_______________

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 are several angel-trombonists (see below 3 images; public domain) (Chiappini Di Sorio 194).

Here’s the image, along with its timeline caption:

16th century—An anonymous print includes a trombone-playing cherub, or putto (see below image; public domain) (source: Beaux-arts de Paris).

1877—Spanish artist Jose Garcia y Ramos features a trombonist in his painting, After the Concert (see below image; public domain).

c. 1650—Artist Wenzel Hollar (known as Wenceslas Hollar in England) includes a trombone-playing putto in his print, Concert of Putti in the Clouds (see below image; public domain) (source: Wenceslas Hollar Digital Collection, University of Toronto, Pl. P500).

1661-66—Valletta, Malta: Artist Mattia Preti includes an angel-trombonist in his fresco on the apse of San Giovanni (see below image; public domain) (photo by Alfred Gouder).

The same artist, Mattia Preti, included trombone in another painting. Here it is, along with its caption, below. You can see that the paintings are similar. Notice that the unusual grip of the trombone is similar in the two paintings.

1651—Modena, Italy: Mattia Preti’s fresco,Gloria di Angeli Musicanti, located in the apse of San Biagio, includes a depiction of an angel playing trombone among many other angel musicians (see facing detail; public domain) (Adani; Quintavalle plate 95).

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.

1606—Poland: Trombone is among the musical instruments named in Swiatowa rozkosz, a book of poetry by Hieronim Morsztyn (Przybyszewska-Jarminska, The History of Music in Poland: The Baroque, Part 1, p. 153).

Jasna Góra Monastery

1609—Jasna Góra, Poland: At the Pauline monastery at Jasna Góra an admonition following a visit by Bishop Piotr Tylicki advises “that those skilled in playing the trombone conduct themselves in the gallery in such a way that from this may arise no cause for indignation” (Przybyszewska-Jarminska, The History of Music in Poland: The Baroque, Part 1, p. 104).

1612—Poland: Musical instruments enumerated in a list of possessions left on the death of Albert Zielinski, owner of Strzalkow, over which a court case is disputed, include 3 trombones (Przybyszewska-Jarminska, The History of Music in Poland: The Baroque, Part 1, p. 72).

1624-1640—Poland: Walerian Trepka writes Liber chamorum, wherein he names more than 100 musicians, including trombones (Przybyszewska-Jarminska, The History of Music in Poland: The Baroque, Part 1, p. 153).

1635-1642—Poland: The court ensemble at the chapel of Duke Wladyslaw Dominik Ostrogski-Zaslawski (d. 1656), which is comprised of some 12 to 17 vocalists and instrumentalists, includes multiple trombones (Przybyszewska-Jarminska, The History of Music in Poland: The Baroque, Part 1, p. 88).

1636—Poland: From at least this year, a chapel is maintained by Tomasz Zamoyski, the son of Grand Chancellor. Among the 11 musicians known to have worked at his residence, and probably at the collegiate church in Zamosc, are 2 trombonists, 2 organists, 2 violinists, a curtalist, a cornettist, and 3 singers (Przybyszewska-Jarminska, The History of Music in Poland: The Baroque, Part 1, p. 88).

St. Mary’s Church, Cracow

1638—Cracow, Poland: The chapel ensemble at St. Mary’s Church, founded by Cracovian burghers with a charter from King Wladyslaw IV, initially comprises 7 musicians: 3 trombonists, 3 violinists, and an organist (Przybyszewska-Jarminska, The History of Music in Poland: The Baroque, Part 1, p. 103).

1640—Cracow, Poland: In a literary work by Aleksander Obodzinski entitled An Ancient Trove of Polish Monarchs, the author praises the musicians of Cracow, including trombonists: “Many players will you find—prominent and famous…regals and instruments, prestigious trombones [puzany] In Cracow perform many fair pavans of their own” (Przybyszewska-Jarminska, The History of Music in Poland: The Baroque, Part 1, p. 154).

1649-52—Poland: Lists of payments made to musicians at the royal chapel show 3 trombonists in the chapel’s ensemble of 36 adult musicians (Przybyszewska-Jarminska, The History of Music in Poland: The Baroque, Part 1, p. 72).

1650—Podkamien, Poland: A musician by the name of Dionizy Bilinski is active as a trombonist in the music ensemble at the Dominican monastery (Przybyszewska-Jarminska, The History of Music in Poland: The Baroque, Part 1, p. 107).

1654— Podkamien, Poland: A trombone is added to the music ensemble at Plock Cathedral (Przybyszewska-Jarminska, The History of Music in Poland: The Baroque, Part 1, p. 98).

1664—Sandomierz, Poland: An endowment from Archdeacon Sebastian Kokwinski results in a vocal-instrumental chapel in the collegiate church in Sandomierz that includes a trombonist (Przybyszewska-Jarminska, The History of Music in Poland: The Baroque, Part 1, p. 99).

c. 1690—Gdansk, Poland: At the church of St. John, chapel master Gottfriedt Nauwerck likely utilizes a sizeable instrumental ensemble, including at least 4 trombones, as indicated by works performed under his direction (Przybyszewska-Jarminska, The History of Music in Poland: The Baroque, Part 1, p. 115).

Stanislaw Herakliusz Lubomirski (b. 1642)

1690s—Poland: The well-known writer and poet Stanislaw Herakliusz Lubomirski (b. 1642) possesses a music ensemble consisting of trombonists, violinists, cornettists, curtalists, organists, and about 15 singers (Przybyszewska-Jarminska, The History of Music in Poland: The Baroque, Part 1, p. 91).

1691—Zolkiew, Poland (present-day Zovka, Ukraine): Jan III Sobieski, squire of Zolkiew, instructs that the parish school attached to the church be supplied with trombones, cornets, bowed string instruments, and monochords. More talented students are to be trained not only in chant, but in instrumental music (Przybyszewska-Jarminska, The History of Music in Poland: The Baroque, Part 1, p. 137).

__________

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).

1838—L’Enragé Musicien, a lithograph by Bourdin after an image by Robert William Buss, depicts a trombone player practicing in the middle of the night (the clock shows 2:30), with neighbors protesting and a scowling portrait of Handel looking on. The trombonist plays on an instrument with a slide extension handle (see below image; public domain) (Goodfriend, Prints and Drawings of Musical Interest).