Recorder Home Page

Recorder Iconography

Compiled by Nicholas S. Lander

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Nathan Eckenrode

Contemporary US American amateur artist who lives in Brooklyn.

Recorder in the Park, acrylic, Nathan Eckenrode (contemporary). A girl with plaits plays a stylised recorder.

Gérard Edelinck – see Antoine Coypel

French engraver and print publisher of Flemish origin, considered as one of the century’s greatest engravers; specialized in portraits, which make up the major share of his work; also a reproductive engraver who translated the works of the most important portraitists of his time; born Antwerp (1640), died Paris (1707).

Gerbrand (Jansz.) van den Eeckhout

Dutch biblical, genre, and portrait painter, draughtsman, etcher, designer of gold and silver objects, and book illustrator; a gifted colourist and an artist of great imagination, he adapted his style to suit his subject with sensitive versatility; his subjects included mythological and biblical scenes, portraits, several striking landscapes and genre pieces; born Amsterdam (1621), died Amsterdam (1674); son of goldsmith Jan Pietersz. van den Eeckhout (1584-1652).

Pastoral Scene (1652), pencil on paper, 25 × 18.2 cm, Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (1621-1674). Coburg: Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg, Inv. Z 2582. Ref. RIdM Munich (2009, Cv 126). A seated shepherdess winds a wreath of flowers, and a shepherd plays a duct-flute (recorder).
Interior with singing Pair and Listener (1655), oil on canvas, 76 × 64.5 cm, Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (1621-1674). Copenhagen: Statens Museum for Kunst. Ref. Sumowski (1983[-94], II: 872, pl. 509); Griffioen (1988: 438-439). A woman sings seated at a table; opposite her sits another musican, his soprano recorder and music lie before him. Behind the woman, his arm around her shoulder, another man listens.
Hermes lulls Argus to sleep (1666), 94 × 110 cm, Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (1621-1674). Berlin: Bode Museum (formerly Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum). Ref. Sumowski (1983[-94], II: 822, pl. 459); Griffioen (1988: 438-439); Rowland-Jones (1998c: 16; 1999). On a wooded hillside, Hermes (Mercury) has lulled Argus to sleep by playing on a soprano flared-bell recorder which he holds in his left hand, reaching out for his sword with his right. Io (as a white heifer) stands behind them.
Conversation Piece / Portrait of the Tolling Children in Pastoral Dress (1667), 142 × 170 cm, Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (1621-1674). Location unknown; formerly London: Noortman Gallery (dealer). Ref. Burlington Magazine 121 (1979, col.); Rasmussen & Huene (1982: 31, fig. 2, b&w); Kettering (1983: fig. 88); Sumowski (1983[-94], II: 902, fig. 539); Griffioen (1988: 438-9). A young woman is seated in a forest glade; a toddler stands beside her dressed in shepherd garb. A youth sits behind them holding a narrow, one-piece, flared-profile recorder expanding gradually from beak to foot. To the right are two girls who have been picking flowers; and seated before them a young boy strokes a cat.
Flute Player, oil on wood, 62 × 46 cm, Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (1621-1674). Bordeaux: Musée des Beaux Arts, Inv. BXE 312 ; BXM 6126. Ref. Joconde Website (1999). Portrait of an unknown man with a duct-flute (flageolet or recorder); a bust in profile. Not seen.
Musical Company (1653), canvas, 91 × 83 cm, Gerbrand van der Eeckhout (1621-1674). The Hague: Gemeentemuseum, Inv. 38-X-1948. Ref. Buijsen & Grijp (1993); Rijksbureau voor Kunshistoriche Documentatie 2732 (2010-b&w). A lutensit averts his eyes from his companions, a man and a woman who sing together from a shared score. A small pipe (almost certainly a duct-flute) lies on the table beside the lutenist, its head hidden behind a music book.

Gilberto Almeida Egas

One of the most important contemporary Latin American painters working in an abstract style with hints of magico-realism; born San Antonio de Ibarra, Ecuador (1928).

La Novia, Gilberto Almeida Egas (1928 –) Ref. Exhibition: La Novia del Cielo, Holmes à Court Gallery, Perth, Western Austdralia (2001). Two harliquinesque men play long (tenor-sized) cylindrical pipes each with seven finger-holes covered and thus possibly recorders, though probably intended to represent the native pinkillu (a six-holed duct-flute).

