Recorder Home Page

Recorder Iconography

Compiled by Nicholas S. Lander

Z

Paolo Zacchia (il Vecchio) [Zacchia di Antonio da Vezzano] (op. 1519 - ca 1561), Italian (Lucchese)

Portrait of a Young Gentleman, Paolo Zacchia (il Vecchio) [Zacchia di Antonio da Vezzano] (op. 1519 - ca 1561). New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ref, Zeri (1971: 208); Rasmussen (1999b). "Includes a lute and a recorder (only the bell visible)" (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Not seen.
St Joseph and a Shepherd (1519), Paolo Zacchia (op. 1519 - ca 1561). Milan: Pinacoteca di Brera. Ref. Angelo Zaniol (pers. comm., 2004). Fragment from a larger Nativity stolen and dismembered from the Chiesa di Sant'Agostino, Pietrasanta. The complete work is known only from a photograph taken prior to the theft. Standing behind St Joseph, a young shepherd leans against a wall, holding a large (?tenor) recorder in one hand. Only the head of the instrument can be seen, but the beak, window/labium and maker's mark are clearly depicted. The latter, a trefoil, is similar to the third of those illustated in the fingering charts given by Sivestro Ganassi in the Fontegara (Venice, 1535), and those observed in an intarsia panel made by Damiano Zambelli (Bologna, 1528-1549). These marks may belong to members of the Rauch family from Schrattenbach. A tenor recorder in the Moeck collection (Celle) bears a mark with a single trefoil, as do a basset in Paris, and another in Vienna. The remaining instruments bear double trefoil marks.

Francesco Zaganelli (di Bosio) [Francesco da Cotignola] (op. 1470/1480 - 1531/1532), Italian

Italian artist influenced by Ercole di Roberti, Costa and Francia, and later by Palmezzano, Rosso and Garofalo; but his work, notwithstanding its provincial limitations, is characterized by a fertile imagination; born Cotignola, near Ravenna (1470/1480), died Ravenna (1532); collaborated with his brother, Barnardino (op. 1499 - 1509).

Sacra conversazione, Francesco Zaganelli (op. 1470/1480 - 1531/1532). Sarasota: John and Mable Ringling Museum, Ref. Suida (1949: 51); Rasmusen (1999b). "Three small angels at the foot of the throne sing and play lute and recorder (?)" (Rasmussen, loc. cit.) Curiously, this work is not listed in the later catalogue of the Ringling Museum by Tomory (1976).

Fra Damiano Zambelli

Italian Dominican brother and artist who worked in Bologna; born Bergamo (1480), died 1549.

Intarsia, (1528-1549), panel, Fra Damiano Zambelli (1480-1549). Bologna: S. Nicola e S. Domenico, front choir stalls. Depicts a lute, a book of music, and two cylindrical recorders each with window/labium, makers mark (a trefoil under the window and on the foot), a slightly flared bell, and seven finger-holes (the lowermost offset) clearly shown (Anthony Rowland-Jones, (pers. comm.) Interestingly, the trefoil maker's marks are very similar (though inverted) to the third of those illustrated by Ganassi (1535). Young (1993) notes various renaissance woodwind instruments (including a tenor recorder in the Moeck collection) with clover-leaf/trefoil makers' marks which he believes may indicate members of the Rauch family other than Hans Rauch von Schrattenbach. Silvestro Ganassi belonged to a large family of musicians and instrument makers, probably originally from Bologna.
The Baptism of San Domenico (1528-1549), intarsia panel, Fra Damiano Zambelli (1480-1549). Bologna: S. Nicola e S. Domenico, front choir stalls. Ref. Alce (1969: 181); Rasmussen (1999b). "Includes figures singing and with a lute and a recorder. There is another recorder on a table" (Rasmussen (loc. cit.) Not seen.
Intarsia, panel, Fra Damiano Zambelli (1480-1549). Bologna: S. Nicola e S. Domenico, balcony door (South side). The balcony was for musicians and a solo singer to stand on. There are two sets of double doors on each side. Depicts a trophy comprising a viola da braccio and bow, and a cylindrical duct flute (probably a recorder) with a wide bore; the window/labium is partly visible. Notes (in part) by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm.)
Intarsia, panel, Fra Damiano Zambelli (1480-1549). Bologna: S. Nicola e S. Domenico, balcony door (South side). The balcony was for musicians and a solo singer to stand on. There are two sets of double doors on each side. Depicts a trophy above a clavichord. The trophy comprises a timbrel (without skin) and two cylindrical duct-flutes (probably recorders) each with a flared bell with a wide bore. On one of the recorders the window/labium is hinted at, and only 4 finger-holes are visible, the remainder probably hidden by the timbrel. The other recorder is shown in side profile only. The beaks of each instrument are clearly shown. Notes (in part) by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm.)

