Recorder Home Page

Recorder Iconography

Compiled by Nicholas S. Lander

Anonymous (arranged by date and provenance)

3rd Century

Germany

Mosaic, German (Trier). Trier: Rheinisches Landesmuseum. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). "From a mosaic workshop established at Trier (and elsewhere in the Rhine/Moselle region) in mid-1st century AD; about 180 mosaics from the Trier area are extant. In this one a winged amoretto plays an ambiguous single pipe, left-hand lowermost, all fingers down. The instrument is narrow at the lips, of alto/tenor length, slightly outwardly conical throughout, but slender even at the bell (no flare). The mouthpiece touches closed lips at the side of the mouth. The cheeks are not puffed" (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)

5th Century

England

Vergilius Romanus: Pastoral Scene, Shepherds and Flocks, illumination, Rome: Vatican Library, Vergil MS Vat. lat. 3867= Romanus, Folio 44, verso. Ref. Web-site: Vortigern Studies (2007 - col.) Watched by his companion, a shepherd seated on a rock plays a long cylindrical pipe, probably a reed pipe (given his puffed cheeks), but possibly a duct-flute.

6th Century

Israeli

Man playing the Flute to his Dog (ca 567), floor mosaic, Beth or Beit She'an (as Beit Shean), Israel: Monastery of Our Lady (or Lady Mary). Ref. Beckwith (1970: 68); Warburg Institute, London. "A vine trellis frames various pastoral occupations including a Negro leading a camel, which seems to be merely carrying on a tradition of representing aspects of rural life so popular in North Africa and, no doubt, throughout the Mediterranean area, without any wider mystical or cosomographical connotations" (Beckwith, loc. cit.)
A seated shepherd plays to his dog a tenor-sized pipe with a distinctly flared bell. His cheeks are not puffed and his arms and thumb are well positioned for recorder playing (Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm., 1999). The dog is sitting up on his hind legs, turning his head away, and seems to be howling. An unconcerned rabbit hops by, nibbling at a grape.

Bet (or Beit) She'an is in NE Israel, 394 feet below sea level. The site is one of the oldest inhabited cities of ancient Palestine. It has a Roman amphitheatre, in excellent condition. Under Byzantine rule it was the capital of the Northern Province of Palestina Secunda. It declined after the Arab Conquest in AD 636 and supported a Jewish community in the next millenium. Now under Jewish domination, this area is the centre of a flax and cotton industry (Encylopedia Brittanica).

7th Century

Provenance unknown

The Marriage of David (610-629), embossed silver dish, Nicosia, Cyprus : Archaeological Museum. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (2000d: 93, fig. 4 - b&w). This plate dates to the era of the Christian Eastern Roman Empire. It represents the marriage of King David. Two pipes, often recorders, signify the harmony of two souls in marriage.

10th Century

Irish (Hiberno-Saxon)

High Cross of Muiredach, East Side: The Last Judgement (after 922), carved sandstone, 5.5 m high. Detail. Monasterboice, County Louth, Ireland. Ref. Corran (1971 - b&w); Hunt (1972: 5); Buckley (1991: 145-146, 180-181, fig. 7); Harbison (1994); Mary Ann Sullivan (2002), The East Side of the Muiredach Cross, Monasterboice, County Louth. This high cross was named for the abbot who died in the year 922 and commemorates him with an inscription on the base of the shaft on the west side. The east and west faces have sculpted biblical scenes, while the sides are adorned with spirals, bosses with interlacing and intertwining beasts. On the outer portion of the wheel there are three Celtic heads with two serpents weaving in-between them. Flanking the heads, on either side, are interlacing bands, while up above is the hand of God reaching down as if to bless someone. Beside the Devil, who is prodding the souls of the dammed into Hell, is a player of the triple pipes. In some photographic representations the instrument may appear like a cylindrical pipe reminiscent of a recorder. Indeed, both Corran (loc. cit.) and Hunt (loc. cit.) have described it as such, hence its inclusion here. There are other Irish and Scottish examples of the triple pipes (Ann Buckley, pers. comm.) In the central boss is the figure of Christ holding a cross and flowering rod, symbolic of His eternal priesthood. A large bird above his head may be the mythical phoenix, symbolic of His resurrection, or an eagle, symbolic of His ascension. On the left-hand arm of the cross, the saved face Christ, led by David with his harp followed by a figure who looks as if he is playing a pipe of some kind. There is even a suggestive depression where the characteristic window/labium of a duct-flute would be found, though this might easily be an artifact of weathering. He seems to have gone unremarked by previous commentators.

11th Century

English

King David, from the Psalter (ca 1030-1050), English. Cambridge: University Library, MS Ff 1.23 Ref. Westwood & Zaczek (1996: 108-109, pl. 41 - col.) Thought to have been produced at Winchcombe Abbey in Gloucestershire. King David plays the harp surrounded by his fellow musicians who play crwth, rote, nakers and a pipe which looks very much like an elongate globular flute, but may represent a recorder.

French

David and the Psalmists: ? Psalm 150, carved capital of a stone pillar (11th century). Bourbon-l'Archambault (Burgundy): Eglise de St George. Detail. Ref. Bärenreiter Musica calendar (1967); Thomson (1974, 74 & plate 1 - b&w); Early Music 18(2): 289 (1990). The church and its carvings are Romanesque. One musician plays a horn with one hand and a harp with the other; a second plays a rebec; a third plays a duct-flute with a clearly depicted but slit-like window/labium, six finger-holes, and a thumb position suggestive of recorder-playing; a fourth plays a syrinx.
Latin Psalter, 11th-century. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, No. 1118. Ref. Galpin (1910/1978: 105); Seebass (?date). " …the position in which the instrument [ie the recorder] is held is very characteristic. An early Continental instance is found in a Latin Psalter of the eleventh century in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (No. 1118)" (Galpin, loc. cit.)

German

Bernwardsäule: Salome's Dance (ca 1020), bronze cast. Hildesheim Cathedral, Germany. Ref. Bärenreiter Musica Calendar: June (1996 - b& w); postcard, Bernward Verlag GmbH, Hildesheim, Best. Nr. 6302-detail & 6891 (2001 - col.) Commissioned ca 1020 by Bishop Bernward ca 960-1022 and known as the "Bernward column", probably inspired by the Trajan column in Rome, but depicting the life of St John the Baptist. Salome dances to the accompaniment of a straight, cylindrical duct-flute with four finger-holes visible, the lowest slightly offset. It is clasped between two hands, just above which there is a notch (?window). The mouthpiece is beak-shaped. The player (a man) does not have puffed cheeks.

Greek

Dome mosaic (mid-11th century), Greek. Greece: Katholicon Monastery of Hosias Lukas. Ref. Rowland-Jones (1999c: 13-14). A shepherd plays a single duct-flute of tenor size. "Mosaic is not an easy medium for precise detail, but this representation is very recorder-like, despite some curious fingering" (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)

12th Century

English

Hunterian Psalter: King David with Musicians (ca 1170), York, England. Glasgow: University Library, MS Hunter 229 (U.3.2), f 21v. Ref. Galpin (1910/1978: 104, fig. 25); Moeck (1984: January - col.); Montagu (1976: 19, pl. 8 - b&w); Rensch (1989: 53, pl. 46 - b&w); Fifty Treasures from Glasgow University Library (2002). Detail showing what some writers have claimed to be a recorder player. Detail showing the instrument to be a bagpipe rather than a recorder. This 12th-century manuscript used to be known as the York Psalter, but is now more usually known (after its donor, William Hunter) as the Hunterian Psalter. It is an outstanding masterpiece of the illuminator's craft, and is rightly considered to be among the most splendid examples of English Romanesque art comprising 15 pages of scenes from the Old and New Testaments. In this illumination King David plucks his harp surrounded by musicians playing bells, rebec, psaltery, symphony, vielle, ? panpipe, and bagpipe.
Mythical Creatures Making Music (1115-1125), carved stone capital. Canterbury Cathedral: Crypt. Ref. Galpin (1910/1978: 103, pl. 15 - b&w); Early Music 18(2): 303 (1990); Christian Brassy. The Canterbury Crypt has quite a number of capitals with animals, and in two quite separate ones the animals are playing wind-instruments. On one capital, a splendid chimera (half donkey, half bird) riding a fish-tailed dog plays a straight, concial pipe (right claw uppermost) with three holes showing; the mouthpiece end is not visible as the goat holds it firmly, deep in his open jaws; the instrument has a conical bell with an incised ring; the goat opposite standing on his hind legs plays a large rebec. On another capital a gryphon plays a harp and a dog plays a slightly curved, conical pipe (left paw uppermost); the pipe has finger-holes; the mouthpiece end is not visible as the dog holds it firmly, deep in his open jaws; the bell has what appears to be an incised decorative ring. Whilst the straight pipe may represent a duct-flute, the curved one is more likely a horn.
[Untitled] (12th century), stone carving. Barfreston Church, Kent, England. Ref. Galpin (1910/1978: 103, pl. 15 - b&w). A man plays a fiddle whilst on either side of him a bear or other beast plays a pipe (possibly a duct-flute) and a grotesque plays a syrinx.

French

Bible of Citeaux: King David with his Musicians (1109), French. Dijon: Bibliothèque Publique, Ms. 14, fol. 13v. Ref. Pichard (1966: 34); Central European University, Department of Medieval Studies, Budapest (2001); Liesbeth van der Sluis (pers. comm., 2001). King David, enthroned in a diagramatic castle around which a battle is raging, plays his harp. Musicians at his feet play bells, an ambiguous pipe (shawm or duct-flute), vielle and organ.
Musicians and acrobats (12th century), stone-carved capital, French. La Chaize le Vicomte (the Vendée): Church, column. Ref. Hammerstein (1974: fig. 108 - b&w). On either side of an acrobat hanging from a bar, musicians play harp and an unusual looking instrument which appears square in cross-section and has what appear to be a massive windcap and seven finger-holes at the front. This may simply represent a second harp viewed front on, with a decorated column.
Jongleur playing a pipe (12th century), stone-carved relief, French. Toulouges, near Perpignan: Church. Ref. Christian Brassy. Toulouges was part of the Kingdom of Aragon in the 12th century. A jongleur plays what seems to be a double duct-flute, but the details are obscured by erosion.
Grotesque Playing a Pipe (12th century), stone-carved capital, French. Avy sur Pons (near Saintes, Western France): Church. Ref. Christian Brassy (2000, pers. comm.) A grotesque plays a pipe with a wide beak. It could represent a primitive shawm (pibcorn), but a slit-like opening on the front of the beak may represent the window/labium of a duct-flute.

Italian

[Musicians] (mid-12th century). Palermo, Sicily: Cappella Palatina. Ref. Farmer (1966: 58, footnote 11), Gramit (1985: 21-22 & fig. 16 - b&w). A drummer and a player of the qasaba, a duct-flute which looks very much like a recorder.
[Musicians] (mid-12th century). Palermo, Sicily: Cappella Palatina. Ref. Farmer (1966: 58, footnote 11), Gramit (1985: 21-22, fig. 17 - b&w). A drummer and a player of the qasaba, a duct-flute which looks very much like a recorder, at a fountain.

Spanish

Man Playing a Pipe (12th century), stone carving, Spanish. Tabliega (Provincia. de Burgos): Iglesia de San Andres. Ref. Christian Brassy (2002 - col.) The Iglesia de San Andres is a romanesque church dating from the 11th century when it served as a monastery. A squatting man plays a pipe with a wide mouthpiece. No details of the instrument are visible, and the foot may have broken off. But all fingers of both hands seem to be employed.
Man playing a Pipe (12th century), stone carving, Spanish. Sangüesa (Navarre): Santa Maria la Real. Ref. Christian Brassy (2002 - col.) A squatting man plays a flared-bell pipe. A trace of a possible window/labium can be seen, the thumb of the player's uppermost (right) hand and the little finger of his lowermost hand seems to be covering their holes, so this may represent a recorder.

13th Century

Armenian

Shepherd with [vertical] Flute (1281), Vaspurakan Gospel. London: British Library, MS Or.2679. Ref. Nepresian (1987: 31, fig. 19). Illustrates St Luke 2:28-29. Shows a pipe which could be a duct-flute of some kind, even a recorder. Vaspurakan is now part of eastern Turkey.

