Recorder Home Page

Recorder Iconography

Compiled by Nicholas S. Lander

K

G.C.K. (op. 1770)

Joseph Mages (1770), sketch, G.C.K. Ref. Archiv Moeck. A portrait of the German painter Joseph Mages (1728-1769), possibly by his daughter. Mages plays a turned, three-piece, baroque-form recorder.

Christian Kampf (contemporary), German

Boy on Skis Playing Carols, Christian Kampf (contemporary). Private Collection. Ref. Bridgeman Art Library (2002: Image ID KAM 51572). A boy on skis stops in front of a screen standing on the snow to play his carols on his recorder. At his feet is a guitar.

Johann Joachim Kändler

German porcelain maker who became chief modeler at the Meissen works where he established the porcelain figure as its own distinctive art form; his own works include large animal pieces and smaller figures and groups based on characters from the Italian commedia dell'arte; shepherds, huntsmen, monkey musicians, and actors were some of the more than a thousand different subjects he produced; born 1706, died 1775.

Man Playing for a Dancing Woman, Meissen porcelain figures, 13.5 & 12.0 cm high, modelled by Johann Joachim Kändler (1706-1775). Stockholm: Nationalmuseum, National Museum, NM Kh-CXV 423; 596. Ref. RIdIM Stockholm (2000); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). An Arcadian couple. She dances whilst he plays a well-modelled alto recorder, the window/labium and flared bell of which are visible, but no finger-holes can be seen. Notes by Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.)
A Man and a Woman Making Music, Meissen porcelain figures, modelled by Johann Joachim Kändler (1706-1775). Stockholm: Nationalmuseum, National Museum, NM Kh 168/1919. Ref. RIdIM Stockholm (2000); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). An Arcadian couple. She plays a nicely modelled late-baroque alto recorder, but the foot below her right hand is broken off. He plays a bagpipe. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.)
Shepherd Playing the Flute and his Dog (1747), Meissen porcelain figurine, 15.2 cm high, modelled by Johann Joachim Kändler (1706-1775) & P. Reinicke. La Jolla: Alcala Gallery, 18th-century Meissen Porcelain, 2004, Cat. CZ235 (B265). Ref. Adams (?date: ), Rückert (1977: Nr 972, pl. 236). Cross swords in underglaze blue marking placed on rim at back of stand suggesting that this was an early model; minor restorations. A shepherd leans against a tree stump playing a flared-bell recorder, his dog at his feet.
A Shepherd Musician and his Companion (ca 1755), a pair of German ormolu-mounted Meissen porcelain figurines, 29.2 cm high, modelled by Johann Joachim Kändler (1706-1775). London: Christie's, Lot 50. Ref. Artfact (2004). There is a blue crossed swords mark at the back of her base. He wears a pale-yellow cape and patterned jacket with lilac breeches; she wears a headscarf, turquoise coat and pink flowered skirt. He holds a score; she plays a recorder; each with a sheep recumbent at their feet. On tree stump scroll-moulded bases, damages and restorations to extremeties.
A Shepherd Musician and his Companion (ca 1765), 2 Derby porcelain figurines, 17.8 cm high, modelled by Johann Joachim Kändler (1706-1775). New York: Christie's, European Decorative Arts, 5 February 1997, Lot 278. Ref. Artfact (2004). He wearing a pink hat and puce-lined yellow coat and playing a recorder; she wearing a yellow cap and flowered skirt, holding flowers, a lamb at her feet; both on rocaille-moulded bases enriched in turquoise. See Twitchet (1980: fig. 87) for a variant example of the piper.
Shepherd and Shepherdess (1665 & 1745), a pair of German ormolu-mounted Meissen porcelain figurines, 11 cm high, modelled by Johann Joachim Kaendler (1706-1775) & P. Reinicke. London: Christie's, Ceramics & Glass, 24 February 1997, Lot 362. Ref. Artfact (2004). He ca 1765, she ca 1745, the mounts 19th-century. He plays the recorder, in a yellow hat and floral jacket, turquoise breeches and yellow shoes with red rosettes, a bag slung over his shoulder, standing cross-legged with a dog at his feet. The shepherdess, wearing a pink hat and bodice, white apron filled with flowers and purple flowered yellow skirt, holds flowers in her right hand and stands with a sheep at her feet. On mound bases applied with flowers and foliage, mounted on ormolu scroll bases before scroll and trellis arbours applied with porcelain flowers (he with tip of his little finger, end of recorder and left front leg of dog lacking; she with fingers of her left hand, right thumb and part of brim of hat lacking; both with some chipping, chips to flowers, gallery of one mount partly lacking).
Shepherd Playing a Recorder, Meissen porcelain figurine, 16.5 cm high, modelled by Johann Joachim Kaendler (1706-1775) & P. Reinicke. New York: Christie's, English and Continental Pottery, Porcelain and Glass, 19 April 1990, Lot 109. In yellow hat, green jacket, and puce breeches standing before a tree-stump and carrying a knapsack, his dog at his feet, on a flower-encrusted base (tip of recorder missing and chips).
Shepherd (ca 1747), Meissen porcelain figurine, 16.5 cm high, modelled by Johann Joachim Kaendler (1706-1775) & P. Reinicke. New York: Christie's, Important French Furniture, Ceramics, Tapestries, and Carpets, 30 October 1996, Lot 76. Shown leaning against a tree-stump playing a recorder, wearing a yellow hat and coat edged in brown and turquoise breeches, an iron-red rosette at each knee, another applied to his hat, a black spotted hound recumbent at his feet, raised on a mound base applied with flowers and foliage, restored. Cf. Rainer Ruckert (1966: 180 & 236, nr 972) for a similar figure in the Residenz in Ansbach.
Shepherd playing his Pipe (ca 1747), Meissen porcelain figurine, modelled by Johann Joachim Kaendler (1706-1775) & P. Reinicke. Bourton-on-the-Water, Cheltenham: Judy & Brian Harden Antiques. Ref. Website: Judy & Brian Harden Antiques. (2005 - col.) Shown leaning against a tree-stump playing a cylindrical recorder, wearing a green hat and coat edged in brown, and turquoise breeches, an iron-red rosette at each knee, another applied to his hat, a black spotted hound recumbent at his feet, on a flat base. Currently for sale; minor retoration.
Monkey Orchestra (19th & 20th century), 10 Meissen porcelain figurines, 11.43 - 18.1 cm high, modelled by Johann Joachim Kaendler (1706-1775) & P. Reinicke. Chicago: Sotheby's, Centries of Style, 18 October 1998, Lot 554. Comprising the conductor wearing an orange coat (right leg repaired), a turquoise-coated organist seated on the back of another monkey acting as the bellows, a cellist wearing a pink coat, a violinist wearing a yellow coat, a guitarist (missing fret) wearing a blue coat, a bassoonist wearing a yellow coat and plumed turban (one plume chipped), a turquoise-coated recorder player, a trumpeter wearing a yellow coat (some restoration to coat and trumpet), a fife and drum player wearing a lilac doublet and a double-drum bearer (one drum skirt chipped) wearing an orange turban (plumes restored); each sitting or standing by a tree stump on a gilt-heightened scroll-molded base, (minor imperfections), crossed swords marks in underglaze-blue, various impressed and incised numerals, and five with a painter's mark in colored enamels.