Pieter Cornelisz. van Egmont (ca 1615 - ca 1664), Flemish

A Musician Playing a Violin by a Draped Casement, Pieter Cornelisz. van Egmont (ca 1615 - ca 1664). London: Johnny van Haeften Gallery. Ref. Bridgeman Art Library (2002: Image ID BAL 49338 - col.) An artist sits playing the violin in a window at a table on which are an open music book, a globe, a hat, a conch shell, a drawing, and a small cylindrical recorder with a flared foot. The characterstic window/labium and seven finger-holes of the latter are clearly visible. There is another version of this painting in reverse (see below), though more of the recorder is in frame.
Self-Portrait of the Artist Playing a Violin at a Window, oil on panel, Pieter Cornelisz. van Egmont (ca 1615 - ca 1664). Location unknown: Dorotheum 6 June 1991 (unsold) and 7 July 1993 (unsold). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2001 - b&w); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2009). An artist sits playing the violin in a window at a table on which are an open music book, a globe, a hat, a conch shell, a drawing, and a small cylindrical recorder with a flared foot, the characteristic window/labium and seven finger-holes of which are clearly visible. On the recorder, a maker's mark is visible on the which looks prominent enought to be legible in the original (Anthony Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.) There is another version of this work in reverse (see above), though rather less of the recorder is in frame.

Edwin Eichinger (1892-1950), Austrian

The Recorder, oil on panel, 41.3 × 52.7 cm, Edwin Eichinger (1892-1950). Asheville: Brunk Auctions, 6 January 1996, Lot 850. Ref. Artfact (2004). Not seen. This may depict a recorder of public deeds rather than a musical instrument!

Barent [Barend] van Eijsen

Dutch sculptor and painter, recorded in Harlem but known from no other paintings; born ca 1679, died 1702.

Vanitas Still-life, oil on canvas, 97 × 117.5 cm, Barent van Eijsen (ca 1679-1702). Location unknown: Christies, London, Sale 6234, Old Master Pictures, 17 December 1999, Lot 137 (unsold.) Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie 63169 (2010-col.); Ruth van Baak Griffioen (pers. comm., 2003); Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2003 - col.) On a draped table lies a jumble of objects including a sword, a casket, an inkwell and plume, books, papers, a necklace, a vase of flowers, a silver gilt nautilus cup, a conch shell, a watch, a trumpet, a transverse flute and a recorder with a metal-sheathed beak and a maker's mark, the foot hidden behind the nautilus shell. A book is open at a graphically illustrated page concerning the tyranny of the Spanish headed 'Afbeeldinge van de Spaeniche Tiranuye'. A handbill hanging in the centre has a portrait of King Charles II.

Jahn Ekenaes (1847-1920), Norwegian

Playing the Recorder, oil painting, 43.2 × 50.8 cm, Jahn Ekenaes (1847-1920). Oslo: Blomqvist, 23 October 1995, Lot 89. Ref. Artfact (2004). Not seen.

Ignaz Elhafen

German sculptor; an eclectic artist of no outstanding originality, whose talent lay in the field of copying; his importance rests mainly in the wide dissemination of his reliefs on mythological themes, sometimes through mass-production; principally a relief sculptor, though he also produced some sculptures in the round; working in wood and ivory, he concentrated on a few main themes: scenes from the legend of the Sabines, battle scenes from antiquity and the Old Testament, bacchanalia and various mythological episodes; born Innsbruck (1658), died Düsseldorf (before 1715).