Domenico Zampieri = Domenichino

Conte Antonio Maria I Zanetti

Italian printmaker who produced woodcuts and etchings; born 1680, died 1757.

[Untitled] (1724), woodcut, Conte Antonio Maria I Zanetti (1680-1757). An old man offers a youth an oak crown. The youth holds two wind instruments in his left hand on the ground. One, a likely recorder, is cylindrical and fat, the window/labium and windway are visible, and three lower holes in line are visible beneath the hand that grasps it. The other instrument is very slender. A goat watches the scene. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000).

Jacopo Zanguidi [il Bertoja]

Italian frescoist and painter of the Bolognese school; known for his depictions of religious and mythological subjects; born Parma (1544), died Parma (1574).

Landscape with Scenes from the Legend of Apollo and Marsyas, oil on panel, Jacop Zanguidi (1544-1574). Location unknown: auctioned by Sotheyby's, 6 July 2000 (sold). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2002 - col.) A composite scene. In the foreground a red-cloaked Apollo sitting on a bank plays his viola da braccio to a goat-footed Marsyas who relaxes on a tree-stump, his syrinx held loosely in his right hand. Beside them a human figure (without hooves) sits with his back to us plays a long cylindrical pipe (possibly a duct-flute, but no details visible). In the middleground Apollo stands menacingly over Marsyas who is tied to a tree, awaiting his grisly fate. In the background, amidst the forest, stands a circular temple.

Angelo Zaniol

Contemporary Italian professor of music, instrument maker, composer and painter.

Portrait of the artist's wife, Sonia (ca 1980), drawing, Angelo Zaniol (contemporary). Castelfranco: Property of Angelo Zaniol. Ref. Angelo Zaniol (pers. comm., 2003). The artist's wife plays a soprano Hopf/Kobliczek renaissance recorder.

Machiavelli Zanobi

Italian artist; a pupil of Gozzoli Benozzo (1420-1497); born 1418, died 1479.

Coronation of the Virgin (1473), oil on wood, Machiavelli Zanobi (1418-1479). Dijon: Musée des Beaux-Arts, Cat. 81 H.164 L164. Ref. Winternitz (1982: 61 & fig. 49); Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2005; 2007a: 41 & fig. 2 - col.) Includes three groups of angle musicians, two 'haut' and one 'bas'. The top left-hand group comprises bagpipe, pipe and tabor, triangle and two slide trumpets. The right group, two straight trumpets, one slide trumpet, tambourine and cymbals. The bottom central group of four play fiddle, lute, soprano recorder, and one sings although his lips are closed. The recorder is clyindrical, with the mouth-piece, including the whole rather narrow window-labium area, in a pale or white material. The lips are relaxed, likewise the cheeks. the wrists are low, suggesting the existence of a thumb-hol.e, and all four fingers of the upper (right) hand are down, with the second lifted – a fingering peculiar to the recorder. The artist has shown the lower two holes a little too far up from the instrument's flared bell end, where the wide bore is clearly seen. The instrument is turned slightly towards the viewer as if to show the whole of the window/labiuim area, and clarify the fingering. Annoted OPUS CENOBI DEMACHIAVELLIS MCCCCLXXIII. Originally from Santa Croce in Fossabanda, Pisa.

Bonanal Zaortiga [Master of the Burnham Collection]

Spanish (Catalan) arist from the Teruel region (southern Aragon); active ca 1425-1430.

Section of an altar-piece: Enthroned Madonna and Child with Angel Musicians (ca 1430), oil on panel, Bonanal Zaortiga (op. ca 1425-1430). Frankfurt am Main: Städtlisches Kunstinstitut: Städtische Galerie, Inv. 1168. Ref. Post (? date, 3: fig. 335); Rowland-Jones (1997: 14-15). Angel musicians entertain the Virgin and Child, including a singer accompanied by harp, lute, rebec, and two cylindrical soprano recorders (with paired lowermost finger-holes clearly depicted). Less refined but similar in style to an anonymous Madonna and Angels from the Lázaro Collection, Madrid. The surface of this painting is raised to give the brocade of the drapes a 3-D effect.

Lorenzo Luppo Zara

Italian artist; fl. 1511, died Venice (1525).

