Recorder Home Page

Recorder Iconography

Compiled by Nicholas S. Lander

Q

Pieter (Jansz.) Quast

Dutch painter, draughtsman and engraver; his paintings include groups of elegant people, scenes with soldiers, surgical operations and tavern scenes with peasants and beggars, whose postures and faces approach caricature; the scenes, usually on small panels, are heavily and powerfully rendered in warm shades of brown, set off by strong local colouring in the principal figures; his peasant scenes are characterized by the use of strong chiaroscuro and a gentle, harmonious palette; born Amsterdam (1605/6), died Amsterdam (1647).

Comedians dancing (ca 1635), panel 40.3 × 53.3 cm, Pieter Quast (1605/6 - 1647). Paris: Musée de la Comédie Française. Ref. Nash (1972: fig. 63). Three Comedia dell' Arte Figures dance; one strums a lute, another a narrow flared bell recorder; two gentlemen and a lady look on.

Francesco Quarasima (fl. early 17th century), Italian

Birth of St John the Baptist (1619), Francesco Quarasima (fl. early 17th century). Termini Imerese (Sicily): Museo Civico. Ref. Museum Guide. Another version exists in the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli in nearby Cáccamo. At the top left a young angel plays a small pipe (insufficient detail to identify further) with (older) angels playing lute, viola (played guitar-wise) and portative organ. One sings from music book. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. com., 2000).

Artus I [Arnoldus] Quellinus [Quellin, Quellijn]

The greatest Flemish sculptor of the Baroque; directed the sumptuous decoration of the Amsterdam Town Hall; born Antwerp (1609), died Antwerp (1668); son of Erasmus Quellinus (ca 1584-1640); cousin of Artus II Quellin (1625-1770) with whom he collaborated.

Allegory of Music, carved wood sculpture, Artus I Quellinus (1609-1668). Amsterdam: Nieuwe Kerk, on top of the postive organ case. Ref. Postcard: Art Unlimted, Amsterdam A9455 (2001 - col.); Liesbeth van der Sluijs (pers. comm., 2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). Two figures recline surrounded by musical instruments which include lyre, ? shawm, violin, tambourine (with jingles), viol, cornett, and a recorder. On the left a bird with a reptilian looking head perches with outstretched wings. The organ is by German van Hagerbeer, with additions designed by Jacob van Campen (1655).
Amsterdam, carved wood sculpture, Artus I Quellinus (1609-1668). Detail. Amsterdam: Nieuwe Kerk, immediately beneath the postive organ case. Ref. Postcard (2001); Liesbeth van der Sluijs (pers. comm., 2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). Around a central female figure with outstretched wings putti gambol playing cymbals, tambourine, a flute and a small flared-bell pipe (possibly a recorder). The organ is by German van Hagerbeer, with additions designed by Jacob van Campen (1655).
Trophy, marble relief under the statue of the god Apollo (1650), Artus I Quellinus (1609-1668). Amsterdam: Stadhuis (Town Hall), formerly Koninklijk Paleis (Royal Palace). Ref. Goosens (1996: 51, pl. 42 - b&w); Liesbeth van der Sluis (pers. comm., 2003). A trophy of musical instruments including lyre, violins, flutes, cornett, oboe, guitar, lute, harp, bagpipe, syrinx and a budle of seven recorders. Two of the latter have only the heads are visible: one is viewed from the rear with a clearly depicted beak, windway and thumbhole; the other is viewed from the side with a clearly depicted beak and window/labium. A third recorder has only the body and foot visible, the lowermost finger-hole offset. Only the feet of the remaining four are visible.
Putti with Musical Instruments, carved marble relief, Artus I Quellinus (1609-1668). Amsterdam: Stadhuis (Town Hall), formerly Koninklijk Paleis (Royal Palace), decorating the fireplace on the north wall of the Council Chamber. Ref. Janssen (1953: 77 - b&w); Goosens (1996: 77, pl. 75 - b&w); Liesbeth van der Sluis (pers. comm., 2003). Putti sing and play lyre, harp, flute and two play small recorders (the window/labium and off-set lowermost finger-hole of one clearly depicted) – one cylindrical, the other flared. A third putto plays a flared-bell pipe (probably another recorder).