English

The Cuerden Psalter: David with Musicians (late 13th century), English. New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, M. 756, folio 11. Ref. Ford (1988: #84); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001; 2006: 4). David plays a harp; two musicians play a fiddle and a pipe and tabor. On the upper margin a grotesque plays a conical pipe, possibly a duct-flute. The latter instrument is slightly curved, which may have led Ford (loc. cit.) to suggest that this might be a cornett. However this is very early for a cornett and, in any case, the curve is very slight and possibly not intentional. The Cuerden Psalter was possibly produced near Canterbury.

French

From Gloses sur l'Apocalypse (1353-1270), France. F Pn lat. 19474, f.19. Ref. Boragno (1998: 13 - b&w). Three men and a goose stand before a wall; one of the men plays a conical duct-flute, the window and several finger-holes of which are clearly shown. Both beak and bell are, in part, made of a different material to the body of the instrument.
From the St Louis Psalter (13th century), French. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, MS Latin 10525, f. 105v, 1186. Ref. Boragno (1998: 13 - b&w). A man plays a duct-flute, the window of which is clearly depicted. The St Louis Psalter was commissioned by St Louis IX, the Holy, a man as famous for his sense of justice, as for his statesmanly qualities. It is a luxurious book, with a preliminary group of seventy-eight full-page illuminations of scenes from the Old Testament.
MS Douce 62 (late thirteenth century), fol. 151 Oxford: Bodleian Library. MS Douce comprises a Book of Hours, illuminated mainly by Zebo da Firenze, and Occupations of the Months, Zodiac Signs, etc.
Psalter: David Plays a Positive Organ (1290-1300), French. New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, M.796. Ref. Ford (1988: #212); Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). "In five border medallions, musicians play a shawm, a fiddle, a psaltery, a gittern (the pegbox is like the fiddle), and a harp" (Ford, loc. cit.) Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.) considers the shawm a little doubtful as the lower hand is placed too low down the instrument for shawm fingering; but it is hardly an accurate depiction. It might just as well be a duct-flute, even though no window/labium is visible.

German

[Untitled] (ca 1230), stone carvings, German. Nuremberg: Frauenkirche, inner west portal (above doors, in a gothic arch). Ref. Archiv Moeck (photos by Astrid Neumann); Rowland-Jones (1999c: fig. 3 - b&w). Two angels play duct-flutes somewhat reminiscent of the Dordrecht recorder, each with a very small, flared foot. The hands are widely spaced, with three holes showing between them. One angel plays left-hand uppermost; the other contrariwise.
Angel Musician (ca 1230), stone carving, German. Bamburg: Cathedral, Main Portal. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). An angel plays a flared duct-flute with a beak reminiscent of the Göttingen recorder.

14th Century

Armenian

Nakhijevan Gospel (1304): Shepherd playing the flute, Armenian. Yerevan (Armenia): Matenadaran, MS 3722. Ref. Atayan (2002 - col.) A shepherd in a pointed hat with a tassel, a purse on a wide scarf hung around his neck, and boots turned up at the points, plays a flared-bell pipe, with a hint of a window/labium, right hand lowermost.

English

Untitled (early 14th century), woodcut from the Ormesby Psalter, English. Oxford: Bodleian Library, MS Douce 366. Detail. Ref. Galpin (1910/1978: 104-105, fig 26), Thomson (1974: 23, fig. 5); Rowland-Jones (2006: 3-4 & fig. 1-col.) One of the most magnificent, yet enigmatic, of English fourteenth-century manuscripts, produced in a series of campaigns between ca 1280 and ca 1340, for a succession of different patrons, both lay and monastic. Both the figurative initials and the decoration in this psalter were made in the same workshop (probably in Bury St Edmunds) by two different miniaturists. The codex received its name from Robert Ormesby, a monk who dedicated the codex to the prior of a convent in Norwich. On the lower left-hand side of the highly decorated frame, a cockerel with a man's body plays a pipe which some (including Galpin, loc. cit.) have taken to represent a recorder. The mouthpiece is not in the player's mouth, but rests against it, and it does not comprise a reed and pirouette, so a shawm would seem to be out of the question. A mark at the top does look as if it could represent a window/labium, so a duct-flute was probably intended. The elbow position is typical of recorder playing, and so are the 'curved over' hands. A finger-hole is visible between the hands and three further holes are visible below the lower (right) hand. No tuning hole is shown on the bell which one would expect with a shawm. The lowest of the three finger-holes is slightly offset to the left and the middle one appears to be double, though this could be an ink-blot or some other artifact. On the right-hand side of the page, immediately opposite the man-cockerel, a horse-headed demon farts in the face of a trumpeter in a sort of competition of wind instruments!
Squatting Man playing a Pipe (ca 1305), carved misericord. Winchester Cathedral: Stalls, North side, 6th from West. Ref. This is a shawm or cornett (Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers com.)
Grotesque playing a Duct-flute (ca 1325), from the Gorleston Psalter. London: British Library, Add 49622. Ref. Cockerell (1907); Montagu (1976: 45, pl. 36 - b&w); Anthony Rowland-Jones (2006: 3). An ambiguous pipe, shown by Montagu (loc. cit.) as an example of "a single duct-flute, ancestor of the recorder, but too crude to be at all informative".
A Harpist and a Piper (ca 1330), carved misericord. Chichester Cathedral, Precentor's stall. Ref. Galpin (1910/1978: 105); Thomson (1974: 74 & pl. 2 - b&w); Hunt (1977: 9); Hersom (1988); Rowland-Jones (1999c: 33, fig. 9-b&w). Known as "The Hurst Misericord". Depicts an alto or tenor size duct-flute (possibly a recorder) & harp duo. The window/labium area is shown with great clarity, the bell end flares in exterior profile, with a decorative ring near the start of the flare. Unfortunately the player's lower (right) hand is broken off, tantalisingly not showing the lower part of the body of the instrument. If this had four fingers down or the little-finger-hole it could be claimed as the first representation of a true a recorder.
Musical Angels (ca 1342), painted limestone carving, English. Exeter Cathedral: Musicians' Gallery, third figure from the right. Ref. Kinsky (1930: 51); Cave (1953: 60); J.B.C. (1957); Peter (1958: 42); Crispin (1968: 358-359); Hunt (1977: 9); Early Music 15 (1): front cover (1987 - col.) On the East side of the gallery, a minstrel plays an ambiguous conical pipe which appears to be a shawm, amongst players of the citole, bagpipe, fiddle, harp, and jew's harp. On the West side, are trumpet, portative organ, gittern, pipe, timbrel (with jingle rings) and cymbals. The pipe on the West side has what appears to be a beak (easily visible in the Early Music reproduction (loc. cit.) and may well represent a duct-flute, possibly a recorder. These carvings were restored in 1976.
Man playing a Duct-flute (ca 1380-1390), stone carving. Winchester. Ref. photo ex Walter Bergmann's collection. Could be a duct-flute (flageolet or recorder), but not found either at Winchester Cathedral in either of the Chapels, but possibly elsewhere in Winchester (Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm.)
Woodwind instrument (1385), stained glass, English. Lincoln: Cathedral, Musicians' Window. Ref. Lincoln Angels Project (2003). "Woodwind instrument, possibly of the duct-flute (whistle) family. The damage to the glass has frustratingly destroyed any hope of making a definitive identification. It is possible that the line around the top of the instrument represents the windway [sic.] of the instrument." (Lincoln Angels Project, loc. cit.) This is highly ambiguous and could just as well represent a reed instrument of some kind.
A Siren luring Seamen in a passing Boat (ca 1390), woodcarved misericord. Boston (Lincs), England: St Botolph's Church, South side, upper stalls, No. 13. Ref. Hunt (1977: 9); Rowland-Jones (1999c: 33, fig. 8-b&w). Two sailors try to stop their ears against the siren's enticing sounds of a ?recorder. There are no signs of restoration, except recent protective treatment of the wood. The siren's right wrist and lower hand are missing, and a diagonal crack near the end of the instrument has parted and offset the bell end. The instrument is of tenor recorder size, cylindrical except for an almost imperceptible flare or thickening at the extreme bell end. The mouthpiece is ?decorated with two rings, but the tip could be beak-shaped (not clear). There is no window. The siren's cheeks seem neither puffed out nor relaxed, and is consistent with playing a recorder. Four fingers of both hands are on the instrument, left hand uppermost, yet three holes are visible between the two hands, and three, in line (taking account of the crack in the wood between two lower holes) below the right hand, i.e. six holes visible altogether between and below the fingers. Apollodurus (Epitome 7: 18-19) says that the three sirens played flute and lyre and one sang. This suggests that the siren in this misericord is playing a duct-flute.
The peculiar beak of the recorder depicted here is somewhat reminiscent of that of the Göttingen and Esslingen recorders, two of the three surviving medieval recorders.
Book of Hours: Nativity, (1380–1400) Oxford: Bodleian Library, Ms. Laud Misc.188, f.35r. Ref. Boase (1954: 10 & pl. 21a); Rowland-Jones (2006: 4-5 & fig. 3 - col.) Joseph points out to the Virgin (with Child, and ox and ass beneath) two angels, in the border of an initial, who are serenading them with the music of two pipes. Boase called this 'a pretty and most unusual fancy'. The nearer instrument is of tenor size, the other alto. The tenor seems to be beaked, and is cylindrical, quite slender, and with a slight bell flare. The alto has a wider body with decorative rings near the bell-end. The relaxed playing position for the tenor is very suggestive of recorder playing, but the placing of the hands is harder to make out with the alto – the image is too small, however, for any certain identification (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)
Angel Playing a Wind Instrument, detail from the crozier of William of Wykeham (ca 1320-1404), silver gilt & champleve enamel, total height 206 cm English. Oxford: New College, Chapel. Ref. Bridgeman Art Library, NCO 205111 (2003 - col.); Montague (2002: fig. 11a-b); CD cover: Evensong at New College Oxford (2004 - col.) The crozier is richly decorated with a number of framed images, including musicians playing various musical instruments. In one, a seated man plays a clyindrical pipe with a a slightly flared bell, possibly a duct-flute. In another a man plays a similar instrument. These are referred to by Montague as 'Peter 5' and 'Peter 8'. Montagu writes, "There is a trace of what might be a mouth; if so, it indicates that this is a duct-flute. I believe that this may be one of the first representations of a recorder" – he suggests the date as 1367 when William of Wykeham was consecrated as Bishop of Winchester.32 He continues, however, "One can seldom be certain …." He conjectures, but with even more uncertainty, that 'Peter 8' (fig.11b) might depict a shawm, but the outline of thickening at the bell-end, to protect against cracking and perhaps to facilitate bore reaming, could just possibly suggest that this is another recorder; some instruments are repeated on the crozier and, with its symbolism of the cult of the Virgin Mary, all the instruments except for some light percussion are bas rather than haut. But neither 'Peter 5' nor 'Peter 8' shows a clear window/labium, and the lower hand in each case is too high up the instrument for recorder playing.
Bust of a Piper (14-15th century), red, dark green-glazed pottery, English. Cambridge: Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Inv. Z 15378. Ref. Rackham (1972: 10, 19 & pl. 15 - b&w); Charles Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2007). An object of uncertain purpose with a horizontal opening right through it. A pot in the form of a man playing a narrowly conical duct-flute, possibly a recorder. The beak and window/labium of the instrument are clearly depicted, and all the player's fingers seem to be in use. There is a single hole open right near the bell.

Flemish

From Augustine: De civitate Dei (French): Coronation of the Virgin, ? Flemish. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale 9006, fol. 293. Ref. Hottois (1982); Rowland-Jones (pers. comm, 2001; 2006: 6). Around the coronation scene, nine angel musicians of which two, at the top left and at the centre, are playing wind instruments not identified by Hottois (loc. cit.) Both play with their right hand lowermost. The alto-sized instrument on the left, however, may be a recorder as it appears to have paired little finger-holes and a slightly flared bell, and possibly a window/labium, though the latter is very indistinct. The instrument of the right is of soprano/alto size.
Untitled (14th century), Flemish. Brussels: Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België / Bibiothèque Royale de Belgique, MS Folio 39. Ref. Wright (1977, fig.); The Citole Project (2001); Rowland-Jones (2006: 9 & fig. 7 -b&w). Beneath a drawing of a citole with a holly-leafed shaped body ending in a trefoil are simple drawings of two duct-flutes, marked 'fistuli floyt'. That on the left (possibly a recorder) has a clearly depicted window/labium and seven finger-holes more or less clearly marked, although the upper two are somewhat apart from and fainter than the lower ones, and the curve on the beak is cut the wrong way around. That on the right (probably a tabor pipe) has a clearly depicted window/labium, three finger-holes on the upper surface, a thumbhole beneath, and a correctly configured beak.
From Augustine: De civitate Dei (French), adapted by Raoul de Presles (ca 1390), Flemish. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale 9294, fol. 38r (9 × 8.5 cm), ex Saint Laurence Abbey, Liège. Ref. Hottois (1982: pl. 37, cat. no. 78); Rowland-Jones (2006: 5-6). Five musicans play for 12 listening bearded Romans. From left to right the first musician plays a fiddle, the second a rebec, the third a duct-flute (the window of which can be discerned), the fourth a shawm, and the fifth the bagpipes.
Musician with a Flageolet (14th century), stone sculpture, 18.5 × 14 × 21 cm, Flemish. Nivelles: Musée Communal. Ref. Institute Royal du Patrimonie Artistique / Koninklijk Instituut voor hef Kunstpatrimonium (IRPA/KIK), Brussels (2007). A musican plays a pipe with a flared bell. It could represent a shawm or duct-flute, even a recorder.

