HarpsichordMichele Todini (bapt. 1616–1689)Date:ca. 1670Geography:Rome, ItalyMedium:Wood, variousmaterialsThis gilded case encloses an Italian harpsichord of typical design but unusual length. Decorated with a frieze depicting the Triumph of Galatea and supported by three Tritons, the harpsichord originally formed part of Michele Todini'sGaleriaArmonica and was described in his catalogue of 1676. The flanking figures of Polyphemus playing a bagpipe (Todini invented one like it) and Galatea, holding a lute, were displayed with the harpsichord in front of a "mountain" in which a small pipe organ was concealed. The organ simulated the bagpipe's sound and the harpsichord represented the sound of the lute. Todini designed several such lavish instruments and charged admission from the aristocrats who visited his gallery. The artistic quality of the case ranks it among the finest examples of Roman Baroque decorative art; Todini's ingenuity and search for new forms of instrumental expressivity grew out of the same musical climate that led to the invention of the piano.
HarpsichordMichele Todini (bapt. 1616–1689)Date:ca. 1670Geography:Rome, ItalyMedium:Wood, variousmaterialsThis gilded case encloses an Italian harpsichord of typical design but unusual length. Decorated with a frieze depicting the Triumph of Galatea and supported by three Tritons, the harpsichord originally formed part of Michele Todini'sGaleriaArmonica and was described in his catalogue of 1676. The flanking figures of Polyphemus playing a bagpipe (Todini invented one like it) and Galatea, holding a lute, were displayed with the harpsichord in front of a "mountain" in which a small pipe organ was concealed. The organ simulated the bagpipe's sound and the harpsichord represented the sound of the lute. Todini designed several such lavish instruments and charged admission from the aristocrats who visited his gallery. The artistic quality of the case ranks it among the finest examples of Roman Baroque decorative art; Todini's ingenuity and search for new forms of instrumental expressivity grew out of the same musical climate that led to the invention of the piano.
Artist Figural composition designed in 1635 by Pietro da Cortona (PietroBerrettini), Italian, 1596 - 1669. Woven at the Barberini tapestry manufactory, Rome. Workshop of Jacomodella Riviera, Flemish.Title Tapestry showing the Sea Battle between the Fleets of Constantine and LiciniusDate 1635