1595—Antwerp, Belgium

Philippe Galle’s copperplate engraving, after a work by Johannes Stradanus (Jan van der Straat), features trombone performing in a sacred setting, during the celebration of a Mass. One trombone is pictured in the immediate foreground, while another, possibly an alto trombone, is shown very near the music desk. What is possibly yet another trombone is pictured in the shadows in the upper right of the image with another music desk and a cornetto (click on image for an enlarged version). The text at the bottom of the engraving reads, “The people refine the heavenly worship with melodious arts and adorn the sacred rites with song. The horns fill the holiest portion of the temple with many sweet tones; the fistula [reed pipe] plays harmoniously with the Etruscan trumpet, and discord delights the souls, and the Muse lifts the earthly minds to the heavens” (see below image; click picture for larger version; public domain) (Salmen, Musikleben im 16 183; Naylor 10).