French

Daniel slaying the Dragon (14th century), stained glass (French). Mulhouse (Alsace): St Stephen's Church. Ref. Grodecki, L. (1948). The devil is holding up one of a number of bottles, perhaps to collect the dragon's blood. In his right hand he holds what could be a pipe of some kind, possibly a duct-flute – or is it simply a drinking straw?
Sirens, painting in the former tower in the bishopric of Beauvais, French. Ref. Unknown, Fig. 10 (b&w sketch). Five sirens play musical instruments, namely bagpipe, pipe and frame drum, elongate triangular lute or monochord, vielle, and a slender slightly conical pipe.
[Rustic scene] from the Bucoliques of Virgil (1300), miniature, French. Lyons. Bibliothèque de l'Académie, MS 27. Ref. Ref. ?Fasquelle (1958, 2); Angelo Zaniol ex Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). Three shepherds amuse themselves in a meadow. One plays the bagpipes, another a duct-flute (flageolet or recorder). A third, leaning on his staff, may be singing. A cow wanders about in the background.
Angel Musicians (late 14th century), frescoes, French. Lavardin (Loir et Cher, near Vendôme): Church of St Genest, murals on south chancel wall above scenes form the Passion. Ref. Postcard: Compier Imprimeur Macon Cimy (col.) A choir of angel musicians of which seven are clear enough to distinguish the instruments, namely a harp, double flute of considerable length with a wide bell flare, psaltery, bagpipe, triangle and a possible recorder. The window/labium of the latter is quite clear; the upper right hand is just taken off the instrument; the lower left hand has all four fingers on and partly across the instrument. The instrument is cylindrical but its bell end is blurred. It is just possible that this could represent a second double flute. The attitude of the angels suggests late 14th or early 15th century, due to the curved stance. There is a trapezoid fiddle and a lute on the north side of the chancel. Notes from Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000).
Grandes Chroniques de France, Paris (1338-1380-1461): Festin à l'occasion de l'institution de l'Ordre de l'Etoile, 17.5 × 14.5 cm; 9 × 14.5 cm, French. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, FR 2813, fol. 394. Ref. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris: Le roi Charles V et son temps (1338-1380), 1000 enluminures du Département des Manuscrits (2002 - col.) At a long table, four kings each wearing a huge star-shaped medal are served food and drink to an accompaniment provided by a bagpiper and a piper. The latter's instrument is short with a flared bell and may represent a duct-flute rather than a shawm.
Histoire de la Bible [Story of the Bible]: Samuel Speaks to David (1390-1400), manuscript, 35.5 × 26 cm, French. New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, M.526, fol. 19v. Ref. Ford & Green (1988: #196); Rowland-Jones (2006: 7 & fig. 6-b&w). "Upper: Samuel, tapping his right index finger on his left palm, speaks to David, who carries a recorder, a harp and a hurdy-gurdy. Lower: David, seated, plays the harp before Saul" (Ford 1988, loc cit.) The window/labium and six finger-holes of the recorder are clearly depicted, and a hole for the second finger of the uppermost hand is obviously hidden beneath the owner's hand; it has a flared bell. This would be a perfect image of a recorder if it were known whether or not it has a thumb-hole. It could be a seven-holed 'intermediate' duct-flute, although the artist might have wanted as famous a musician as David to hold a fully developed chromatic recorder (with a thumb-hole).
Angel Musician (1390-1400), stained glass medalion, French. Evreux: Cathedral de Notre-Dame, Rosary Chapel in the north ambulatory, upper section of the left-hand lancet of the central bay, numbered 17. Ref. Rowland-Jones (2006a: 10 & fig. 9 - col.; 2006b: 15, front cover - col. & figs 1-2, b&w). Medallion of an angel-musician playing a duct-flute (probably a recorder). Within the period 1390-1398, 'royal windows', donated by Charles VI and Pierre de Navarre, were being installed in the choir. They were made in a Parisian workshop where the draughtsmanship was influenced by the book-illumination workshop founded by Jean Pucelle, famed for his Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux, wife of a former King of France, Charles IV. Stylistic comparison also suggests that the Rosary windows came from the same royal source. Both in Evreux and Bourges the presence of possible recorders could therefore be associated with music-making in royal courts. The Rosary windows, especially the angel-musician medallions, were restored in a sort of pre-Raphaelite style in 1893 by E. Didron. He replaced about half the medallions with single, unleaded panes, but the colouring is paler and the style shows pre-Raphaelite influence. The angel depicted in this medallion seems to have escaped his zeal, as Didron would surely have given him back his missing right eye. It is noteworthy that the artist has shown the whole instrument on one piece of glass, and that, being an unfamiliar instrument, it is turned slightly towards the viewer. The angel's hands are moved up into a position to cover only one, or perhaps two, upper finger-holes. This clearly reveals two further finger-holes, and there are possibly four more further down, although unfortunately they are blurred and rather conjectural. The actual total number of finger-holes, obviously more than six, could have been a subject of uncertainty for the artist himself. Thus this is a probable, or even a likely recorder, especially as its dating is similar to the unambiguous contemporaneus Aragonese representations.
From the Casanatense Missal: Majestas (ca 1390-1408), illumination, French. Windsor Castle: Royal Collection, MS 25010, Folio 198v. Ref. Exhibited Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen: The Limburg Brothers: Nijmegen Masters at the French Court (1400-1416) (2005); Arnold den Teuling (pers. comm., 2005); Rowland-Jones (2006b: 16-17 & figs. 3-4 - b&w). One of two sheets separated from a missal with music, now in the Biblioteca Casanatense, Rome. The illustrator is thought to have been an unknown miniaturist from the Duchy of Guelders, of which Nijmegen was the capital. The missal originally belonged to Jean d'Armagnac, archbishop of Nemours and great-grandson of Jean, Duke of Berry. One of the Windsor sheets is a Majestas (Christ in mandorla enthroned with depictions of the four Evangelists) borded by 16 musical angels. The second angel down on the right plays what is almost certainly a recorder of soprano/alto size. The thumb of the uppermost (right) hand is outstretched beneath the instrument and the fingers are curled over with the wrists low to facilitate control of the thumb-hole. All fingers are down but, presumably deliberately, are shown bunched up in order to reveal the finger-holes nearest the foot of the instrument – of which two are clear, not in line – and possibly a third. If before 1400, this representation would be as significant as the Catalan and Evreux images but, after 1400, accurate depictions become more frequent.
Musicians (late 14th century), enamelled miniatures mounted on a pulpit or fountain (table centerpiece), silver gilt and translucent enamel, 31.1 × 24.1 cm, French. Cleveland: Museum of Art, 24.859. Ref. Ford (1991: #36); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2005; 2006: 12-13 & fig. 12 - b&w). Five of the eight minatures contain musical figures. In one of them a woman at the left plays a portative organ with a rank of eight protruding pipes, using her left hand for the melody and her right to pump the bellows (this instrument has also been identified as a psaltery). At the right an oldish man with a splendid beard plays an alto/tenor sized duct-flute (the window/labium clearly visible). Both players sit on decorated bench-chairs. The images gives the impression of upper-class domestic music-making. The man has all fingers and both hands down, except possibly the first of the lower (right) hand. the instrument is outwardly conical, with some bell flare. The bore opening is wider than the mouthpiece at the player's lips. The hands are shown too sideways-on for the upper thumb to reach a thumb-hole under the instrument, but this may be an effect of the medium. This image gives the impression of informal upper-class domestic music-making.
Diptych: Annunciation, Nativity, Flagellation, Crucifixion (14th century), ivory, French (Paris). Paris: Louvre (Richelieu Wing), Inv. OA 104. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2004). "The Nativity scene is still slightly Byzantine in its iconography. The piece is small, but the detailing superb. One of the shepherds has a short cylindrical object held vertically in his right hand. I don't think it is a shepherd's staff with a piece broken off. If it is a pipe, it would be alto size." Notes from Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.)
Tomb (14th century), carved stone, French. Avignon: Palais des Papes, Chapel. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2007). A tomb apparently brought from the magnificent monastery church of Chaise-Die in the Auvergne. The occupant is one Renaud de Monclare. The stone carving is exquisite. Within a wide arch across the tomb, and well frontward, is an open-work screen which incorporates medallions, each with an angel instrumentalist. One of the ten is too damaged to identify, but others play bagpipes, lute, tambourine, cornett, portative organ, vielle, psaltery played with a plectrum, and a tabor with a beater. The second down at upper right holds a beaked duct-flute with a long window/labium. It is of alto/tenor size, cylindrical with a wide bore. Unfortunately, no finger-holes are visible. It could be a flageolet or recorder.

German

Flute-playing Demon (1376/1400), stone-carved corbel, German. Erfurt: Cathedral. Ref. Bildarchiv Foto Marburg (2002: DISKUS-Objekt-Dokument 20224491 – b&w). At the base of a corbel supporting three pillars, a demon with outstretched wings plays a vertical cylindrical pipe with a flared bell, possibly a recorder.
Mythical Beast with a Pipe (14th century), woodcarved choir stall. Cologne: Cathedral. Ref. Archiv Moeck. A mythical beast plays a pipe, probably a six-holed duct-flute but possibly a recorder.

Greek

The Birth of Christ (14th century), mural, Anonymous, Greek. Mystras (medieval city, near Sparta): Monastery of the Peribleptos, South aisle. Ref. Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000; 2006: 13). All murals in Mystras were restored in the 1950s and again in the 1980s. A shepherd plays a flared-bell pipe which appears to have two offset holes for the lowermost little finger, although there is no sign of a window/labium. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000).

There is a striking resemblance between this shepherd, one dated 1430 from the Monastery of the Pantanessa, Mystras, and a late 16th-century one from Mt Athos (see below).

Italian

Bible of Niccolò de Montenaro, Canon of Padua: David with Musicians (ca 1300), Italian (Padua). New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, M.436, fol. 134. Ref. Ford (1988: #277); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pes. comm., 2001). Illumination of initial E, Psalm 80). "David plays a psaltery (quasitrapezoidal; incurved sides); one of his musicians plays a pair of cymbals(?); another plays a short wind instrument and a gong(?)" (Ford, loc. cit.) The wind instrument could represent a duct-flute. The black mark near the mouth seems larger and more oblong than the others representing finger-holes and thus could be a window/labium (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)
Virgin and Child (ca 1330), from Galeata (a commune in the Province of Forli). Forli: Civic Museum. Ref. Brown (1988: #633). In the style of Giotto. According to Brown (loc. cit.) two angels play shawm or recorder. But the instrument in question is clasped rather than fingered, and nearly half of it is below the lower (right) hand; there is little or no bell flare. Thus a small shawm seems probable (Rowland-Jones, pers. comm.)
Assumption of the Virgin (ca 1340), wood panel, 72.5 × 32.5 cm, by an anonymous Siennese artist at Avignon, previously attributed to Lippo Memmi (fl. 1317-1357). Munich: Alte Pinakothek. Ref. Munich: Alte Pinakothek, Inv. WAF 671. Ref. Os (1969); Brown (1995: 2, fig. 1); Rowland-Jones (1996a: pl. 1). There are striking similarities between this painting and a number of other Sienese paintings with circles of musical angels, including the Master of the Ovile Madonna's Assumption at Siena (1365), and another Anonymous Sienese Assumption in Berlin (dated early 15th or perhaps late 14th century).