Sylvie Kantorovitz

Contemporary USAmerican children's book writer and illustrator; her paintings seem to revolve around angels and landscapes; born France but resident in USA since 1985. Artists web-site.

Angel with Flute , oil on canvas, 61 × 46 cm, Sylvie Kantorovitz (contempoarary). A stylised image of a pudgy girl wearing a smock pulled up around her ears plays a vertical pipe, probably a duct-flute, possibly a recorder.

Joel Kass

Contemporary Israeli artist; known for his darkly coloured figurative oil paintings of judeo-slavic themes; his style ranges from cubism to expressionism; born Warsaw (1937). See here.

Recorder Player, oil painting, 114.3 × 83.8 cm, Joel Kass (1937-). Antwerp: Campo & Campo, 29 October 1996, Lot 678 : Ref. Artfact (2004). Not seen.
Flute Player (1972), ceramic tiles, 45 × 75 cm, Joel Kass (1937-). A man with one eye shut plays a stylised cylindrical recorder.

Maria Kazanskaya

Contemporary Russian painter living and working in New York; her subjects include ikons, still-life, portrait, landscape, trees and roses; born 1960.

Flautist (1995), oil on canvas, 76.2 × 106.7 cm, Maria Kazanskaya (1960–). Website: Maria Kazanskaya (2005 - col.) A young man wearing only his underpants sits on an upright wooden chair playing a white, alto-sized recorder.
Flautist II – Snake Charmer (1998), oil on canvas, 45.7 × 43.2 cm, Maria Kazanskaya (1960–). Website: Maria Kazanskaya (2005 - col.) A young man wearing only his underpants sits cross-legged on the ground playing a white, alto-sized recorder.

