Blog
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Pair of Ophicleide Images
Last week I posted Ophicleide History and Images. What does this subject have to do with trombone history? Well, the ophicleide, as I point out in that post, is a predecessor to the tuba and a fellow low brass member. This morning I found two more historical ophicleide images...
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Serpent & Ophicleide: History and Images
I recently came across two humorous ophicleide images from 19th century France (1847 and 1862, below) while doing some trombone history research. The ophicleide, by the way, is a fellow low brass instrument—a 19th century invention that is considered a predecessor to the modern...
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Two More on Paper: Sketches for St. Cecilia Trombone Images
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...
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Old Germany: The Trombone in Augsburg
Augsburg, 1493, from Schedelsche Weltchronik
Augsburg, second only to Trier among Germany’s oldest cities, has been the site of considerable trombone activity since the trombone’s beginnings in the 15th century. A painting of the Augsburg Cathedral that I recently added to...
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Melody for 200 Trombones: Caricatures by J.J. Grandville
I recently added some images by J. J. Grandville (1803-1847; original name: Jean-Ignace-Isidore Gérard), a famous French caricaturist who frequently portrays musical subjects, to the 19th century timeline (1st half). The four Grandville images that include trombone, shown below...
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2 French Rear-facing Trombones
Added the following 2 entries to the Trombone History Timeline: 19th century (first half). Iconography seems to suggest that the rear-facing trombone was quite common in the early 19th century. It’s noteworthy, also, that they’re both depictions of dances (see Trombone and Th...
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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:...
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Euterpe, Greek Muse of Music, Playing with a Trombonist?
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...
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Missing Something? Bell-less Trombones in Art
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 licens...
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Paper, Canvas, Stone, Silver, Wood, 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...