The Virgin ascends to Heaven on a cloud surrounded by angel musicians singing and playing straight trumpets, pipe and tabor, nakers, lute, double pipe, fiddle, organetto, shawm, and an ambiguous pipe which may be a flageolet or a recorder (no finger-holes are visible).
Thirty Bible Episodes: Coronation of the Virgin (mid-14th century), tempera on wood, Venetian. Verona: Castelvecchio Museum. Ref. St Giorgio (exhibition of recently restored paintings from Venice and region); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). Christ and the Virgin are seated side by side with two angels on each side, one on each side playing an instrument. The angel on the left plays a psaltery; that on the right a slender cylindrical pipe of soprano/alto size (probably a duct-flute as the cheeks and lips seem relaxed), the left hand lowermost, no finger-holes visible.
Tacuinum Sanitatis, Fol. 71r: Castrated Animals (late 14th century), illumination on vellum, Italian School. Vienna: Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek. Ref. Bridgeman Art Library (2003: Image ALI 142970 - col.) Surrounded by their presumably castrated animals (a bullock, goats, sheep, hogs), two shepherds sit on a wall, one playing a pipe with a conspicuously flared bell. However, there is a hint of a window/labium, and the lowermost finger-hole is visible and clearly offset, suggesting that this might be a recorder, though it might just as well represent a shawm. Tacuinum Sanitatis is the modern title given to one of the most popular treatises on medicine during the later Middle Ages. It combines Arabic and western knowledge on many types of foods, plants, and circumstances, with particular reference to their useful and harmful properties, and how the latter could be cured if necessary. The illustrated versions of this text, of which two are presented here, yield much information on medieval daily life.

Spanish

Stone carving (ca 1350), Spanish. Betanzos (near La Coruña, Galicia): Church of Santa Maria del Azogue (St Mary of the Market Place), projecting central bay of the west front portal. Ref. Centre for Music Documentation (CMD), Madrid (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). An angel plays a very fat pipe of some sort, but not enough detail to identify; no window/labium or finger-holes. The instrument is very wide at the lips of the player and so fat that his hands each only get half-way around, just reaching where the holes would be. This carving is in Romanesque style, which persisted in remoter parts of Spain into the 14th century.
Chain Portal: Angel Musician (? late 14th century), stone carving, Spanish. Orihuela (Murcia): El Salvador Cathedral, South Portal. Ref.Centre for Music Documentation (CMD), Madrid (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). "From the finial of the central ogee arch an angel plays a wide alto/tenor size duct-flute with relaxed lips and, despite some wear, a clear window/labium. The player's left hand is uppermost, with all fingers on (but this angel has only three fingers). Also, all fingers of the right hand are down with the little finger at the side possibly covering a hole. There is a medium bell flare showing wide expansion of bore" (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.) Other angel musicians play rebec, psaltery, fiddle, etc. No archival documentation which might provide a more exact dating is extant for that period, when the region was much disturbed by warfare.

Provenance unknown

[Title Unknown], ?14th century, woodcut. Ref. Girolamo Frescobaldi (ed. Colin Stern), Canzona for soprano or tenor recorder & basso continuo, American Recorder Society/Galliard, London (front cover). Seated under trees, two shepherds face each other. The shepherd on the left holds a crook in his left hand and a flared bell recorder in his right. His companion points with his right finger and holds a similar recorder in his left hand. Both instruments have paired holes for the lowermost finger clearly shown. This may be mock medieval, of course.

15th Century

Croatian

Coronation of the Virgin (after 1431), Croatian. Beram: Church of St Martin. Ref. Archiv Moeck, from a book on Croatian art (1972); Paris RIdIM (1999 - detail). The Late gothic church of St Martin was built in 1531. This church was decorated with frescoes that have been preserved in the eastern part of the new parish church (built at the beginning of the 20th century since the old church was incorporated within the new monumental building). Angel musicians sing and play instruments including a lute, a triangle, a pipe & tabor, and two pipes. Of the latter, one is long, slender, cylindrical and has a slightly flared-bell; there is the hint of a window/labium, and although only three fingers of the lower (left) hand seem to be covering their holes, the little finger is not visible. The other pipe is of similar length, but is wider and has a much greater flare to the bell; there are quite enough fingers and holes for this to be a recorder, though a shawm remains a possibility.
Missal of Georgii de Topusko: Flute Player (late 15th century), marginal illustration, Croatian. Zagreb: Cathedral, Treasury, ms. 354, fol. IX. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999). A man in tights and wide-sleeved jerkin plays an ambiguous pipe which might be a transverse or duct-flute. His upper (right) hand seems to be covering at least three holes; his left hand is held above the upper one; four open finger-holes are clearly visible below. Thus the evidence points to the recorder as a possibility.

Cypriot

The Birth of Christ (1105-1500), fresco, Cypriot. Asinou (Cyprus): Church of Panagia Phorbiotissa of Asinou, ceiling. Ref. Postcard A106: C. Tasaloufo Court Ltd, Cyprus (1999); Rowland-Jones (2006: 13); Postage Stamp, Cyprus (Christmas 1996). The famous Byzantine church in Asinou, part of UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage List, is located just three miles to the south of the village of Nikitari in the Troodos Mountain range. It is home to perhaps the finest examples of Byzantine mural painting on the island. The church was probably constructed some time between the year 1099 and 1105, possibly as a family chapel for Nicephoros Magistros (who later died here in 1115). The wall and ceiling murals inside range from the 12th century through the 17th century. Fortunately, two-thirds of the original decoration of the church of the 1100's survives today. One of four panels depicting the life of Christ, shows the Nativity in which a shepherd sits aside playing a somewhat conical, beaked duct-flute with a window/labium and six or seven finger-holes.
Nativity (? 14th century), fresco wall panel, Cypriot. Solea district (Cyprus): Ayios Nikolaos tis Stegis Church, near Kakopetria. Ref. Website: Byzantine Art in Cyprus (accessed 2008). The virgin, nursing the Holy Child, is visited by the Three Kings. Behind her are six Saints. In front of her sits Joseph and a shepherd with a bagpipe. Beside her a shepherd sits playing a flared bell pipe, possibly a duct-flute. The church of Ayios Nikolaos tis Stegis (St Nicholas of the Roof) stands about 5 km above the village of Kakopetria in the Troodos Mountain range and once belonged to a monastery. It is completely painted with murals dating from the 11th to the 17th century and is considered one of the most interesting Byzantine churches on the island. It gets its name from the steep pitched wooden roof which was built to protect it from the weather.

Danish

Maria Lactans Praised by Angel Musicians (ca 1475), Danish. Detail. Brunnby (Denmark): Brunnby Kyrka. Ref. Møller (1996: 55, pl.-col.); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). This simply illustrated painting includes a cylindrical, soprano-sized recorder with a rough windway/labium and some of the seven finger-holes visible. It is played right hand uppermost with four fingers on or near their holes. Three fingers/finger-holes of the left hand are shown before the rest of the instrument is occluded, including the bell.

English

[Piper] (ca 1400), stone carving, English. Elkstone (Gloucestershire): Elkstone Parish Church, tower. Ref. Recorder & Music 9 (6): front cover - monochrome (1980). A piper plays what has been said to be a 'recorder' but appears to be a double-bore reed instrument with two rows of finger-holes, a pirouette, decorative turnings and flared bell.
Panel (1390-1404), wall painting, English. London: Westminster Abbey, Chapter House. Ref. Montagu (1988); Rowland-Jones (1999c: 33; 2006: 13). This damaged panel shows the lower part of a cylindrical pipe which Montagu suggests may be a recorder.
Angel Musician (ca 1415), England. King's Lynn: St Nicholas, carved wooden roof beams. Ref. Montagu & Montagu (1998: 8-13, b&w); Rowland-Jones (1999c: 33, fig. 7 - b&w). The chapel of St Nicholas, in existence since the mid-12th century, was dependent on the parish church of St Margaret's. An early Gothic chapel was built shortly after 1200. Most of the current church's construction dates from 1421-1423 (chancel/choir) through the late 15th century (south porch).

The roof beams "are (obviously!) high up and the photographs lack clarity. Plate 12 (South 9 roof-beam) shows a tenor recorder played left-handed, 2 finger-holes visible above the right [uppermost] hand and 2 between the hands …ca 1415.' The photograph is rather small so one of the upper holes is hard to see …it is very clear that the angels have been 'touched up' in restorations. In Georgian times there was a gallery round the church, taken down in the Victorian period when, I think, some restoration of the roof carvings was carried out. The instrument's window and labium area is too sharply defined to be original and the mouthpiece is curious; both features to me lack conviction though I have no reason to suspect that the instrument was not originally a recorder." Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. com, 1999).
The Angel and the Shepherds of Bethlehem (ca 1430), woodcarving, ca 62 cm high, English. Exeter Cathedral (Devon): Lady Chapel, NW corner. Ref. Friends of Exeter Cathedral (1946: 10-11 - b&w); Recorder & Music Magazine 2(11): cover - b&w (1968); Poston (1979: cover - col.); Crispin (1968: 359); Hunt (1977: 10); Montagu & Montagu (1998 - pl. 108 - b&w); Rowland-Jones (1999c-b&w). Shows shepherds and angels at the Nativity with one of the shepherds holding a large cylindrical duct-flute which surely must be a recorder, given the offset postion of the lowest finger-hole. Variously dated as 14th-century (Hunt, loc. cit.; Crispin loc. cit., Poston, loc. cit.), and ca 1420 (Friends, loc. cit.) Purchased in a London shop but said to have been part of the stalls removed early in the 19th century (Friends, loc. cit.), but has also been thought be of Flemish origin (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)
Coronation of the Virgin (early 15th century), alabaster relief, 41 × 29 cm, English. Bruges: Museum, Inv. 306. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999). On either side the seated Virgin, sit God the Father (who appears to be bellowing at her) and Christ (who has lost his head). At her feet are two angel musicians playing bagpipe and a more or less cylindrical pipe, possibly a recorder (the mouthpiece and other details are not quite clear enough to be sure).
Grotesque (1447), carved misericord, English. Ludlow: St Laurence's Church, north side, second from the West. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2004). A grotesque, probably a devil, plays a pipe. Unfortunately his right forearm with the whole of the upper section of the instrument is brokwn off, leaving only the mouthpice tip between his relaxed lips. The lower part of the body of the recorder is completely clutched by his left hand, below which can be seen a small portion of the body of the instrument, showing it is very slightly conical but widens a bit towards the bell end. This, however, is completely visible between the players legs, indicating the instrument was probably of tenor size. There is a fairly abrupt bell flare with three incised drings close together before the final widening of the bell. No finger-holes are visible. This may have been a recorder.
[Piper] (ca 1450), stone carving, English. Weston-on-Avon (UK): All Saint's Church, SE aspect of the tower. Ref. Recorder & Music 5(5): front cover, monochrome (1976). The bust of a man in a cloak blowing a pipe which has been considered a recorder. However, no window/labium is visible, indeed there is what appears to be the pirouette of a shawm. A hole at the bell-end is also reminiscent of the shawm rather than a recorder.
Shepherd playing a recorder, carved corbel, (ca 1451), English. Stamford: St John the Baptist church, nave wall. Ref. Montagu & Montagu (1998: pl. 106 - b&w). Shows a 'duct-flute with a very clear mouth' (Montagu & Montagu, loc. cit.) Another corbel supporting the nave wall posts shows a double 'pair of similar duct-flutes' (Montagu & Montagu, loc. cit.) "The first (pl. 106) is not a sharp picture, but adequate. The player, probably a shepherd, has the end of the instrument in his mouth; the window labium is (to me!) convincing , so perhaps this one has not been restored. The player has a staff in his left hand, and the right holds the lower body of the instrument allowing three upper holes to be seen, and one, perhaps slightly offset, below his hand. The instrument is of alto size." Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm. 1999).
Durham Cathedral Muniments, Magnum Reertorium fol. 43. v.: Illuminated initial 'P': Archdeacon of Durham Cathedral (ca 1463), English. Durham: University Library, Archives & Special Collections. Ref. Alan Piper to Anthony Rowland-Jones (2002, pers. comm.) The Magnum Repertorium is an inventory of the principal charters of Durham Cathedral Priory, compliled ca 1463, and the detail in the initial to the section concerning the achdeaconry of Northumberland. It depicts the archdeacon and, as the monks of Durham did not generally enjoy good relations with the holders of this office, it is likely that portraying him playing a pipe was intentionally unflattering" (Piper, loc. cit.) The Archdeacon plays one-handed a small, flared-bell duct-flute, probably a recorder although only five finger-holes are visible.
Coat of Arms of Margaret Vernon, wife of Sir William Vernon (d. 1467), stone inlaid with brass. Tong (Shropshire): Church of St Bartholomew the Apostle. Ref. Collection Walter Bergmann (rubbing in red crayon, ex Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm. 2006); Hunter (1966: 18). Coat of arms inlaid with brass showing a shield containing two recorders, an allusion to the Pype family. "The recorders are placed with mouthpieces pointing towards the upper left and right corners of shield, almost meeting at its lowest point. Around the recorders are seven small crosses of the type known in heraldry as 'crosses crosslet'. At the lower end of the brass is shown another shield with the coats of arms of husband and wife together 'marshalled': the coat of arms showing recorders appears here as the right half of the shield, indicating that it was the coat of arms of the wife, Margaret" (Hunter, loc. cit.) Hunter also notes "... one would have hoped to discover a family that was famous for the quality of the recorder playing of its members but, instead, one finds nothing more than the allusive association of Pype and the form of the instrument." And yet the recorders shown in the rubbings are really most interesting in themselves. They are in one piece with beak and window area decorated with incised rings highly reminiscent of the Dordrecht recorder, but with slightly flared bells; and the paired holes for the lowermost finger are clearly depicted on both instruments. Indeed, these depictions give every indication that their creator had a first-hand aquaintance with the recorder of the time.
Coat of Arms of the Vernon Family, stone arch. Bakewell (Derbyshire): Haddon Hall, doorway in the Curtain Wall. Ref. Walter Bergmann Collection (ex Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers comm., 2006: print b&w; slide - col.); Hunter (1966: 18). A shield showing pairs of recorders forming a chevron, with mouthpieces close together, an allusion to the Pype family.
Coat of Arms of the Vernon Family, frieze panel. Bakewell (Derbyshire): Haddon Hall, Dining Room. Ref. Hunter (1966: 18). Coat of arms including a pair of recorders.
Angel Musician (ca 1460), wood carving. Manchester: Cathedral, nave, decorating one of the wooden support corbels for the roof, between the springers for the window arches. Ref. Hunt (1977: 9); Paris RIdIM (1999); Anthony Rowland-Jones (2003, pers. comm.); Website: Visitor Centre, Manchester Cathedral (2005 - col.) The six angel musicians on each side have recently been restored and guilded (1950). German bombing (1940) and the IRA explosion (1996) have not affected the carvings on the North side. Those on the South side play mainly string instruments; the six on the North side all play wind instruments, namely portative organ, shawm, bagpipes with arm bellows and a single chanter, Irish-style bagpipes with a chanter and one drone, trumpet and (at the West Tower, end) a recorder. The recorder is of tenor size, cylindrical except for a very slight bell flare. The player has relaxed cheeks and plays left-hand lowermost in a good recorder-playing position, all fingers down. Although all the Cathedral records have been lost, there is a belief that Margaret Beaufort (wife of the Duke of Buckingham) paid for the angel carvings ca 1460.
[Untitled] (15th century), stone carving. Beverley: St Mary's Church. Ref. Galpin 1910: 197); Hunt (1977: 9); Montagu (1998: 97-98). Quite a number of the many musician carvings in St Mary's and in Beverley Minster have been badly restored. None can be securely said to represent a recorder (Rowland-Jones, pers. comm.)