Pan teaching a Nymph to play a Pipe, ivory relief, Ignaz Elhafen (1685 - ca 1715). London: Wallace Collection, S264. The 'pipe' is rather ambiguous, but could be a recorder.
Bacchantes, ivory relief, 10.8 × 20.1 cm, Ignaz Elhafen (1685 - ca 1715). Munich: Bayerische Nationalmuseum, Inv. R 4672. Ref. Munich RIdIM (2002: Mbnm - 177); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). A satyr (with horns and goat feet) plays a cylindrical duct-flute to a nymph offering a bunch of grapes to a small child who reaches up for them. The four lowermost finger-holes of the duct-flute are visible. If we suppose that three finger-holes are concealed by the uppermost (right) hand then this may represent a recorder, though the thumb is wildly out of position.
Jupiter being Nurtured by the Goat Amalthea (late 17th or early 18th century), ivory relief, Ignaz Elhafen (1658 - ca 1715). London: Victoria & Albert Museum, Inv. A.49-1949. Ref. Marjorie Trusted (pers. commm., 2010). A scene from the childhood of Jupiter. Pan is seated on the left, holding a tambourine (with pellet bells) aloft, behind him a standing nymph plays the cymbals, and a satyr near a large urn looks on at the central scene. A reclining nymph in the centre milks a goat (Amalthea), turning towards a small naked child (Jupiter) seated behind her holding out a bottle for the milk. Another satyr plays a duct-flute on the right, and three female figures recline in the background. The relief is signed 'I.E' on the upper side of the reverse in ink. The composition is based on an engraving by Schelte a Bolswert after Jacob Jordaens' painting of The Infant Jupiter fed by the goat Amalthea (ca 1630-1635) in the Louvre. The piper is very similar to the recorder-playing satyr in Elhafen's Bachantes, but seen in reverse (see above).

Aubry Emile (early 20th century), France

Bacchanale, oil on canvas, 89 × 116 cm, Aubry Emile (early 20th century). Paris: Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, Inv. RF 1978-41. Ref. Joconde Website (1999). A mythological scene which includes a naked woman dancing, a horn of plenty, a cupid, a faun, a recorder, a ram, and fruit. Not seen.

Martianus II van den Enden (? – 1673), Flemish

St Cecilia, print, Martianus II van den Enden (? – 1673). Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, Département des Estampes et de la Photographie. Ref. Mirimonde (1974: 134); Paolo Biordi (pers. comm., 2000). Beneath a framed bust of St Cecilia lie a viol, jingle ring, lute, organetto, cornett and a pipe (probably a recorder) the head of which is hidden behind the organ. Five finger-holes are visible on the pipe and the bore is expanded at the foot.

Martin Engelbrecht

German engraver and art publisher; with his brother Christian (1672-1735) produced more than 3,000 engravings including city views, decorative prints, portraits, military, historical and allegorical events; ca 1730 he created cards for miniature theaters, which when inserted into a display box showed religious scenes and pictures of daily life in a 3-D perspective view; born Augsburg (1684), died 1756.

Woodwind Instruments (ca 1720-1730), etching & engraving, 29.7 × 18.5 cm, Martin Englebrecht (1684-1756). New York: Public Library; Washington DC.: Library of Congress (hand-coloured), Dayton Miller Iconography Collection, 0391. Ref. Wollitz (1991: 177); Beck & Roth (1965: pl. 32). A gentleman reclining cross-legged in a high-backed chair plays a turned baroque alto recorder. On a table beside lies another baroque soprano recorder (only the head of which is visible), a small wind instrument (possibly a flageolet), an oboe, what appears to be a small chalumeau without a reed (mistakenly referred to as a small recorder by Roth & Beck), an ink-well and quill, and a clarinet (the reed mounted above). Behind him lies a dog; in the corner stands a very large bassoon. The second verse of the sentimental little poem singles out the sweet and charming effect possible of woodwind instruments which even rival the song of the nightingale. The first first includes words to the effect:
There is nothing like the lovely sounds you can make on wooden pipes,
that is, if your tongue and teeth are where they should be.
The posture and clothing of the player, details of the patio on which he sits, and the general construction of the image bear a marked resemblance to an engraving said to be by Giovanni Alberto Tameravi (? ca 1730). It is certain that one is modelled on the other; indeed, they may be by the same hand.
Musica (ca 1740), Martin Englebrecht (1684-1756). Nuremberg: Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Inv. HB 27 318. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999: Ngm 818). Shows a variety of instruments, twelve in all, including a recorder. Note by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 1999).
A Female Wood Turner (1730), engraving, 16.8 × 10 cm, Martin Englebrecht (1684-1756). Berlin: Kunstbibliothek, Pe 8 Nr. 26. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999: Bkb 380). A woman in an elegant flared dress is decorated with instruments, a spinning-wheel, some chair legs, bobbins and games. The instruments include two trumpets, and a number of duct-flutes hanging from her left shoulder. The latter have the narrowly attenuate beaks of flageolets, but have the flared bells and paired finger-holes for the little finger of the lowermost hand which are characteristic of the recorder.
Assemblage nouveau des manouvries habilles: Pipemaker (ca 1730-1740), etching & engraving, 38.7 × 23.5 cm, impression: 29.2 × 19.1 cm, Martin Englebrecht (1684-1756). Washington: Dayton Miller Flute Collection; Biningen: Collection Ernst W. Buser (coloured). Ref. Joppig (1988: pl. - col.) A pipemaker holds his lathe above his head. Hanging from his clothes are all manner of tools and wind instruments, including oboes, bassoon, cornetts, flutes, and perfectly depicted baroque recorder. Behind the maker two happy customers play oboe and flute.
Assemblage nouveau des manouvries habilles: Female Pipemaker (ca 1730-1740), etching & engraving, 38.7 × 23.5 cm, impression: 29.2 × 19.1 cm, Martin Englebrecht (1684-1756). Washington: Dayton Miller Flute Collection; Biningen: Collection Ernst W. Buser (coloured). Ref. Joppig (1988: pl. - col.) A female pipemaker plays a perfectly depicted baroque recorder. Hanging from her clothes are all manner of tools and wind instruments, including cornetts, bassoon, shawm, hunting horn, Turkish horn, bagpipe and two more baroque recorders. Behind her two happy customers play bagpipe and oboe.