Shepherd with a Flute, Lorenzo Luppo Zara (fl. 1511-1525). Padova: Museo Civico Agli Eremitani. Shows a young boy with an ivy-crown holding the head of a renaissance-style recorder. There is an identical picture by Francesco Torbido, 'Il Moro' in the Museo Civico, Padova (see above). Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones.

Giovanni Battista [Giambattista, Gian Battista ] Zelotti [Farinati]

Italian painter, member of a group attracted by Mannerist art who were to influence Veronese; much of his work was executed for prestigious villas and palazzi in and near Vicenza; born Verona (1526), died Mantua (1578).

A Concert, Giambattista Zelotti (1526-1578). Verona: Castelvecchio Museum, Cat. No. 326. Ref. Berenson (1952: vol. 1, pl. 142); Paris RIdIM (1999); Musica in veneto (? date: 71); Paolo Biordi (pers. comm., 2000). A female musician plays a cylindrical alto recorder; another plays a spinet from music held by a putto at her feet; a man plays a viol (viola bastarda); a woman with her back to us appears to be conducting! The recorder's mouthpiece and widow/labium are clearly visible; the left hand is uppermost and three finger-holes are open; the little finger of the lower hand seems poised, but the lower end of the instrument is obscured by the peg box of the lute. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm.)

Stefano da Zerio (15th century), Italian (Lombard)

Adoration of the Magi, follower of Stefano da Zerio (15th century). Milan: Sforza Castle. Three angels on the stable roof play mandora, rebec and a cylindrical pipe (flageolet or recorder) with a shortly flared bell with turned decoration. Only one hand is actually shown on the instrument.

Januarius Zick

Minor German rococo painter of mainly biblical and classical subjects; born Munich (1730), died Ehrenbreitstein (1797); son of the painter Johann Zick (1702-1762).

String Quartet with Singer (ca 1779), painting on a writing table, Januarius Zick (1730-1797). Washington: National Gallery of Art, Widener Collection 1942.9.416. Ref. Ford (1986: #182). Decoration on a writing table with mechanical fittings (table mécanique or schreibtisch), by the German furniture maker David Roentgen (1734-1807). "Four men, playing two violins, viola, and cello, and a woman singing, all from music. Man standing to the side dismantling a recorder. Shawm lying on table" (Ford, loc. cit.) Not seen.

Johann Baptist Zimmerman

Geman painter and stuccoist; born Gaispoint (1680), died Munich (1758).

[Musical Shepherd and Shepherdess], wall painting, (1757), Johann Baptist Zimmerman & Son (1680-1758). Munich: Nymphenburg Palace, Music Hall, above left doorway in entrance hall. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 1999). A shepherd plays a cello to a shepherdess holding her crook in one hand and a soprano turned baroque recorder in the other. Six finger-holes are visible and there is a hole for the little finger on the foot piece. The entrance hall was used for music by Maximillian III who played the viol.
Stucco trophy (1757), Johann Baptist Zimmerman & Son (1680-1758). Munich: Nymphenburg Palace, Music Hall, stucco-work on garden end loggia. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 1999). A trophy in which a turned baroque recorder is crossed with a winged helmet and caduceus (symbolic of Mercury), and assorted leaves, flowers and grapes.
Stucco trophy (1757), Johann Baptist Zimmerman & Son (1680-1758). Munich: Nymphenburg Palace, Music Hall, stucco-work on balcony wall. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 1999). A trophy in which a turned baroque recorder is crossed with a viol.
Gilded stucco frieze (1757), Johann Baptist Zimmerman & Son (1680-1758). Munich: Nymphenburg Palace, anteroom to Music Hall, stucco-work on right of entrance. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 1999). Includes a trophy in which a turned baroque recorder is crossed with a conch and a syrinx, and another in which a recorder is crossed with an oboe.
Silvered stucco frieze (1757), Johann Baptist Zimmerman & Son (1680-1758). Munich: Nymphenburg Palace, Amalienburg Hunting Lodge, Hall of Mirrors. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 1999). Includes a trophy in which two turned baroque recorders are crossed with a violin, a harp, some music and assorted foliage.
The Kingdom of the Nymph Flora (1756/1757), painted sketch, Johann Baptist Zimmerman & Son (1680-1758). Augsburg: Städtische Kunstsammlungen, Inv. No. 6143. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). "A design for a fresco in the Steinemen Room in the Nymphenburg Palace, Munich. At the bottom right a woman leans over a low wall with a large sheet of music held down by her left hand. Her right hand holds a duct-flute of soprano/alto size with beak and window/labium clearly if sketchily drawn. The bell flares slightly and has ?ivory rings" (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)
Trophy of Musical Instruments, stuccowork, Johann Baptist Zimmerman & Son (1680-1758). Munich: Alte Pinakothek, Schloss Schleißheim: Gemäldegallerie, East Wing, Garden Rooms. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). The decoration of the easternmost of three adjacent rooms includes two trophies of musical instruments. In one, a lute, flute, oboe and baroque recorder are crossed. The recorder is viewed in side profile, most of its body hidden behind the lute.
Trophy of Musical Instruments, stuccowork, Johann Baptist Zimmerman & Son (1680-1758). Munich: Alte Pinakothek, Schloss Schleißheim: Gemäldegallerie, East Wing, Garden Rooms. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). The decoration of the easternmost of three adjacent rooms includes two trophies of musical instruments. In one, a violin is crossed with its bow and two baroque recorders. Both of the recorders show four finger-holes, the remainder hidden behind the violin.
[Pastoral Scene], stucco roundel, Johann Baptist Zimmerman & Son (1680-1758). Munich: Alte Pinakothek, Schloss Schleißheim: Gemäldegallerie, East Wing, Garden Rooms. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). The decoration of the westernmost of three adjacent rooms includes a stucco roundel, by the door, depicting a pastoral scene in which a shepherd boy plays a soprano recorder, left hand lowermost, all fingers down. The beak of the recorder is clearly, but therea re no other details except a strong flare at the bell.