Flemish

Angel-musicians (1408/9), unrestored stained glass. Bourges Cathedral Chapel, St Solange (bay 26, south ambulatory, lateral chapel), in small flamboyant upper tracery openings. Ref. Rowland-Jones (pers com.; 2006: 9). Shows clearly an angel playing a duct-flute (possibly intended to be a recorder) with nine or ten holes visible, next to the arms of Alexander V, Pope (from Berry) only during 1408/9 (Rowland-Jones 1999c: 33, fig. 6-b&w). After the accession in 1392 of Jean, Duke of Berry, brother of the King of France, Bourges became one of the foremost cultural centres in Europe.
[Untitled] (before 1430), stone carvings. Aachen Cathedral: apse (recently restored). 14 carvings, roughly life-sized, of angel musicians, only a few feet from the ground and very easily seen. The instruments include harp, fiddle, rebec, lute, symphony, drums, double pipe and a single soprano-sized pipe (possibly a duct-flute, window not clear). The latter is cylindrical, except for marked flange at the bell end, and it is played with the right hand lower; all fingers are shown down, including the right-hand little finger, presumably covering holes, with the thumb under in correct position for a recorder (Rowland-Jones, pers. comm.)
Tritypch: centre panel (ca 1450). Antwerp. Ref. Archiv Moeck. The Holy Family is serenaded by musicians who sing and play lutes and a small duct-flute (possibly a recorder).
From a Book of Hours: Annunciation to the Shepherds (ca 1440), Flemish (probably from Ghent or Bruges). Brussels: Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België / Bibiothèque Royale de Belgique, Cat. No. 100 MS 9798 f.61v). Ref. Hottois (1982: pl. 62). Three shepherds are shown, one playing a Dordrecht-style duct-flute (four finger-holes and the window/labium of which are visible) to some indifferent sheep. His left (upper) hand covers the remaining holes, except possibly the first. His right hand is across the open end of the instrument, his first finger and thumb on each side of the turned bead suggesting that this technique is for end-stopping the bell (doubtless to bring one of the second-octave notes into tune). One of his companions has a small cylindrical duct-flute (with two finger-holes above and two below) stuffed in his belt.
Breviary from the Library of Philip the Good: Jesse Tree (ca 1455), Flemish. Brussels: Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België / Bibiothèque Royale de Belgique 9511, fol. 15r (13.5 × 13.5 cm). Ref. Hottois (1982: pl. 40, cat. no. 78). Twelve music-making kings, including one on the right with a double recorder and one with a pipe and tabor, the pipe, however, has too many holes for one hand and looks much more like a Dordrecht-style recorder.
From Christine de Pisan: L'Epître d'Othéa, edited by Jan Miélot (after 1460, Lille), Flemish. Brussels: Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België / Bibiothèque Royale de Belgique 9392, fol. 29v (11.5 × 14.5 cm). Ref. Hottois (1982: pl. 36, cat. no. 199). King Midas gets donkey's ears by making a false judgement between Phoebus Apollo playing a harp and Pan, playing a recorder with a clear window/labium all fingers of the lowermost (right) hand covering their holes, and a flared and decorated bell. In the text, the latter is called frestel and flaiol, and the harp is called a lyre. Curiously, both Apollo and Pan are winged. This is a later edition of the original in the British Library listed below (French, ca 1410). It is possibly from the library of Philippe the Good, Duke of Burgundy, Count of Flanders, Holland, Zeeland and Hainaut, who had a residence in Brussels.
Mercury and Argus, from L'Epître d'Othéa, edited by Jan Miélot (after 1460, Lille), Flemish. Brussels: Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België / Bibiothèque Royale de Belgique, 9392, f. 33v. Ref. Boragno (1998: 13 - b&w); Warburg Institute (2000). Within a wickerwork enclosure, Mercury enchants Argus (with his many eyes) by playing a flared-bell duct-flute (the beak, window/labium and several finger-holes are clearly visible), a scimitar at his side. Between them Io (as a heifer) looks innocently up at Mercury. To the right Mercury is seen beheading Argus who lies before him on the ground. An angel flies incongruously above, and in the background are the turrets of a castle.
Emperor Maximilian Playing Chess (ca 1480), tapestry, Flemish (Tournai). Riggisberg: Abegg-Stiftung Bern Austrellung. Ref. Besseler (1931/?1949: 210); Archiv für Musikwissenschaft 16 (1959: fig. 2, opposite p. 32 - detail); Bowles (1983: 141); Rasmussen (1999b). The Emperor Maximilian and Empress Marie of Burgundy play chess while their courtiers play instruments and sing. Bowles (loc. cit.) identifies the instruments as 'harp, lute, recorder and small fiddle'. The 'recorder' certainly is a duct-flute which could be a one-handed pipe (Rowland-Jones, pers. comm.)
Book of Hours: May (ca 1480), Flemish. London: British Library, Ms Add. 54782, fol. 54. Ref. Basler Jahrbuch für historische Musikpraxis 8 (1984: 37); Rasmussen (1999b). Bas-de-page. In a boat a woman plays a lute and a man plays a recorder.
Book of Hours (fragment): Angel Musicians (ca 1480), Flemish. New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, M.959, folio 6. Ref. Ford (1988: #828). "Six angels play a wind instrument (probably a recorder), a psaltery, a frame harp (about nine strings), a lute (with a plectrum), a straight trumpet, and a wind instrument (probably a shawm)" (Ford, loc. cit.) Not seen.
Coronation of the Virgin, from the Breviary of Queen Isabella of Castile (late 1480s), Flemish. London: British Library, Add. Ms 18851, fol. 437. Ref. Brussels MRBA Bulletin 9 (1960: 90); Revue du Louvre 17 (1967: 350); Kren (1983: 42); Rasmussen (1999b). "Angels play fiddle, harp, lute and woodwind (recorder?)" (Rasmussen, loc. cit.)
Mercury and Argus, from Ovide Moralisé (1484), woodcut, Flemish (Bruges). Ref. Rowland-Jones (2000c: fig. 4). Mercury, in winged helmet and winged sandals and holding an elaborate caduceus in his right hand, plays a Virdung-style flared-bell recorder in his left hand. The labium/windway and six finger-holes of the recorder are clearly depicted with a seventh covered by his index finger. Before him, Argus sits drowsily. A cock (symbol of watchfulness) at Mercury's feet struts triumphantly.
Madonna and Child (1490-1500), Flemish. Munich: Pinakothek. Ref. flautotraverso.it To the right of the Virgin and Christ-child three angel-musicans sing and play organ and a tenor-sized cylindrical pipe, probably a recorder.
Tubal-inventor-Musicae, from Description des festivités organisées en l'honneur du mariage de Philippe le Beau et Jeanne de Castille (1496), Flemish. Berlin: Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz [State Museum of Prussian Art], Ms 78 D5, fol.59. Ref. Bowles (1983: pl. 128); Rasmussen (1999b). A tableau-vivant. A woman plays a lute and a man plays a recorder. At least three sing.
St. Luke Painting the Virgin and Child, from Description des festivités organisées en l'honneur du mariage de Philippe le Beau et Jeanne de Castille (1496), Flemish. Berlin: Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz [State Museum of Prussian Art], Ms 78 D5, fol.59. Ref. Bowles (1977: 137); Rasmussen (1999b). "A tableau-vivant. Civic (?) musicians represent angels playing small house orgen, lute and recorder." Rasmussen (loc. cit.)
Musical Angel (early 15th century), carved stone tomb, French. Chaise-Dieu (Pays d'Auvergne): Église St-Nectaire. Ref. Arnold den Teuting (ex Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm., 2006). The tomb has an arch with 10-12 musical angels. One resembles the Thann angel, but no markings on the instrument are visble, other than a possible window/labium which could be the result of wear or damage. This may be a recorder, but more information is required.
King with a Recorder (mid-15th century), Flemish. From the brass tomb plate of the Bishop of Büow. Schwerin: Cathedral. Ref. Wiese (1988: fig. 27 - b&w); Archiv. Moeck. A king plays a cylindrical duct-flute (probably recorder).
Nativity, (15th century), Flemish. Brussels: Galerie Arents. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm. There is another version (or a copy) of this in the Collection of Fernand Stuyck, Antwerp. Mary prays and Joseph holds out his hand to the Christ Child as a cow looks on, eyes wide. Angels kneel on either side, and two angel musicians play lute and a cylindrical recorder. Not seen.
Backgammon Board, decorated borders (15th century), Franco-Flemish. Florence: Bargello. Ref. Brown & Lascell (1972: 144-145). In one panel a woman and a man play harp and a conical pipe – 'shawm or recorder' (Brown & Lascell (loc. cit.)
Triptych, central panel: Nativity (15th century), 0.84 × 36 cm, Flemish. Ghent: Museum voor Schone Kunsten. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999). Mary prays before the Christ Child watched by two diminutive angels. Joseph holds what appears to be a musical pipe, perhaps given to him as a gift for his son. Other visitors look on from the side and through open windows behind. Two angels hover overhead. It is easy to imagine tht the top of the 'pipe' is beak-shaped and slightly rounded; there seems to be a window-labium area darker than the rest of the instrument; and one can just make out three finger-holes. However, close examination shows that this is far more likely to be a candle rather than a musical instrument!
Illumination (15th century), Flemish. Madrid: Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Library, Lat. Vit.-1, Apocalypse f.5v. Ref. Centre for Music Documentation (CMD), Madrid (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). "Two small duct-flutes lie on a table. They are identical, each with a clear beak, window/labium and four finger-holes. Although short and quite fat for their size they have a fair amount of bell flare and bore flare. There is one incised ring on each, just before the bell end. The finger-holes are spaced equally down the body of the instrument; as four finger-holes would not make a satisfactory flageolet unless there are two thumb holes underneath (and this seems too early for the French style flageolet) these may be attempts at recorder representations." (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)
Courtiers from Geldern (15th century), pen and brown wash, Flemish. Uppsala: Universitetsbibliotek, U.B.H.Ned.74 Ref. Postcard: Uppsala Universitetsbibliotek (2000); RIdIM Stockholm (2000); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000, 2001). This unfinished drawing could be interpreted as an attempt at wife-swapping! Whilst his lady is busily engaged in gossiping with another woman, a young man points with a small duct-flute (possibly a recorder) to another lady, whose sexual warmth is stimulated by her lap dog. Lapdogs were proscribed by the Church for this very reason. The mouthpiece of the instrument is rather indefinite, but the window/labium is clear and three upper finger-holes show above the owner's hand, one below and a further hole sightly higher, almost underneath the instrument (although this may be a mark on the paper). There is no bell flare. The young man's recorder indicates, as so often elsewhere, male sexual desire. Note the husband's disapproval, and the knowing look on the other lady's face! The drawing may have been an illustration to a novella. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.)
Mercury and Argus, from a work by Christine de Pisan (15th century), ? Flemish. Brussels: Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België / Bibiothèque Royale de Belgique. Ref. Warburg Institute, London (2000); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). Mercury sits king-like on a large throne, holding in his left hand, like a sceptre, a very prominent duct-flute. It is of alto size and shape, but only three finger-holes are visible towards the bottom end. Argus lies outstretched, dead on the ground before him. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000).
Shepherds Making Music (late 15th century), tapestery, Flemish. ?Munich: Location unknown. Ref. Postcard, Ackermanns Kunstverlag, Munich (1965 - col.); Walter Bergmann (ex Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm., 2003). Watched by a shepherd wearing gloves, his crook over his shoulder, two shepherds play fiddle and a duct-fluct respectively. The duct-flute is curved and expands continuously from beak to foot in the manner of a gemshorn; it is decidely rectangular in cross-section! All fingers of the players lowermost (right) hand are covering their holes.