Joseph Enzer (18th century), English

Plaster work frieze (ca 1730), Joseph Enzer, English. Montrose, Scotland: House of Dun, saloon. Ref. Hersom (1994: 65). One of the moulded clusters of the frieze is of musical instruments – bassoon, lute, oboe, recorder, flute and violin (Hersom, loc. cit.) the House of Dun is a beautiful Georgian Townhouse designed by William Adam and built in 1730, with superb plasterwork by Joseph Enzer.

Enrique de Essencop [Master of Longares] (14th century), Spanish

Virgin of Lirio, possibly by Enrique de Essencop (late 14th century). Detail. Barcelona: Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Inv. 64025. Ref. Gudiol (1986); Ballester(2000: 12, fig. 3 – b&w); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001; 2006a: 20 & fig. 19-col.; 2006b: 17 & ill. 5 - b&w). The Virgin and Child are surrounded by angel musicians playing harp, mandora, psaltery and cylindrical pipe (probably a recorder). A priest kneels in prayer. Side-panels contain illustrations of the Saints. "The pipe has an unusual mouthpiece, rather like the pirouette of a shawm. It has no bell-flare and the almost obscured end shows the incised rings found in the Pere Serra representations. And a shawm would be completely out of place in this group of music-making for the Virgin … a crude cut-away at the top may represent the window/labium, and the left hand little finger is raised as if for action. The lips are relaxed, and the cheeks not puffed out" (Anthony Rowland-Jones, 2001, loc. cit.) Longares is near Saragossa, from whence King John of Aragon (who reigned from 1387-1396) wrote a letter dated 23 July 1378 asking for lutes and "flahutes" to be sent to him "as soon as possible" from Ponç in Valencia (Ballester 2000: 10-12), very posibly a reference to recorders.

Maurice Estève

French artist; one of the generation of artists who revived the 'Ècole de Paris' after 1945; his work is characterised by a lyrical abstraction with the aim to depict forms and colours in a poetic manner; his extensive work included painting, collage, textile design and murals; born Culan (1904), died Culan (2001).

Flute Players (1931), oil on canvas, 130 × 81 cm, Maurice Estève (1904-2001). Bourges: Musée Estève. Ref. Joconde (2007 - col.) A child watches two nude men playing stylized vertical flutes. All fingers of both hands are covering their holes, so these could be recorders.

Eusebio (di Jacopo di Cristoforo) da San Giorgio

Italian painter and sculptor; a pupil of Perugino, he was employed as a journeyman by Pinturrichio whose influence can be seen in the crowded procession of figures and the gentle, finely drawn landscape with the characteristic arched rock in his earliest surviving work of importance, Adoration of the Magi; born Perugia (1465-1470), died Perugia (p. 1539).