Erasmus Quellinus

Flemish painter and draughtsman who executed numerous altarpieces depicting Counter-Reformation themes for churches and monasteries throughout the Southern Netherlands, as well as secular paintings that depict scenes from ancient history and mythology and allegorical compositions; perhaps best known for his work for Rubens during the 1630s; born Antwerp (1607), died Antwerp (1678); son of the sculptor Erasmus Quellinus (ca 1584-1640).

Trophies with Musical Instruments (1654-1658), carved wood, designed by Erasmus Quellinus (1607-1678). Antwerp: St Pauls Church (formerly Dominican), organ case decoration. Ref. Peeters & Vente (1984: 233-col.); Arnold den Teuling (pers. comm., 2002). The carpenter of the case was Pieter Verbruggen de Oude (1615-1686). Due to guild regulations the carvings must have been made by a member of the sculptor's guild. So the wood carving itself is probably anonymous. The organ dates from 1654-1658 and was built by Nicolaes van Haeghen, who built also an organ in the Grote Kerk of Dordrecht (1671). Trophies below the diapasons at the front of the organ include viol and shawm (left), Trophies below the diapasons at the front of the organ include viol and shawm (left), drum and a tenor-sized, flared-bell recorder (centre) and lute and ? (right).

Hubertus Quellinus [Quellin, Quellian, Quellien]

Flemish painter, engraver, cartoonist, and ? sculptor; born 1619, died 1688; son of the sculptor Erasmus Quellinus (ca 1584-1640).

Mercury and Argus (1652), carved marble relief after Artus Quellinus I (1609-1668), by Hubertus Quellinus (1619 - 1688). Amsterdam: Stadhuis (Town Hall), formerly Koninklijk Paleis (Royal Palace), above the entrance to the Former Burgomasters' Cabinet. Ref. Goossens (1996: 73, pl. 69 - b&w); Warburg Institute, London (2000); Liesbeth van der Sluis (pers. comm., 2003). Artus Quellinus' picture was published in Secunda Pars praeciuarum effigierum, Amsterdam (1668). A very muscular-looking Argus in a loin cloth leans wearily on his staff, his back to a tree, his dog at his feet. Mercury (in winged helmet and sandals) is seated before him, his caduceus on the ground at his feet, his sword ready at his side. Mercury holds a small markedly flared-bell recorder awkwardy over his shoulder rather than playing it. Behind them, Io (as a heifer) looks vacantly into the distance. Prominently in the foreground is a fleshy-leaved herb, probably meant to be the mercurialis of the Romans, probably the garden weed and medicinal herb we know as Mercurialis annua ('Dog Wort'). Also in the foreground is a small lizard which has, of course, magical connotations (a favourite ingredient in witch's brew). This carving bears a striking resemblence to an anonymous 16th-century engraving of the Nuremberg School, though in that illustration the construction is the reverse of that here and Mercury is shown actually playing his recorder.

Heinrich Quentel [Quentell]

German printer and wood-engraver; active 1478-1506.

David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem (1478-1480), woodcut, Heinrich Quentel (fl. 1478-1506). Durham: Dean and Chapter Library, Inc. 14a, f.145v. Ref. Remnant (1981: 200, fig. 184); Bridgeman Art Library (2003: Image STC 67513 - col.) One of a number of woodcuts used in Quentel's Low German Bibles of 1478-1480, and re-used in the Biblia Germanica printed at Nuremberg by Anton Koberger (1483). The Ark of the Covenant is dragged on a cart pulled by two horses in front of which walk musicans, the first two of whom play harp and a slightly flared duct-flute the window/labium and seven finger-holes of which are clearly depicted. The position of the thumb of the uppermost (left) hand is held off the instrument, possibly indicating the presence of the thumbhole characteristic of the recorder.