French

Book of Hours: Grotesque (1408), illumination, French. Oxford: Bodleian Library, MS Douce 144, f.28v. The pipe shown in illus.2, from a Book of Hours in the Bodleian Library, dated 1408, does appear to be beaked, which suggests that it is a duct-flute, and it has a recorder’s full complement of seven finger-holes, counting the paired little-finger-holes (and the curious first finger-hole) as one. Above the latter, a little separated from the line of finger-holes, is another mark which could possibly stand for a window/labium, but it is wrongly shaped. And there is no way of knowing whether or not there is a thumb-hole underneath (Rowland-Jones, loc cit.)
Minstrels (14-15th century), stone capitals. Cérisy-la-forêt (Manche): Abbey (interior). Ref. Archiv Moeck; Christian Brassy (2000, pers. comm.); Bildarchiv Foto Marburg 160431; Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2006). The church itself is 11th-century Romanesque. Otherwise somewhat austere, it includes carvings of minstrels playing shawm and duct-flute very high up on a capital south of the sanctuary. Although rather fat, the latter is suggestive of a recorder, given the offset hole for the little finger of the lowermost (right) hand. Although the church has recently been cleaned the carvings seem not to have been tampered with and may therefore be taken as original.
Shepherd Musicians (? 15th century), fresco, French. Boussac (Creuse): Égise paroissiale Ste-Anne , on the South wall of the main chapel. Ref. Matte (2005 - col.) Two shepherds stand side by side. One plays a bagpipe; another has a cylindrical duct-flute stuck in his belt. The characteristic beak and window/labium are clearly depicted.
Jesse Tree (1410), from Guyart Desmoulins' Bible historiale, Paris. Brussels: Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België / Bibiothèque Royale de Belgique, MS 9002, f. 223. Ref. Hottois (1982: cat. 14, pl. 41); Page (1997: 349, fig. 8 - b&w); Rowland-Jones (2006: 6-7 & fig. 5a - b&w). A Jesse Tree, in which the Virgin and Child are surrounded by the Kings of Judah playing musical instruments including nakers, bagpipe, marine trumpet, fiddle, harp, organetto, rebec, psaltery, lutes and a duct-flute, probably a recorder. The latter is of tenor size, slightly outwardly conical in exterior outline, although the bore opening, which is visible, is quite small. The window/labium area is clearly shown, as are three finger-holes low down on the body of the instrument, under a badly placed lower (left) hand. The first finger of the upper hand appears to cover its hole, which is placed unusually low down the instrument, with the three other fingers poised. The fact that it is of tenor size gives some credence to its identification as a recorder; Hottois (loc. cit) describes this instrument as a cornet.
Jesse Tree (1411), from Thomas du Val's Bible historiale, in French. London: British Museum, Royal 19. D. iii f 458. Detail showing musicians. Detail showing what may be a recorder. Ref. Montagu (1976: 45, pl. VI); Rowland-Jones (2006: 7 & fig. 5b-b&w). The Virgin and Child are surrounded by kings playing musical instruments, amongst them an ambiguous pipe. The latter is outwardly conical and, although the hands are in a recorder-playing position, it is held upwards at an angle above horizontal. There is an incised decorative ring round the bell-end, a common decorative feature of early recorders, but no other details are apparent.
Petites Heures de Jean de Berry (1375-1416): A Dominican priest blesses a prince watched by Christ surrounded by angel musicians (1388), illumination, 9 × 7 cm, French. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, BNF, LAT 18014, fol. 8. Ref. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris: Le roi Charles V et son temps (1338-1380), 1000 enluminures du Département des Manuscrits (2002 - col.); Rowland-Jones (2006: 4). Twelve musical angels play pipe and tabor, bagpipe, organetto, nakers, lute, cymbals, vielle, psaltery, and two pipes. One, on the left hand side of the illumination, has a flared bell seems most likely to represent a shawm since it is amongst the loud instruments. The other, at the top right hand corner, is narrowly cylindrical and is more likely to be a duct-flute, possibly a recorder since it is amongst the soft instruments. One musical angel is hidden behind a copy of the Bible held by Christ.
Angel Musicians (ca 1390-1420), sandstone carving, French. Detail. Thann (near Mulhouse), France: Colliègiale St-Thiebaut, West Portal. Ref. Commission Regionale, d Alsace (1980: 163-164, 306-307); Kirner (2000); Arnold den Teuling (pers. comm., 2001); Office de Tourisme du Pays de Thann (2001); Website: Cahiers de Tourdion (2001); Postcard, Beau'Lieu, Lyon, 68800 (a. 2002); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). Angel musicians adorning the outer archway of the West Porch (Grand Portal) play, shawm (with a bulbous foot), harp, fiddle, psaltery, nakers, a broken instrument (possibly a trumpet), lute, syrinx, another fiddle, triangle, monochord, cymbals, another lute (at least one of the lutes is a long-neck lute), portative organ, another harp (the harps are nearly triangular), and a cylindrical recorder, the window/labium and several finger-holes of which are very clear, including paired-holes for the little finger of the lowermost (right) hand. An angel on the top of the column with angels on the north-west corner was restored by Hils (1888-1892). Thus the reed and pirouette of the shawm has been replaced with the beak, window/labium and two finger-holes of a duct-flute, though the player has retained the puffed cheeks characteristic of shawm-playing. The recorder player appears never to have been subject to restoration.

