c. 1550—Netherlands

Artist Martin van Heemskerck includes a trombone-playing muse in his panel painting, Apollo and the Muses (see detail and full image below; public domain; wikimedia commons) (New Orleans Museum of Art). This instrument appears to be relaitvely small and is perhaps an alto trombone. Look at the length of the trombone, for example, relative to the size of the heads nearby, or relative to the hand holding it. Notice, also, that the instrument appears to be supported easily with one hand. Colin Slim proposes the date 1546, by the way, in his article, “On Parnassus with Maarten van Heemskerck,” part II (Musica Disciplina, 1997).