I was recently doing some research on a different topic (for a History of Civilization course I’ll be teaching during a Vienna Study Abroad program), when I came across this gem. It’s one of many depictions of trombone-playing muses. Although it’s…
Trombone Images
The Trombone at the Renaissance Table
Would you allow a trombone at your table? There are numerous documented examples from the Renaissance of trombones performing during meals—“at table”—or in connection with various banquets and feasts. Below are some drawn from the Trombone History Timeline (16th century),…
Trombonist in 16C Feast of Herod Painting
The feast of Herod, featuring the beheading of John the Baptist, is a relatively popular subject in religious art, including a sculpture by Donatello and a painting by Rubens, among others. The depictions can get fairly gory! The example below,…
Multiples: More on the Life of an Early Trombone Painting
A couple of years ago I posted The Life of an Early Trombone Painting, showing several images related to Guido Reni’s beautiful fresco in San Gregorio Magno, Rome. Then I added an image to the post last January. I’ve just added…
Trombone in 16th Century Concert Scene
I just added the below image and caption to the Trombone History Timeline (16th century). Enjoy! Late 16th century—Italy: A chalk drawing variously ascribed to Alessandro Allori, Agnolo Bronzino, the circle of Vasari, Baccio Bandinelli, Johannes Stradanus, and Bernardino Campi includes…
Trombone in Pit Orchestra
Just added this painting and caption to the Trombone History Timeline (20th century): 1910—Spencer Frederick Gore includes trombones in the pit orchestra of his painting, Ballet Scenes from “On the Sands” (see below image; click to expand; public domain) (Yale Center for…
The Valve Trombone in Iconography
A friend of mine, Ken Shifrin, recently emailed me with a historical question about valve trombone images. As a result, I put this little collection together. I have a few others I will be posting as I get more complete…
Trombone Bell Found: An Early Rear-Facing Trombone
A few years ago a made a blog post on “Bell-less Trombones.” As you can see if you read the comments to that post, some of the bells were actually found by an alert reader. However, one image that continued…
Trombone-Playing Monk
Just added this one to the 19th century timeline (2nd half): 1900—An image by Cederström (probably Ture Nikolaus Cederström, 1843-1924) entitled Concert in the Monastery is reproduced in Elson’s 2nd volume of Famous Composers and their Works. Among the octet of monk-musicians…
Another Italian Angel-Trombonist
A few days ago I mentioned in this blog an angel-trombone painting by Procaccini. Well, that one led to another image by the same artist (as these things often do). Here it is, along with its caption, below. You can…