John Zoffany (also Johann Zoffani, original name probably Johann Joseph Zauffely, also spelled Zauphaly)

German-born portrait painter of a Czech family; active in England where, encouraged by the actor David Garrick, he made his reputation with paintings depicting episodes from contemporary theatre and with portraits and conversation pieces; born Frankfurt am Main (1733), died Strand-on-the-Green, Middlesex (1810).

Portrait of David Garrick, oil on canvas, feigned oval, 75.2 × 62.7 cm, Johnn Zoffany (1733-1810). Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, A1219. Ref. Website: Ashmolean Museum (2007 - col.) A half-length portrait of the celebrated actor David Garrick (1717-1779) in side profile. In the foreground are flowers, masks of Comedy and Tragedy, a syrinx and a recorder, only the head of which is visible. A copy of this portrait in the National Portrait Gallery, London, is dated 1763.
Portrait of David Garrick (1763), oil on canvas, feigned oval, 75.2 cm × 63.2 cm, studio of Zoffany (1733-1810). London: National Portrait Gallery 1167. Ref. Walter Bergamn Slide WB 43 (ex Anthony Rowland-Jones, 2005); Hersom (1984); Angelo Zaniol (pers. comm., 2004). A half-length portrait of the celebrated actor David Garrick (1717-1779) in side profile. In the foreground are flowers, masks of Comedy and Tradgedy, a syrinx and a recorder, only the head of which is visible. The original painting is in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

Gaetano Gherardo Zompini

Italian painter and engraver; his works include historical, religious and mythological subjects; born Nervesa, Treviso (1700), died Venice (1778).

From a series of twelve prints, Varii Capricci, E Paesi (1758): The Centaur Chiron Exercising the Art of Magic in the Presence of the Young Achilles, etching, sheet 24.2 x 32.8 cm (Boston), 26.9 × 37.6 cm (San Francisco), Gaetano Zompini (1700-1778). Boston: Fine Arts Museum, Accession Accession No. 2001.642; San Francisco: Fine Arts Museums. Ref. Website: Fine Arts Museum, Boston (2007); Website: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (2007). A scene from the life of Achilles who was placed under the tutelage of the centaur Chiron. Watched by a youthful Achilles, Chiron lowers something into his magic brew with tongs held in his right hand whilst in his left he holds a narrowly cylindrical object to his lips. If it is a musical pipe then there is a shadow of a windway/labium, but no other details are visible. More likely it is a blow-pipe with which to fan the flames beneath the cauldron. In the foreground is an upturned hourglass, and a snake slithers towards some frightened looking sheep.
From a series of twelve prints, Varii Capricci, E Paesi (1758): The Centaur Chiron Instructing Achilles in Music, etching, sheet 23 × 32.5 cm, Gaetano Zompini (1700-1778). Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Accession No. 2001.641. The centaur Chiron instructs Achilles who plays his guitar from a book of music held by his teacher. Beside them, a younger centaur dozes against a decorative pillar. On the ground before them lie three pipes crossed to form a kind of trophy. One of thee pipes is very clearly a flared-bell recorder of which the beak, window/labium and several finger-holes are clearly depicted.