Bernhard [Eberhard] Keil [Kail, Kailo, Keilhau, Keillh, Keyl or Keylhau], called Monsu' Bernardo

Danish painter, active in Italy where he painted portraits, decarted palaceas and was employed by churches and religious orders, executing works such as the Virgin with St Elia for the Carmelites in Venice and the Virgin and St Dominic for the refectory of the monastery of S Bartolomeo in Bergamo. born Helsingör (1624), died Rome (1687).

Group of Peasants Resting after the Harvest, Bernhard Keil (1624-1687). Location unknown: offered for sale by Sotheby's, Florence, 18 October 1969, Lot 103. Ref. Warburg Institute, London. An weary old man leans on his hand, a woman puts down her basket and a seated young woman looks dreamily into the distance, a basket of fruit in her lap whilst a young lad plays a flared bell recorder. Surely the young woman is far too well dressed (with a pearl necklace) to be a peasant.
Man Playing a Guitar, oil on canvas, Bernhard Keil (1624-1687). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank (2002 - b&w.) A man plays a guitar. Behind him a young boy plays a cylindrical recorder right hand uppermost; four finger-holes are visible. A detail (perhaps a copy) of Keil's Strolling Musicians, Museo Civico, Padua (see below).
Strolling Musicians (1650-1660), oil on canvas, Bernhard Keil (1624-1687). Padua: Museo Civico. Ref. Angelo Zaniol (pers. comm., 2004 - monochrome). Once housed in the monastery of S. Maria di Praglia. A man plays a guitar. Beside him a young woman plays a tambourine with jingle rings. Behind them a young boy plays a cylindrical recorder right hand uppermost; four finger-holes are visible. The man and woman in this painting are identical to Keil's Man Playing a Guitar noted by Gabrius (2002, see above).
[Shepherd Boy], 51.7 × 127 cm, Bernhard Keil (1624-1687). Location unknown: auctioned Christies, London (2001); formerly collection of Michael Kroyer, London. Ref. Website: Artfact (2005 - col.) A recumbent shepherd boy with a sleeping dog by his side, a wicker basket at his feet. In front of him lies a small, flared-bell recorder, clearly depicted.

Peter de Kempener [Pedro Campana or Petrus Campania or Campanicusis or Peter Campener]

Spanish-born artist who moved to Netherlands; born 1503, died 1580.

The Nativity Shepherds, Peter de Kempener (1503-1580). Berlin: Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Gemäldegalerie, 1597. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999: Bgd 20); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers comm., 2001). Mary and the shepherds admire the Christ-child whilst three angels tumble from the rafters of the stable. A shepherd kneeling in the left foreground has a flared-bell recorder of alto size stuck through his belt. The window/labium and six finger-holes are clearly depicted; another finger-hole could be hidden by the man's belt.

Jan I van Kessel

Flemish artist famous today for his tiny, meticulously rendered pictures of insects; born Antwerp (1626), died Antwerp (1679).