Adoration of the Magi (1505/6), Eusebio da San Giorgio (1465-1470 - 1539). Perugia: Galeria Nazionale dell'Umbria. Ref. Cecchini (1932: 169); Gallenga (1905: pl. 72); Gallenga (1907: 73); Jacobsen (1914: pl. 53a); Visual Collection, Fine Arts Library, Harvard University, 372.Eu75.22a; Rasmussen (1999b); Website: easy art (2010-col.) The Child reaches out from Mary's lap to receive a chalice from one of the Kings who kneels before him. The other two kings await their turn, talking amongst themselves. A bagpiper plays, and other visitors look on. In the background are two men on horseback, one of whom blows a slender, curved horn. Angels above play fiddle (tuning), rebec, lute and woodwind recorder or mute cornett. This work was executed for the Oddi Chapel in S Agostino, Perugia. The year MDV or MDVI is inscribed on the hem of the Virgin's robe.

Caesar [Cesar] (Bovetius [Boetius]) van Everdingen

Dutch painter of portraits and mythological scenes with figures depicted in Mannerist style thronging the foreground of his large-scale canvases; although he never visited Italy, he captured the spirit of Italian art better than many of his countrymen who crossed the Alps; born Alkmaar (1616/17, died Haarlem (1678); brother of the painter Allaert van Everdingen (1621-1675).

The Four Muses with Pegasus (ca 1650), oil on canvas, 340 × 230 cm, Caesar van Everdingen (1616/17-1678). The Hague: Koninklijk Paleis, Huis ten Bosch. Ref. Haak(1984/1996 258, pl. 544); Griffioen (1988: 438-439); Web Gallery of Art (2001). Four of the Muses, largely naked, sing and play lute, and a viol (plucked). Pegasus rears up behind them. In the foreground are scattered musical instruments, including a hurdy-gurdy, two viols, a harp, an organetto, two trumpets, two shawms (one ornately carved), and a soprano-sized duct-flute (probably a recorder), partly hidden behind the harp.
Organ shutters (1645), Ceaser van Everdingen (1616/17-1678). Alkmaar: Grote Sing Laurenskerk, great organ. Ref. Paolo Biordi (pers. comm., 2002). Depicts the triumph of King Saul after the victory of David over Goliath. Musicians sing and play cittern, lute and a small recorder from a balcony. The recorder is played by a child from an open music-book perched on the edge of the balcony. His instrument, of one-piece renaissance design with a slightly flared bell, is played right hand uppermost. The window/labium and a number of finger-holes are clearly visible, including paired holes for the lowermost finger. The organ's origins date back to 1630. The general plan, which has been preserved to this day, was designed by Jacob van Campen, the famous architect of the royal palace in Amsterdam. Although its internal workings have been altered, most recently by Flentrop, the external case and ornamentation have remained untouched. See here for more information (in Dutch).
Shepherd Boy with a Recorder (ca 1657), attributed to Ceaser van Everdingen (1616/17-1678). Alkmaar: Hofje van Nordingen, Regentenkamer (i.e. in the trustees' room of the almshouse of Nordingen), Inv. RAA011004583. Ref. Jan Bouterse (pers. comm., 2009); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2009). The founder, Johan van Nordingen, is depicted as a young shepherd with a one-piece alto-sized recorder, in the common style of the 17th century. The fingers of the player are rather constrained, the lowest fingerhole is paired (and bit close to the lower end of the instrument). This painting provides a rare example of supporting the recorder by placing the left little-finger below the instrument, a method possibly borrowed from flageolet technique. Tucking the little finger under the recorder makes it more difficult to manipulate finger 3. Another painting depicts a woman, as shepherdess, but without a recorder. See here for more information (in Dutch).

Abraham van der Eyk [Eyck; Van Dyck d'Alkmaar] (Netherlandish)

Dutch artist, known for his exquisite portraits; active (1709-1725).

Portrait of a Composer (1715), oil on panel, 48.5 × 39.2 cm, Abraham van der Eyk (op. 1709-1725). Detail. Location unknown: auctioned Christies, London, 26 October 1990, Lot 139 (unsold). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2002 - col.); Constance Scholten (pers. comm., 2005); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Docmentatie 136941 (2010-b&w) In an interior, a composer, seated, full length, wears an embroidered coat and blue satin cloak. On a table before him are musical scores across which lies a soprano baroque recorder, the head of which has a ivory beak and ferrule. To the side are shelves with books beneath a tasselled drape. Behind, a beautifully depicted viol hangs on the wall by a ribbon. In the distance, through a door, can be seen a wild landscape. One of the scores, labelled Anthem, is legible.