which traced a painting through several sketches to fruition in a church fresco. This new post similarly shows several permutations of an image, though in this case, the images span a longer period of time, as they are copied by various artists. They also encompass an impressive range of artistic media, including canvas, paper, silver, and glass. The artist who painted the original image, Pieter de Witte (1548-1628; also known as Pietro Candido), is a Flemish-born artist who was trained in Italy and divided his career between Italy and Germany. For additional examples of trombone images that were copied by multiple artists, see Young Trombonists in Four Montserrat Paintings.
Update: See this subsequent post for two additional versions of the below image, both probably preparatory sketches.
_______________
c. 1585—Munich, Germany: Pieter de Witte, court painter in Munich, paints David Singing God’s Praise, which features trombone among a mixed consort of angel-musicians. The upper half of the painting, show below, is meant to depict Saint Cecilia and angels. The lower half, not shown, depicts angels performing with David (Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum, photo A. Dingjan; Pieter Fischer 22; Bergquist xvii) (public domain image).
c. 1590—Munich, Germany: Johann Sadeler (Jan Sadeleer), court engraver in Munich, makes an engraving after Pieter de Witte’s painting that accompanies a setting of Psalm 150, Laudent Deum Cithara, by Orlando Lassus (see below image; public domain) (Mirimonde 67; Bergquist xvii).
A silver relief by Christoph Lencker is also modeled after the original Pieter de Witte painting (see below image; public domain) (Pieter Fischer 23).
And finally, a painted glass window in St. Helen’s church, Denton, England follows the same image. It is dated 1700 and signed by Giles of York (see below detail; public domain) (photo by Gordon Plumb):
Moravian Trombone Ensembles
June 14, 2010 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Just finished adding numerous entries on the Moravian use of trombones from Stewart Carter’s excellent “Trombone Ensembles of the Moravian Brethren in America” (in Brass Scholarship in Review, 1999). The entries can be found in the 18th century, 19th century (1st half), 19th century (2nd half), and 20th century. I always enjoy Stewart Carter’s writing: meticulously detailed research, extensive documentation, no self-aggrandizing, no personal ax to grind. Great, reliable stuff.
Detail from A.R. Waud, Moravians at Bethlehem
New Timeline Image: Trombone and Serpent Together
June 12, 2010 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Added the following somewhat unusual depiction of a trombone player and serpent player together to the 17th century timeline (first half). The crossed legs, as in the images in this earlier post, would have never made it past my grade school band director!
c. 1630—Rome, Italy: An etching from the series Figure con instrumenti musicali e boscarecci by Giovanni Battista Bracelli features a trombone and a serpent (see below image; public domain) (Falletti 107).
The Evolution of a Trombone Painting
June 12, 2010 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Several weeks ago I blogged about a red chalk drawing, recently added to the Trombone Timeline, by an artist named Il Volterrano (also known variously as Baldassare Franceschini and Franceschini Baldassare detto Volterrano). The image, a preparatory drawing for a 17th-century Florentine fresco, features trombone prominently among two other angel-musicians (with a possible additional vocalist). Included with the documentation about the chalk drawing in the source I referenced were sources leading to the culminating painting, which had a commission date of 1644, as well as references to additional sketches presumably leading up to the chalk drawing. I followed sources in both directions, leading to a total of four different images from three different sources and revealing a work of art with an intriguing evolution. The amount of preparatory work by the artist suggests that he took special care in completing the commission (Falletti 76). (For all references, see Trombone History Bibliography.)
First, a sketch of the angel-trombonist, part of a set of studies now held at the Louvre, barely even hints at the trombone. The details focus on the angel, seated with crossed legs, not the musical instrument. There seems to be a feel for the angle of the instrument, and that is about it. The one interesting trombone-related detail is perhaps the left hand position, to which the artist seems to have given some attention (see image below; public domain) (Cooney, Drawings by Il Volterrano).
Another sketch, housed with the same set of studies at the Louvre, now shows the trombonist among several other instrumentalist. Most of the Il Volterrano’s attention seems to be focused primarily on the violinist on the left and the general placement of the characters. The angel-trombonist has been placed prominently in the center of the picture. Again, the actual trombone is only hinted at (see image below; public domain) (Cooney, Drawings by Il Volterrano).
The artist’s subsequent red chalk drawing, held in Rome’s Gabinetto Nazionale delle Stampe, reveals significantly more detail, including a clear view of the trombone. Noteworthy details include the instrument’s fairly long slide, the player’s left hand grip, and the extra loop of tubing on the bell section of the instrument. Gone is the small figure on the lower right of the earlier sketch, replaced by a clear depiction of a lute player (see below image; public domain) (Strozzi 332).
Finally, the finished product, a lunette fresco in Florence’s Santissima Annunziata. It’s interesting to see the painting in its architectural context; in this sense, it seems to bear some similarities with the quadratura paintings discussed in an earlier post. The angel-trombonist, the one musician who meets our direct gaze, is still the focal point in the fresco. Note the left hand grip that is retained from earlier sketches, as well as the fairly long slide and the extra loop of tubing. The lute neck is shortened and the angel without an instrument (just to the left of the trombonist), who appears to be a possible vocalist in earlier sketches, now appears to be just an onlooker in the final painting (see below image; public domain–click on image for larger version) (Falletti 76; ). It is fascinating to catch a glimpse of an artist’s deliberate preparations for such a beautiful image.