Hearing [One of the Five Senses] (1659), copper, 78.5 × 110.5 cm, Jan I van Kessel (1626-1679). Paris: Louvre. Ref. JMA (1966: 165, 167-168, figs 17-20); Leppert (1977: 88). An allegorical still-life depicting many musical instruments, including two duct-flutes (flageolets or recorders) with five finger-holes visible on each as well as a smaller whistle.
Allegory of Hearing, panel 56 × 89 cm, Jan I van Kessel (1626-1679). Detail. Private Collection. Ref. Buijsen & Grijp (1993). Music plays a theorbo on the terrace of a house, surrounded by animals and instruments of music, including a duct flute lying in the right hand corner between a shawm and a bassoon. A small monkey blows a trumpet and holds what looks like a second duct-flute (probably a recorder) in his right hand.
Scene from the History of the Family of Moncade, Count of Aytona, cartoon for a series of tapestries, Jan I van Kessel (1626-1679) & David II Teniers (1610-1690). New York: Private Collection. Ref. Leppert (1977: 89 – pl. XXVI – b& w). A military portrait surrounded by a decorative frame with coats of arms, armour, plate, jugs, bowls, bird concerts and musical instruments including citterns, lute, rebecs, shawms, trumpets, tambourines and a small cylindrical recorder (bell not visible)
Amor docet musicam (ca 1650), 57 × 77 cm, attributed to Jan I van Kessel (1626-1679). Austria: Private Collection. Ref. JMA (1966: 171, fig. 22); Leppert (1977: 89). An allegorical still life on a palace terrace in which three nobles sing and play lute and virginals; two putti play violin and viol; and a number of instruments lie unused including harp, cittern, lute, rebecs, viols, violin, mute cornett, flutes (in a case), horns, bird-calls, and a duct-flute (flageolet or recorder).
Personification of Music, oil on canvas, Jan I van Kessel (1626-1679). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2002-col.) On a terrace before an open gallery, a young woman plays the lute. To the left is an elaborate pond with fish, swans and an island. Behind her stands a deer, with a few to the countryside beyond. At her feet sit two putti, littered on the ground all around are music books and instruments of every description including citern, horns, viols, lutes, trumpets, a cornett, and a small recorder lying on its front in the bottom right corner with its characteristic beak clearly visible. Against a wall stands a Flemish-style harpsichord above which hang three viols. Through the gallery a viol ensemble can be seen rehearsing. Birds fly about above, and two parrots perch on the back of a convenient chair.

Lukas Kilian (1570-1637), German

Cleio [sic.], engraving by Wolfgang Kilian (1581-1662), after Luckas Kilian (1570-1637). The Hague: Gemeentesmuseum, Music Department. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). "The Muse Clio plays Gloria in excelsis DEO, the music on her positive organ (a nice mixture of Classical and Christian themes!) Beside is a virginal. On the ground are a cornett, a dulcian, more music, and a recorder of which only the upper half – a well-shaped beaked mouthpiece, window/labium and the first four finger-holes of which are visible" (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)

Philippe Andreas Kilian (1714-1759), German (Augsburg)

[Untitled], print after Picart (Hotteterre, Principes) or possibly Watteau, by Philippe Andreas Kilian (1714-1759). Berlin: Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Kupferstichkabinett (West), 10590. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999: Bkk 254). Study of a recorder player's hands playing a three-piece alto baroque recorder.

Wolfgang Kilian (1581-1662), German engraver – see Lukas Kilian (1570-1637)

Athanasius Kircher

Father Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) was a member of the Society of Jesus, and became known as one of the foremost scientific writers of his time. The two volumes of his Musurgia Universalis ive ars magna consoni et dissoni in X. libros digesta … were published in in Rome (1650) and is one of the seminal works of musicology and was hugely influential in the development of Western music – in particular on J.S.Bach (1685-1750) and Beethoven (1770-1827).

Ordinary Wind Instruments, copper plate. from Musurgia Universalis, Vol. 1: 543, fig. 500 (1650), copper plate, Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680). Glasgow University: Special Collections, Ferguson Af-x.9 & Af-x.10 & E.x.42-42bis & Bk4-d.5; University of Reading Library Special Collections, Tim Eggington Library; Berlin: Ref. Book of the Month (November 2002); Website: European Cultural Heritage (ECHO) (2008). This plate depicts a number of woodwind and brasswind instruments, including trumpets, cornetto, shawms, trombones, organ pipes, signal horns, flute, a 'fistula hexastoma" (a conical duct-flute with five rather than six finger-holes – perhaps there is one for the thumb), and a recorder with a fontanelle and eight-fingerholes (one too many). The beak of the recorder appears to be held flush with the player's lips and mouth rather than beaked.

Mich(a)el Kirmer (op. 1552-1570), German

Three Musical Couples in the Bath-house, print, Mich(a)el Kirmer (op. 1552-1570). Berlin: Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Kupferstichkabinett (West), 4861. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999: Bkk 261). Three couples sit around a spinet (or clavichord) played by a woman. One of the men sings from a music book; the other two men play waisted fiddle and an alto cylindrical duct-flute (probably a recorder). The window/labium of the latter is clear, and all fingers of both hands seem to be involved in covering holes, certainly the little finger of the lowermost (left) hand. All are naked or nearly so. An elaborate frame depicts the heads of one of the Four Winds in each corner.

Arthur Kirmss

Contemporary US American artist and musician. Artist's web-site.