Francesco Zuccarelli

Italian artist who specialised in pastoral landscapes with a decorative and bucolic quality; he also contributed figures and landscape vignettes to architectudral scenes by Antonio Visentini (1688-1782); from 1752 to 1762, and again from 1764 to 1771, he worked in England where he became a founder member of the Royal Academy of Arts and received commissions from King George III; on his return to Italy later he was appointed President of the Venetian Academy; born Pitigliano (1702), died Florence (1788).

Adoration of the Shepherds, oil on canvas, 82 × 104 cm, Francesco Zuccarelli (1702-1788). Oxford: Christ Church Picture Gallery, JBS 126. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). This painting is unusual for Zuccarelli: a nightpiece treated as compelling narrative, rather than merely a means of poulating a landscape. In the right background the angel announces the news of the birth of Christ to startled shepherds, while in the foreground they adore the Christ Child and bring gifts to honour him, including a bound sacrificial lamb. One of the shepherds coming in at the door with his wife holds a flared bell pipe with a bulbous mouthpiece high in the air.

Taddeo Zuccaro [Zucchero, Zuccari or Zuccheri] (1529-1566), Italian

Italian mannerist painter and frescoist; his style, based on that of Michaelangelo and Raphael, tended to be rather dry and wooden, but utilised illusionism of various types in a sophisticated, thematically apt and visually clear way; born near Urbino (1529), died 1566; brother of the painter Federico Zuccaro (ca 1540-1609).

Musarum Officia (1597), engraved by Hendrik I Hondius (1573 - p. 1649) after Taddeo Zuccari (1529-1566). Den Haag: Gemeentesmuseum, Music Department. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). "Nine Muses, seven with instruments (viol, harp, lira da braccio, shawm, transverse flute, lute and double pipe). There are two quite separate pipes looking like cylindrical recorders, with flared bell ends which give the impresion that they are jointed foot-sections" (Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)
Il Parnasso, canvas, Taddeo Zuccari (1529-1566). Location unkown: auctioned 17 May 1993 (sold). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2001). Apollo plays his lyre, and the Muses desport themselves. Amongst them one on the far right (? Euterpe) plays a small flared-bell duct-flute (probably a recorder).

Antonio Zucchi

Italian painter who decorated panels for Robert Adam's interiors; born Venice (1726), died 1795; husband of Angelica Kauffmann (1741-1807)

Minerva among the Arts, freize-panel, Antonio Zucchi (1726-1795). Hampstead (London): Kenwood House, Library, apse. Ref. Rowland-Jones (2000a, 11-12). One of the Graecian ladies holds two separate pipes, that in her right hand being larger than the one in her left. The window/labium is unclear, but this may be an example of the recorder/marriage symbolism traceable from Cossa and Titian. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. com., 2000).
Epithalamium, Antonio Zucchi (1726-1795). Hampstead (London): Kenwood House, Library, to right of the entrance doorway. Ref. Rowland-Jones (2000a, 11-12; 2002d: 92, fig. 1 - b&w). "A man is seated near one end of a row of Grecian women, who are standing, some of them with instruments, looking rather like Wedgwood decoration, and a woman is seated near the other end. Three of the Grecian ladies play lyres, but the central figure plays what at first looks like a double pipe. In fact, it is two single pipes, possibly recorders though the detail is inadequate for certain identification. Her right-hand recorder is slightly longer than the left pipe, reminding us of the two instruments in Titian's The Three Ages of Man and in Cossa's The Triumph of Venus" (Rowland-Jones 2000a & 2002d, loc. cit.)

Gerard Pietersz. van Zyl [Zyll; called Geraers or Gerards Geraers]

Dutch artist who lived and worked in London (1639-1641); he painted genre paintings and portraits in which he collaborated with van Dyck; born Holland ca 1607, died 1665.

The Concert, oil on canvas, Gerard Pietersz. van Zyl (ca 1607-1665). Location unknown: auctioned by Tajan, 23 June 1997 (sold). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank, OMP (2001 - b&w). A woman with her back to us seems to be conducting with her right hand as a little dog jumps up at her. Opposite, across a table, a lutenist accompanies a young woman playing a small, slender pipe, possibly a recorder.
The Flute Lesson, mezzotint by Gerard Valck (1651/2-1726), after a mezzotint by Wallerant Vaillant (1623-1677), based on a painting by Geerad Pietersz. van Zyl (ca 1607-1665). Washington DC.: Library of Congress, Dayton C. Miller Flute Collection. Ref. Jan Lancaster ex Robert Bigio (pers. comm., 2007). A bearded man holds open a book of music for a young woman who seated ata table opposite him holding a soprano recorder with a flared bell. Another man stands beside them.