Kirner (loc. cit.) writes that the balance of opinion is in favour of the sculptor being from Swabia who may have worked on the West Portal at Ulm and perhaps also at the South Portal at Augsburg Cathedral. Although some have argued for earlier dates, the characteristic armour of soldiers depicted in a number of scenes and other evidence indicates that the work was started around 1390 and completed around 1420. There is no archival material in existence.
Bethlehem Triptych: Beggar with a Recorder (ca 1430), French. Moulins: Cathedral Treasury. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 1999. A fierce-looking beggar (or shepherd) in tatters seated on the ground holds in one hand a cylindrical duct-flute with a slightly flared bell. The offset hole for the little finger of the lowermost hand is clearly depicted, though there seems to be an extra finger-hole.
Nativity (1420/30), wood, 46 × 48 cm, French (Paris or Dijon). Antwerp: Collection Fernand Stuyck. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999). "This picture is exactly the same (an incredibly accurate copy?) as the 15th-century Flemish Nativity in the Galerie Arents, Brussels" (Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm.) Mary prays and Joseph holds out his hand to the Christ Child as a cow looks on, eyes wide. Angels kneel on either side, and two angel musicians play lute and a cylindrical recorder.
Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary: May (ca 1450), from a Book-of-Hours, French. Baltimore, USA: Walters Art Gallery, MS W269, f.16. Ref. Bowles (1983). From a private devotional book apparently made for a married couple, possibly by Willem Vrelant & Associates. Along the bottom margin of one of the pages, two couples play musical instruments, while a third couple plays backgammon. On the left a couple play rebec and an ambiguous pipe (possibly a recorder as a shawm would be too loud for the context, and would not have been played in the courtly situation depicted). On the right a couple play harp and lute; above them, a man plays another ambiguous pipe.
René II Copying the Psalms (ca 1442-1453), from the Breviary of King René II of Lorraine. Detail, showing a tenor recorder. Paris: Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, MS 601, f. 2V. Ref. Encycl. Mus. (?date, 528 & pl. 33); Abbiati, in Fabbri (?date, 1: 355); Pincherlé (1959: 27 - col.); Bowles (1983: 38, pl. 11); Early Music (1991: May); Musical Times Early Music Calendar (1993: March - col.); Alamire C5 (1996); Angelo Zaniol ex Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). Musicians surround the King as he works, including players of straight, trumpet, tabor, fiddle, harp, portative organ, hammered dulcimer and a flared-bell tenor recorder.
The Household Musicians (ca 1442-1453), from the Breviary of King René II of Lorraine. Paris: Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, MS 601, f. 44r. Ref. Olimpio (1956: 2665-2666); Bowles (1983: 38, pl. 10); Wiese (1988: fig. 33 - b&w); Archiv Moeck. Musicians practice, to the distraction of the labourers in the garden outside. They play straight trumpets, vielle, harp, hammered dulcimer and two recorders, one a tenor (very clearly shown). The window/labium is very clear on both instruments. The nearer player shows two lower finger-holes in line. The bell is slightly flared with a widening bore. Notes (in part) by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000).
From Christine de Pisan: L'Epître d'Othéa, (1450-1475): Mercury, playing his flute, puts Argus to sleep to steal Io, changed into a cow, miniature on vellum, 4.5 x 90 cm, French (Burgundy). The Hague: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB 74 G 27, Fol. 31r: min. Ref. Koninklijke Bibliotheek: Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts (2002). Mercury (who is unusually hirsute and seems to have lost his bottom half) plays a cylindrical duct-flute (possibly a recorder) one-handed, holding Io by her halter. Argus, with eyes all over his body, wearing a large red hat, seems asleep on his feet.
Book of Hours of the Ducs d'Orléans: Annunciation to the Shepherds (1460-1470), French. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale n. a.lat **, fol. 65v. Ref. Porcher & Seilern (1961: No. 21, pl. 73); Rasmussen (2002-2004: Bagpipe). "One shepherd has a recorder (pausing). Another, riding on a donkey, plays a bagpipe" (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
The Shepherds Dametas and Menalcas Challenging each other to a Musical Contest, from The Eclogues by Virgil with a commentary by Servius (1469), illumination on vellum, French. Dijon: Bibliotheque Municipale. Ref. Bridgeman Art Library, GIR 187798 (2003 - col.) In a forest littered with tree-stumps, a shepherd doffs his hat to another. Both hold clearly depicted recorders with flared bells. Each has a small tuning hole just above the foot. The focus on recorders in the illuminations of this manuscript is similar to those by the Master of the Vraie cronicque descoce in another 15th-century manuscript version of the Eclogues held in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague.
Shepherds by a River, from The Eclogues by Virgil with a commentary by Servius (1469), illumination on vellum, French. Dijon: Bibliotheque Municipale. Ref. Bridgeman Art Library, GIR 187864 (2003 - col.) Beside a stream, two shepherds face each other, each holding a crook in one hand and a clearly depicted flared bell recorder in the other. Each recorder has paired holes for the little finger of the lowermost hand. The focus on recorders in the illuminations of this manuscript is similar to those by the Master of the Vraie cronicque descoce in another 15th-century manuscript version of the Eclogues held in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague.
An Exchange of Gifts, from The Eclogues by Virgil with a commentary by Servius (1469), illumination on vellum, French. Dijon: Bibliotheque Municipale. Ref. Bridgeman Art Library, GIR 187866 (2003 - col.) Two shepherds exchange gifts on a road leading to a walled, towered city. One gives a lamb which he places on his companion's shoulder; the other gives a recorder. The beak, window/labium, finger-holes and flared bell of each recorder are clearly depicted. The focus on recorders in the illuminations of this manuscript is similar to those by the Master of the Vraie cronicque descoce in another 15th-century manuscript version of the Eclogues held in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague.
Annunciation to the Shepherds (ca 1480), illumination, French. Ref. Website: Habetrot (December, 2006). Three shepherds, a shepherdess and their dog look heavenwards as an angel flys overhead with a banner. One of the shepherds holds a bagpipe, another holds a conical, slightly curved pipe which could be a recorder. In the background their sheep graze obliviously, and others are let into the pen by two more assistants.
Initial from the Graduale of King Matthias I of Hungary (ca 1480/90), probably North French. Budapest: Corvinus, Ms Clmae 424, fol. 69'. Ref. Wiese (1988: fig. 31 - b&w); Archiv. Moeck. The King and Queen watch a religious procession led by musicians playing pipe and tabor and lute.
Maison du Pilier aux Trois Flûtes (ca 1490), wooden carvings, French. Bourges: Rue Bourbonnoux. Ref. Editions Valoire-Blois: postcard B.P. 45-41260, La Chaussée-Saint-Victor (col.); Recorder Magazine 18(1): cover - col. (1998); Rowland-Jones, A. (1998: 34). Three enormous cylindrical recorders form the corner pillar holding up a 15th-century house, now a patisserie. Seven finger-holes are clearly shown with paired holes for the lowermost finger.
Grand Calendrier et compost des bergers (1491): Shepherd's Calendar, woodcut, French. Ref. Salmen (1976, pl. 2); Early Music News #81 (1984, cover). A shepherd with a bagpipe makes an announcement to his companions who are seated. On the ground are two small flared-bell duct-flutes (probably recorders). The same woodcut was used in the Geneva editions of 1491 and 1500. Almost identical to a coloured woodcut at Angers (see below).
? Nativity Shepherds (15th century), coloured woodcut, French. Ref. Pierre Boragno (pers. comm., 2008. A shepherd with a bagpipe makes an announcement to his companions who are seated. On the ground are two small flared-bell duct-flutes (probably recorders). Almost identical to the non-coloured woodcut noted above.
Heures à l'usage de Paris: Annunciation to the Shepherds (1498), metal engraving, printed by Philippe Pigouchet for Simon Vostre, French (Paris). Ref. Berthail (1986: 61, fig. 49; 82); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2006). Four shepherds with their sheep, goats and dogs outside the walls of a town look up at angels bearing a banner. One of the shepherds who is seated holds a clearly depicted recorder of soprano/alto size, slightly flared. This engraving may also appear in the Nates Hours (see below).
Heures à l'usage de Nantes: May (late 15th century), metal engraving, printed by Philippe Pigouchet for Simon Vostre, French (Paris). Paris: Biblioth&egave;que Nationale. Ref. Berthail (1986: 83, fig. 58); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2006). Border of a calendar depicting three couples in a garden: one promenading, a second sitting talking whilst she makes a wreath, and a third sitting with her holding a blossom and him playing a flared-bell recorder, the beak and window of which are clearly illustrated. This engraving was used again by Philippe Pigouchet in Heures à l'usage de Machon, also printed for Simon Vostre (1502).
Heures à l'usage de Nantes: Annunciation to the Shepherds (late 15th century), metal engraving, printed by Phillipe Pigouchet for Simon Vostre (Paris). Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale. Ref. Berthail (1986: 66, item 56). With Joseph standing behind them, the Virgin and the Christ-child are visited by shepherds and shepherdesses. In the foreground two shepherds kneel. 'Le beau Roger', the shepherd on the right with a dog on a lead and his crook in his left hand, holds what must be a tenor recorder up to the Christ-child in his right.

By the late 15th century, much of the demand for Books of Hours was being met by printers who used woodcuts, or in this case metal-cuts, instead of hand-drawn illustrations. Among the most successful producer of books of hours was the Parisian publisher Simon Vostre [d.1522?] who issued numerous editions from the 1490s until his death. In some the plates were coloured (see below).
Mercury (1499-1500), woodcut from Christine de Pisan's Les Cent Histoires de Troye, Paris, French. Ref. Rowland-Jones (2000c, fig. 3). Argus is lulled asleep by Mercury who plays his pipe one-handed, holding Io (as a heifer) by the halter in the other hand. " The woodcut shows no details of the pipe, but it is referred to (three times) in the text as a 'flag(e)ol', which usually means a six-holed duct-flute. Note the Christian moralising in the 'Allegorie'. A humane Mercury, well disguised, seems to have no intention of beheading Argus, who is somnolent and fails to notice Io being led away (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)
From Ovid's Metamorphoses, in a French translation by Colard Mansion: Pan (15th century): Pan, woodcut, French. B Br. Ref. Boragno (1998: 10 - b&w). There is a version of this work in the National Library of the Netherlands, Amsterdam(Royal 2º, 391 leaves) published in 1484. Pan stands in a farmyard, a shepherd's crook in his left hand, playing a flared bell duct-flute in held his right. The window and four finger-holes are visible, but this probably represents a tabor pipe rather than a recorder.
Grotesque playing a Recorder (15th century), French. Oxford: Bodleian Library: MS Douce 144, Roll 137, No. 21, fol. 28v. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. com, 1999). A grotesque plays a fat cylindrical instrument of soprano or alto size. It has paired holes for the lowermost finger. All the other six finger-holes are clear. The beak is held close to but not in the mouth. The window/labium is not visible (unless it is one odd mark!) Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.)
Les Très Belles Heures de Notre-Dame: Annunciation to the Shepherds (15th century), illuminated miniature, Northern French. Paris: Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, ms. 1274, f. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999); Fine Art Facsimile Edition, Faksimile Verlag, Lucerne. One of the masterpieces of 15th century European book illumination. Lavishly decorated, this illuminated manuscript is a small part of a much larger manuscript. Since 1956 it has been kept in the National Library of France and is revered as a national treasure. In this miniature, two of the shepherds, surrounded by their sheep, seem to be arguing with each other as the Archangel reads his message from an enormously long scroll, as if he has forgotten his lines. A third shepherd looks the other way, playing on his slightly conical duct-flute with one hand. The instrument seems to have rather too many finger-holes to be a tabor pipe.
Recorder Player (15th century), carved misericord, French. Flavigny-sur-Ozerain (Côte d'Or): Choir stalls. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999). A glowering man in a cloak and with a foreshortened body plays a cylindrical duct-flute, probably a recorder, though his fingers seem to be covering four holes with the upper (right) hand and three with the lower.
Nativity Scene (15th century), woodcut from a Book of Hours, French. Ref. Ruhland (1996: 13); Rowland-Jones (1999: 128, fig. 3); Lasocki (2000: 11). The shepherds bring gifts to the infant Jesus in his mother's lap. One, kneeling, presents the infant with a gently flared duct-flute (flageolet or recorder) which is bigger than the baby itself! A second shepherd approaches to present his bagpipes.
Angel Musician, stained-glass (15th century), French. Moulins: Cathedral. Ref. Christian Brassy; Rowland-Jones (2006: 10). An angel musician plays a very clearly depicted recorder of alto/tenor size, right hand uppermost The beak, window/labium and prominently flared bell are clearly illustrated; there appear to be rather more holes than fingers.
Stained-glass (late 15th - early 16th century), Rouen school, French. Caudebec (Normandy): Église Nôtre Dame, North aisle. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2006). Tracery lights includes angel musicians playing various instruments, including an ambiguous pipe (duct-flute or shawm). The Église Notre Dame was built from 1425-1539.
Angel Musicians (late 15th - early 16th century), stone carving (flamboyant style), French. Caudebec (Normandy): Église Nôtre Dame, organ loft (stone support). Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2006). From a cornice, an angel musician plays an ambiguous pipe (possibly a duct-flute). The Église Notre Dame was built from 1425-1539.
Angel Musician (late 15th - early 16th century), stone carving (flamboyant style), French. Caudebec (Normandy): Église Nôtre Dame, West Front, South Portal, tympanum. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2006). The tympanum is decorated with angel musicians one of whom plays an end-blown pipe which might represent a duct-flute (flageolet or recorder) but is probably a shawm, since it has a wide bell, no window/labium is shown and his neighbour plays a bagpipe. Other instruments include organetto, psaltery, dulcimer, fiddle, drum, lute, cymbals, shawm, trumpet. However, an angel at the top inner left of the carvings within the tall arch of the central portal does seem to be playing a recorder, though it is a rather curious one. The incision at the top of his cylindrical instrument seems to represent a window/labium; the finger-holes are very carefully shown, but the bell-end is set-back where it appears to have broken off while the original sculpture was being made and to have been mended in such a way as to look right viewed straight on. The bell end clearly shows its paired holes for the lowermost litle finger. The Église Notre Dame was built from 1425-1539. It is believed that these sculptures have not been restored.
Le Roman de la Rose by Guillaume de Lorris & Jean de Meun: The Dance of Mirth, (15th century), manuscript illumination. London: British Library, Ms Harley 4425, fol. 14v. Ref. British Museum (1925: pl. XLVII); Musica Calendar (1965: 18 April - 1 May - col.) Kren (1983: 52, 54 & pl. VIII - col.; as by the Master of the Prayer Books of ca 1500); MgB III/8: 93 (? date; as ca 1490, as Garten des Frohsinns [Garden of Mirth]); Rasmussen (2000). "Five dancing couples are accompanied by players of harp, pipe (long) and tabor and recorder (?)" (Rasmussen 2000).
Carved ivory comb (15th century), French. Location unknown. Ref. Warburg Library A657-1910; Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). The handle of the comb depicts a wedding accompanied by a lutenist and a recorder player. The recorder is flared with the paired holes for the lowermost finger clearly depicted.
Chansons d'Amour – The Copenhagen Chansonnier: Ja que lui ne s'i attende: Decorated initial 'J' (15th century), France. Copenhagen: Bibliothèque Royale de Copenhague – Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Manuscript Department, Thott 291 8º. Ref. Kongelige Bibliotek (2002 - col.) A man wearing a beautiful blue tunic and a magnificiently feathered cap plays a long tenor-sized duct-flute with a widely flared bell. The window/labium is clearly depicted and six finger-holes are visible. The thumb seems to be in the right position for recorder-playing, but the disposition of the player's fingers is haphazard.
Musical Angel (15th century), stained glass, French. Bourges: Cathédrale Saint-étienne. Ref. Bridgeman Art Library (2006: Image ID GIR 206436 - col.); Rowland-Jones (2006: 11 & fig. 10 - col.) The fame of Bourges increased when its archbishop became Pope Alexander V in 1408, although he died a year later. His arms may be found in the unrestored tracery glass high up in the south ambulatory chapel now dedicated to St Solange. In the glass immediately to the right of the pope’s arms is a winged angel playing what is clearly a recorder. Details of the beak, window/labium and finger-holes (including paired holes for the lowermost finger) are clearly visible. There is an additional hole just below the paired lowermost finger-hole. His cheeks are unnecessarily puffed, and, as at Evreux, the artist seems to have been uncertain about the actual number of finger-holes in what was to him probably an unfamiliar new instrument. To err in the right direction he has therefore marked in some nine or ten holes, with confusion of fingering to match. There is a second recorder in this stained glass (see below).
Musical Angel (mid-15th century), stained glass, French. Bourges: Cathédrale Saint-étienne. Ref. Bridgeman Art Library (2006: Image ID GIR 155350 - col.); Rowland-Jones (2006: 11). See above. The glass is mid-15th century and unambiguously depicts a recorder; between and below the paired little-finger-holes it unusually has a small tuning hole. It is roughly coeval with another alto recorder representation in the stained glass of the Cathedral of Moulins, not greatly distant.
Angel Musician (15th century), stained glass, French. Evreux: Church of St Taurin, top left tracery of large window on S side of chancel. Ref. Rowland-Jones (2006: 8 & 23 - footnote). There is a probable duct-flute, with a beaked mouthpiece, played by an angel-musician. During the 14th century the counts of Evreux were related to the kings of France by marriage. They were also from 1349 to 1425 kings of Navarre, adjacent to the kingdom of Aragon, renowned for the culture of its courts.
Domestic altarpiece (15th century), wood & mother of pearl, 68 × 63.5 cm, French. Munich: Bayerische Nationalmuseum, Inv. R 673. Ref. Munich RIdIM (2002: Mbnm - 309/2). Richly carved with scenes from the life of Jesus. To the right of the lower of two Nativity scenes are two shepherds: one, kneeling against his stave, holds a bagpipe; his companion standing behind him holds a flared-bell recorder. The beak and the hint of a window/labium are visible, and four finger-holes can be seen, the remainder covered by his clutching right hand with the exception of an offset hole for the lowermost little finger. To the right of the upper Nativity scene a panel depicting ? Mary and Elizabeth with putti standing on pillasters at each side, that on the left playing a lute, that on the right a pipe (possibly a duct-flute).
Book of Hours: Adoration of the Shepherds (ca 1495-1500), French. New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, H.5 (Plummer, 93), folio 55. Ref. Ford (1988: #569); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). "One shepherd offers a recorder to the Christ-Child; a second holds a bagpipe" (Ford, loc. cit.). Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.) notes that this provides another example of the recorder offered as a gift (of his music and of himself) by a shepherd at the crib. Not seen.
Angel Musician (? 15th century), painted wood carving, French. Valleé-de-la-Tet (Languedoc-Roussillon): ? Church (donated in 1735). A putto adorning the canopy of a carved Virgin and Child plays a conical pipe with the fingers of both hands in perfect recorder-playing position.
Mercury and Argus, from an edition of Petrarch's Trionfi (?15th century), French. Paris: Arsenal Library MS 5066 f. 15r. Ref. Warburg Institute, London; Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). Mercury holds his caduceus in one hand and plays a flared-bell duct-flute (possibly a recorder) held in the other. Argus dozes in front of him and a cock struts about the place. Io (as a heifer) is held by the halter by Mercury. In her side a panel has opened to show Io herself inside! A verse above refers to 'le flageolleur mercure'.
Angel Musicians (?15th century), stone bas relief, French. Saint-Quentin (Aisne): Hôtel de Ville. Ref. Matte (2001–, col.) Atop the arches of a decorative facade of the building angel musicians play bagpipes, vielle, harp, marine trumpet, and a flared-bell pipe which is probably a shawm but possibly a duct-flute.
Pastoral Scene, late 15th century), tapestry, French (Burgundian). London: Art market (1936). Ref. Exhibition, Brooklyn Museum, European Art 1450-1500 (1936: pl. 157); Rasmussen (2002, Bagpipe). "Includes shepherds playing a bagpipe and holding a recorder" (Rasmussen, loc. cit). Not seen.