Arthur Playing the Piccolo Recorder, Arthur Kirmss (contemporary). The artist in side-profile wearing a black hat and a red waistcoat plays a small neo-baroque (? sopranino) recorder.
Spirit of the Renaissance, painting, Arthur Kirmss (contemporary). CD cover: Spirit of the Renaissance. "The painting represents a consort of woodwind players dressed in clothing of the 16th and 17th centuries. From left to right they are playing alto cornet, alto shawm, great bass crumhorn and alto recorder. They are standing in a wooden kiosk roofed with painted and guilded scale shingles, whose walls are hung with coats of arms. The wooden enclosure is surrounded by plant forms which appear to fly outward. The tendrils and leaves lower down are deep blue while those rising higher turn to green and burst into bloom. This blossoming is brought about by the sounds of the music. This is the 'Spirit of the Renaissance', or rebirth of musical culture of the Western world" (Arthur Kirmss).

Hans Klakow

German sculptor; his subjects were animals and people, particularly affectionate images of children playing, making music, etc.; his sculptures decorate urban spaces and schools in Berlin, Erfurt, Dresden, Potsdam and Brieselang where he lived and worked for some 60 years; born Berlin (1899), died Brieselang (1993).

Flötenrelief (1956), clay relief sculpture, 28 × 20 cm, Hans Klakow (1899-1993). Private Collection. Ref. Deutsche Fotothek, Dresden & Deutsche Akademie der Künste, Berlin (Walter Bergmann ex Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm. 2005 - b&w); Wehnert (1970); Archiv Moeck. A boy and a girl, both in long robes, sit together playing recorders of slender conical profile with a flared foot. The window/labium of each is hinted at, and all fingers seem to be in play.

Friedrich August von Kloeber

German decorative artist, portraitist and painter of classical mythological subjects; he also designed porcelain figurines; his portraits include Beethoven; born Breslau (1793), died Berlin (1864).

Jubal Inventing the Flute (1839), oil painting, circular, Friedrich August von Kloeber (1793-1864). Berlin: Alte NationalGalerie, A5200. Seated in teh forest, Jubal, surrounded by children, goats and a huge dog, makes pipes for his young companions one of whom sits at his feet testing a prototype which would seem to be a duct-flute of some kind.

Johan Klopper (ca 1670-1734), Swedish

Trompe l'oeil, oil on canvas, 90 × 79 cm, Johan Klopper (ca 1670-1734). Stockholm: Nationalmuseum, NM 6764. Ref. Legêne (1995: 123); Sidén (2001: 155, pl. 11 - col.) Legêne refers to a flared-bell, 'wave profile' recorder depicted in this painting. However, the instrument is actually a flageolet with but four finger-holes.

Obwohl von Knobelsdorff

German architect and decorator; flourished 1742-1746.

Gilded plaster trophy, appliqué on a pale green marble with red veining, Obwohl von Knobelsdorff (18th century). Berlin: Charlottenburg Palace, New Wing, Golden Gallery. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). A trophy on the North side of the Gallery shows the underside of a recorder of alto/tenor size. The beak and windway opening are very clear and there is a turned decorative ring before the thumb-hole position which is obscured by other elements of the design. The body is cylindrical and first, then slightly tapered towards the bell flare which has two decorative rings.

Nicolaus Knüpfer [Knipper, Knufer or Knupfer]

Dutch painter and draughtsman, active in Utrecht; apart from a few battle scenes, genre scenes and portraits, he concentrated primarily on small-scale history paintings inspired by rederijker theatres, the local rhetoricians' guilds that put on amateur performances; despite a sketchy technique and loose brushwork, his paintings are characterised by their warm tones and dramatic chiaroscuro; born ca 1603, died 1655.

Amarillis crowning Mirtillo, 38 × 62 cm, Nicolaus Knüpfer (ca 1603-1655). Augsburg: Städtische Kunstsammlungen, Inv. 12339. Ref. Kettering (1983: fig. 173); Griffioen (1988: 440-441); Munich RIdIM (1999: Ask 25); Rasmussen (1999b). Behind Amaryllis, as she crowns Mirtillo (a rustic youth), a woman plays a soprano recorder (left-hand lowermost). Another bare-breasted woman strikes a tambourine. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 1999).
Portrait of the Artist and his Family (ca 1645), Nicolaus Knüpfer (ca 1603-1655). Dresden: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen. Ref. Fischer (1975: 84-85, pl.); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). Includes two young children and an infant, the latter standing naked on a table held by her mother and holding a pipe to her mouth with four fingers of her right hand in good lower-hand recorder playing position. The instrument is beaked, but no window/labium or finger-holes are visible. It is cylindrical or slightly outwardly conical with a small and short flare at the bell. Knüpfer holds a book of music of 'So d'ouden songen, so pipen de jongen' [As the old people sing, so the youngsters pipe]. As Knüpfer married in 1640, Fischer (loc. cit.) deduces ca 1645 as the date of this painting. He then considers the relation between this picture and those of his pupil Jan Steen with whom this subject was a particular favourite. Notes by Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.)

Nicolaus Knüpfer & Jan Both

Painter and etcher Jan Both was the leading master of the Italianate trend of Dutch landscape painting in the 17th century; born Utrecht (ca1615), died Utrecht (1652); the son of a glass painter.

Mercury and Argus, Nicolaus Knüpfer (ca 1603-1655) & Jan Both (ca 1618-1652). Vienna: Kunsthisorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie. Ref. Warburg Institute, London; Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). Mercury, naked except for wings at head and heels, crawls towards Argus. The lower part of the flared-bell pipe (possibly a recorder) he has been playing can be seen.

Georg Anton Koch (18th century), German

Stammbuch di Hendrick van Uchelen (1728), 16.3 × 11.0 cm, Georg Anton Koch. Frankfurt am Main: Museum für Kunsthandwerk, Bibliothek. Ref. Hortus Musicus 1(4): 58 - col. (2000); Website: Stichtung Fondazione Pietro Antonio Locatelli (2003). A manuscript score of a preliminary version of the Andante movement of Pietro Antonio Locatelli's Sonata III, Op. 2 is held open above a table by two putti. On the table and partly hidden by the music score are two violins, a transverse flute and a recorder. In front of the table, a putto leaning against a skull conducts two putti more who sing and play shawm respectively. A third member of the band with a horn slung around his body pushes another violin aside. The recorder appears to be made of ebony and has a metalic (? silver) mount between the head and the body. Hendrick van Uchelen was a man of affairs of Dutch origin resident in Frankfurt at a time when Locatelli was working in Germany.

Philips de Koninck [Coningh]

Dutch landscape artist and portrait painter; his panoramic landscapes, rich and warm in tone, suggest dramatic atmosphere and space and are among the best in the Dutch landscape tradition; born Amsterdam (1619), died Amsterdam (1688).

Peasants in a Tavern (ca 1662), pen and brush and brown ink and brown gray wash on buff laid paper, 14.6 × 20.5 cm, Philips de Koninck (1619-1688) Detroit: Detroit Institute of Arts, 38.17. A group of peasant men carouse in a tavern. In the background, a standing man in what looks like a top hat plays a small slightly flared pipe (probably a recorder); beside him a seated man sings from an open book.

Johann Koerbecke

German artist of the Cologne school; born Coesfeld (ca 1420), died Münster (1490).

Assumption of the Virgin (ca 1457), attributed to Johann Koerbecke (ca 1420-1490). Madrid: Museo del Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Inv. 210. Ref. Staedel (1933: pl. 10); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. com, 2001). “There are four groups of angel musicians with different coloured wings – pinky-red, orangey-red, blue and white. The first group is of lute, harp and a singer, the second all singers, the third fiddle, lute and singer, and the fourth a large psaltery with one angel playing and the other angel holding it, and two joined duct-flutes forming a double flute. The small right hand flute only has three finger-holes, but the left hand one has six finger-holes in line and one offset after a gap before the cylindrical bell. In both instruments the window/labium is clear” (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.) This painting was originally a panel from the altarpiece of Kloster Marienfeld, near Munich.

Georg Melchior Kraus

German painter and teacher; his subjects depict society and personalities during the Weimar classical period in the milieu of the Duchess Anna Amalia (1739-1807) and her son Karl August; born Frankfurt am Main (1737), died Weimar (1806).

Boy with a Duct-flute, Georg Melchior Kraus (1737-1806). Frankfurt: Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Städtische Galerie, 6109. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999: Fsm 219). A young boy in a jacket and cap sits holding a soprano-sized duct-flute (probably a recorder) of baroque design the beak of which is clumsily depicted but the window/labium and four finger-holes of which are clear. The lower body and foot of the instrument are hidden in the palm of the boy's right hand.

James Kraus (contemporary), USA

Untitled (1994), James Kraus (contemporary). American Recorder 36(4): cover (1994). A man (with curly white hair and glasses) and a boy (with a propeller hat), play stylised, flared recorders.