German

Triptych: Assumption of the Virgin Mary (1426-1450), German (Lower Rhine School). Cologne: Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, 533. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999: KNwr 122/1,2). Mary, helped upwards to Jesus in Heaven by two angels, is surrounded by angel musicians singing and playing portative organ, and a cylindrical duct-flute (flageolet or recorder) with a small window/labium beneath which is a circle which may represent a maker's mark. Lower down, four or possibly five finger-holes show above the players left hand which seems to touch a hole close to the cylindrical end of the instrument.
Crucifixion (ca 1450), painting, Austrian. Hallstatt: ?Pfarrkirche Mariae Himmelfahrt. Ref. Stange (1934-1961, XI: no. 225); Rasmussen (2002, Horn). "Figures include a Jew (?) with a little curved horn. There is also a handsome, aristocratic youth beside the cross with a recorder" (Rasmussen, loc. cit.)
Enthroned Virgin and Child with two Angels (ca 1460), German. Berlin: Gemäldegalerie. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). "One angel plays a mandora (not well depicted). The other plays an alto/tenor size pipe, held a little upwards with both hands close together near the top of the instrument, left hand uppermost. The player's face and lips are relaxed, and the instrument has a beaked mouthpiece, inverted (so the window/labium would not be visible). The body of the pipe is cylindrical, with four finger-holes below the hands, and an elongated bell with considerable flare. A tuning hole is near the bell. This seems to be an amalgam of a shawm and a duct-flute" (Anthony Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)
Recorder-playing Angels (ca 1470), stone carvings, German. Konstanz: Cathedral, choir stalls, N side. Ref. Archiv Moeck. Two angels face each other playing cylindrical recorders with beaded foot tenon.
Maria im ährenkleid (1470-1480), oil on panel, 101 × 70 cm, German (Cologne School). Ulm: Museum der Brotkultur (formerly Deutsches Brotmuseum). Ref. Greeting Card: Deutsches Brotmuseum, Ulm (1955 - col.); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). "Mary wears a cloak decorated with ears of corn signifying regeneration. Beside her, are three angels with a large sheet of music; one holds a cylindrical soprano recorder (? used as a pitch-pipe) in the right hand. The beaked mouthpiece is fixed on to the body of the instrument, but no window/labium is visible. Two marks below the players hand could be finger-holes. The bell-end is hidden. The painting is too small to expect identifying details" (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.) In the photograph provided by Rowland-Jones the window/labium can be discerned.
Tombstone of the great blind organist and composer Conrad Paumann (1410-1473), bas-relief. Munich: Marienkirche. Ref. Peter (1958: 44); Rowland-Jones (1995: 45, footnote 8; pers. comm., 2002); Lasocki (2003: 9 - b&w). Above the composer himself playing a small organ hang a lute, a harp and a flared-bell recorder, the window/labium and holes for seven fingers clearly visible, the lowermost paired. On the ground beside him is a rebec.
Musical Clerics in a Library (ca 1475), from Valerius Maximus' Histoires, MS Harley 4375, f. 151v. London: British Library. Ref. Bowles (1983: 143, pl. 111); McGee (1986: 487, fig. 3 - b&w); The Museums & Galleries Collection, KGB901 (detail); Alamire C6 (1996); Thomson & (1995: 35, fig. 11A). Three clerics seated on a bench, their music books behind them, play an ambiguous pipe, which may be a slender, flared-bell duct-flute (flageolet or recorder), a small lute and a harp.
The Children of Venus (1470-1480), ink drawing, German. Vienna: österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Codex Vind. 3085, fo. 24 1°. Ref. Trottein (1993: 157 - b&w). In the top panel Venus, naked, holds a circular mirror and a bunch of flowers in the other. In circular insets in each of the lower corners contain a goat (Aires) and a pair of scales (Libra). In a lower panel frizzy-haired musicians sing, play organ, lute, harp, trumpet and a flared-bell pipe (a shawm or possibly a recorder), whilst two couples dance.
Conversation Between a King and a Fool (1486), woodcut illustrating Hans Vintler's Buch der Tugend, published by Johann Blaubirer, Augsburg, Germany. Ref. Bartch (1843-1876, 85: 228, no. 1486/207); Rasmussen (2004: Bells). The fool holds a recorder and has tiny bells on his cap. very unimp." (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
Coat of arms of Reinhard von Neipperg (1486-1488), stained-glass book, German. Stuttgart: Württenbergisches Landesmuseum, Inv. KK grün 129 / KK 127-30. Ref. Munich RIdIM (2003: Slm - 163). From the Schloßkapelle, Neckarsulm. In the centre of the coat of arms a fool plays a recorder one-handed. The recorder is of alto/tenor size and has cylindrical body and a flared bell. Six finger-holes can be seen, the lowermost offset and one hidden beneath the players hand. The window/labium is clearly depicted; the bell opening is wide and the walls thin. A banner surrounding the player reads "die dun[s]t all mir gelich und sind doch vermofftig[!] stargck und rich".
From the Nitzschewitsch Marienpsalter: Annunciation to the Virgin (ca 1493), woodcut, German. Zinna (near Magdeburg): Library. Ref. Woldering (1961: 130); Rasmussen (1999a & b). "Angels in the border/margin play curved horn, portative organ, lute, woodwind (shawm? recorder? – contextually probably recorder)" (Rasmussen, loc. cit.)
[Student Musicians] (1497), from Statutes of the Collegium Sapientiae in Freibug im Breisgau, manuscript drawing, Germany. Freiburg: University Archives, Coll. Sap. 2a, fol. 34v and 35r. Ref. Bowles (1977: 149, pl. 144); Thomson & Rowland-Jones (1995: 10, fig. 5 - b&w); Rasmussen (1999b). Two musicians face each other across the bottom of the page; one plays a lute, the other an ambiguous pipe in the tenor range, possibly a recorder).
[Angel Musician] (late 15th century), woodcarving, German. Ettal, Germany: Buch-Kunstverlag. Ref. Recorder & Music Magazine 1(3): front cover - b&w. Depicts an angel playing a wide, cylindrical recorder.
Angel Playing a Recorder, stained-glass panel, 22.55 × 8.26 cm, German (Rhineland). Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 48.1284. Depicts an angel playing a well-depicted yellow cylindrical recorder. The top three finger-holes are open, and the lower (left) hand covers all four holes. The angel's wings, hair, collar and flute are in yellow.
Coronation of the Virgin (late 15th century), stained glass, Anonymous. Cologne: Cathedral. Ref. Rode (?date, 4(1): ?page, ?fig.); Munich RIdIM (1999). An angel with a duct-flute (possibly a recorder).
Triptych: Apocalyptic Madonna and Musical Angels: Angel with a Recorder (1475-1500), free-standing sculptures, North German. Skuttunge, Uppland (Sweden): Kyrka (church), chancel. Ref. Magnus & Kjellstö (1993: 245, fig. 165); RIdIM Stockholm (2000); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). Around the central standing Madonna, eight angels play nyckelharpa (keyed fiddle), bagpipe, lute and a large cylindrical pipe (probably a recorder) with a Virdung-like bell (with a prominent ring at the bottom followed by a short sharp flare). All the recorder player's fingers are on,right hand lowermost. The mouthpiece is beaked but no other details can be discerned.
Virgin and Child (late 15th century), carved wooden house altar, German (Niederrhein). Frankfurt am Main: Museum für Kunsthandwerk. Ref. Frankfurt am Main, Museum für Kunsthandwerk, Erwerbungen 1949-1956, Cat. no. 27: pl. 13; Rasmussen (1999b). "Angels play fiddle, harp, lute and recorder. Very similar to the [early 16th century] Virgin and Child (private collection) below" (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
Virgin and Child (late 15th century), carved wooden house altar, German (Niederrhein). Location unknown (formerly Seligmann Collection, Cologne). Ref. Lüthgen (1917: pl. LV); Rasmussen (1999b). "Angels play fiddle, harp, lute and recorder. Very similar to the Virgin and Child in Museum für Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt above" (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
From the Nuremberg Bible [Biblia Sacra Germanica] (1483): 2 Samuel 6, 1-5: David brings the Ark to Jerusalem, coloured woodcut, Private Collection: The Stapleton Collection. Ref. Bridgeman Art Library (2007, Image No. STC 67513). The Ark of the Covenant is carried in procession in a horse-pulled cart led by King David playing his lyre and other musicains, including a man playing a duct flute (probably a recorder). A dove flies above.

Greek

Nativity (ca 1430), mural, Anonymous, Greek. Mystras (medieval city, near Sparta): Monastery of the Pantanassa. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000; 2006: 13). All murals in Mystras were restored in the 1950s and again in the 1980s. A shepherd plays a cylindrical pipe, probably a duct-flute since there appears to be a window/labium. The disposition of finger-holes and fingers is not clear. There is a striking resemblance between this shepherd, a 14th-century one from the Monastery of the Peribleptos, Mystras, and a late 16th-century one from Mt Athos (see below).

Italian

Diptych: Death and the Coronation of the Virgin (ca 1400), carved ivory, Italian (? Venice). Detail. London: Victoria & Albert Museum, A.566-1910. In the right-hand panel the Virgin is crowned to an accompaniment provided by angel musicians playing two organettos, shawms