Johann Kroeger [pseudo Roestraeten]

Dutch painter; active ca 1675-1725.

Still-life, oil on canvas, Johann Kroeger (op. 1675-1725). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank (2001 - b&w). On a table draped with a tapestry lie musical scores, an hourglass, a goblet, a terrestial globe and a dark-coloured baroque recorder.
A Group of Façon de Venise, Johann Kroeger (op. 1675-1725). Location unknown. Gabrius Data Bank (2007 - col.) A set of six small paintings, all still-lifes, one of which depicts a lute, a wine flask, books, a music-book, and a baroque recorder with an ivory ferrule between the head and body.

Werner [or Werli] Kübler II (1582-1621), German (Schauffhausen)

The Feast of the Prodigal Son (1604), print, Werner [or Werli] Kübler II (1582-1621). Stuttgart: Staatsgalerie. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999: Ssg 221). A recorder is held by a boy at the bottom of the print next to another boy playing a drum. The recorder is of alto/tenor size. Its windway/beak is at the bottom of the head-piece, but the window/labium is at the top.

Balthasar Küchler (1571-1641), German

The Nine Muses (1611), Balthasar Küchler (1571-1641). Ref. Calendar: Musica (Bärenreiter 1981: 21, as Ladies making music); Archiv Moeck. Depicts the Nine Muses playing instruments of the time including viol, trumpet, lute, cornett, keyboard, viola da braccio, and an impossibly large bass recorder with a bocal. The winged horse, Pegasus, launches himself from the slope above them. The 12th of 253 illustrations by Küchler depicting the festivities for the marriage of Duke Johann Friedrich of Würtenberg in 1609.

Hans Süss von Kulmbach (ca 1480-1522), German

Coronation of the Virgin (1514), 117 × 79 cm, Hans Süss von Kulmbach (ca 1480-1522). Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum. Ref. Visual Collection, Fine Arts Library, Harvard University, 373.K969.31C; Rasmussen (1999b). Surrounded by winged putti and watched by a ? donor and two nuns, the Virgin is crowned to an accompaniment on lute and a flared-bell pipe (possibly a recorder – a shawm seems unlikely in this company) played by winged putti.

János [Johann] Kupezki [Kupetzky, Kupecki]

Hungarian portrait painter, including several of musicians, whose rich coloration and energetic design are combined in a character portrayal searching for the reality behind the mask; born in Pressburg (1667), died Nuremberg 1740.

Recorder Player, oil on canvas, 90 × 71 cm, János Kupezki (1667-1740). Budapest: Szépmüvészeti Múzeum. Ref. Website: Szépmüvészeti Múzeum (2001); Moeck (1999, fig. – b&w). Shows a baroque alto recorder of elaborately turned design with ivory mounts. Thought to be a self-portrait of the artist. A copy of this painting has recently been made for Christian Starke by the Hungarian artist Judit Pöcs.
Recorder Player, oil on canvas, 87 × 69 cm, after János Kupezki (1667-1740). London: Sotheby's (1993), item 1027; New York: Sotheby's, Old Master Paintings, 27 October 1993, Lot 70. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001); Gabrius Data Bank (2002 - col.); Artfact (2003). A fine copy of the original in the Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest. See above.
Portrait of a Man with a Recorder, oil on canvas, 81.5 × 65.5 cm, János Kupezki (1667-1740). Hamburg: Hamburger Kunsthalle, No. 685. Ref. Moeck (1999, fig. – col.); Bridgeman Art Library (2001: Image ID HKH 147761 - col.) Across his chest, away from his face, a man holds a baroque alto recorder of elaborately turned design with ivory beak and mounts. He wears a red velvet hat, a white shirt with a 'clerical' collar, and a green and russet soft coat. His right hand is held lowermost. [Note by Anthony Rowland-Jones (1998).]
E quibus in solo vivendi causa palato est (1736), 23 × 35 cm, engraving by Bernard Vogel (1683-1737) , Nuremberg, after an original by János Kupezki (1667-1740). Celle: Sammlung Moeck. Ref. Tibia 2/97 (1997: cover – col.) The quotation is from the Satires of Juvenal. A peasant musician, his jacket and shirt open, drains a wineglass, a baroque alto recorder clutched in one hand. His drinking companion, a young lad, holds a glass beaker in one hand and a pewter jug in the other.