Artists–D

Mary Ann Dabritz

Contemporary USAmerican sculptor working in bronze; many of her creations are decorative items featuring animals, real and imaginary. Artist’s web-site.

  • Bas relief bronze hook, after John Smith (? p. 1654–1742), Mary Ann Dabritz (2001). Website: A Cast of Characters. Ornamental hook after John Smith’s design for Peter Prelleur’s The Modern Music Master Or The Universal Musician, London (1731).
  • Bas relief bronze hook, after Johann Christoph Weigel (1654–1725/1726), Mary Ann Dabritz (2001). Website: A Cast of Characters. Ornamental hook reproducing the design from Weigel’s Musicalishes Theatrum (ca 1720).

Richard Dadd [‘Mad Dadd’]

Minor English (Victorian) artist whose early paintings were of landscape, marine and animal subjects but known chiefly today for a few tremendously evocative fairy paintings; after a trip to Greece, Turkey and the Middle East in 1843, he underwent a dramatic personality change, becoming delusional and increasingly violent, and believing himself to be under the influence of the Egyptian god Osiris; recuperating with his family, he become convinced that his father was the Devil in disguise and murdered him in a fit of manic depression; most of his work was done during his 20-year sojourn in Bethlem Hospital (Bedlam) and later in Broadmoor; he painted for himself and had no audience, no following, no patrons, and very little in the way of intellectual community; born Chatham (1817), died Broadmoor (1886).

  • Negation (1860), oil on canvas, 50.7 × 34.2, Richard Dadd (1819–1887). New Haven: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Ref. Bridgeman Art Library (2001: Image XYC127212); Russell (2010, b&w). Beside a stream, a woman carrying a water pitcher in one hand leads a child away from two women seated on a rocky hillside who, together, hold another pitcher. The child holds a small flared-bell recorder in the other hand. Everyone looks very glum. Doubtless this is a scene from Dadd’s travels: Russell (loc. cit.) points out that the women on the right wear plain and patterned skirts while the mother and child wear fustanella, a traditional skirt worn by Balkan men and boys. Fustanella was a symbol of Greek independence. Each of its four hundred pleats represents a year of Turkish domination. After so long spent in mental hospitals, Dadd may well have been thinking of independence himself.

Bernardo Daddi

Italian artist; an important painter of the generation which succeeded that of Giotto and Duccio; his frescoes, small devotional panels and portable altarpieces, depict tall and robust figures in movement, accompanied by gestures; for the most part, his colour is restrained and monotonous; he took an unprecedented pleasure in covering vacant surfaces with figures and other incidental figures; born and died (of the plague) Florence (ca 1290–1348).

  • Triptych altarpiece, left wing: Nativity with Shepherds (1338–1340), Bernardo Daddi (ca 1290-1348). Berlin: Gemädegalerie. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). The centre panel depicts the Coronation of the Virgin and includes two long trumpets, two portative organs, a fiddle and a gittern. On the Nativity panel (left wing), with Joseph beside her, Mary nurses her child in the stable, watched by a donkey and a cow and worshipped by a crowd of angels. A group of shepherds with their animals approach the scene: one of the shepherds leans on his staff, the other plays a narrowly concical pipe one-handedly which may represent a duct-flute of some kind. A small pink angel hovers amidst the rafters. The right wing depicts the Crucifixion.
  • Polyptych of San Pancrazio, right predella panel: Annunciation and Nativity (1336–1338), tempera on wood, 50 × 38.5 cm, Bernardo Daddi (ca 1290–1348). Florence: Galleria degli Uffizi, Inv. (1890) 8345. Ref. Berti (1978: 26, pl. 5, b&w); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002); Website: Wikimedia Commons (2005, col.); Lasocki (2023: 38). Painted for the church of San Pancrazio, Florence. The central section depicts the Holy Family around the crib watched by asses and angels. In the Annunciation to the Shepherds, one shepherd looks upwards and the other sitting playing a bagpipe with many musical angels, mainly in pairs each comprising a singer and an instrumentalist. The latter include fiddle, small lute, psaltery and tambourine, and two alto-size pipes with flared bells, both played right-hand lowermost and with inflated cheeks. One of the pipes has a mark of some sort where one would expect the window/labium of a recorder to be, the other not, but the playing position looks right for recorders, the distance from the lower hand to the bell is not great, and there is only a slight bell flare. One pipe (played by a red angel) has a hole just below the lower hand; the other, played by a blue angel, has a hole near the bell (? tuning hole) but there could be another, in line with it just below his hand. These instruments do not look like shawms or cornetti. One of the angels at the end of the crib is holding what looks like a harp. Outside, surrounded by their sheep and two dogs, a shepherd plays a bagpipe, and another, a shady-looking character hidden by his hood and with his back to us, holds a staff over his shoulder. The predella panels represent episodes in the life of the Virgin.
  • Madonna with Child and Saints, Bernardo Daddi (ca 1290–1348). Siena: Pinacoteca Nazionale, Inv. 73. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). An angel plays a pipe which is slightly conical, and then slightly out-curved towards the bell. The player’s lips are relaxed; the left hand is uppermost; all fingers of both hands are down; there is no sign of a window/labium, but this picture is faint with age and very rubbed. A second similar pipe is played by another angel below with, it seems, inflated cheeks, left-hand also uppermost, all fingers down. Other instruments are a psaltery and a portative organ.

Francois van Daellen [Dale, Dalen]

Netherlandish still-life painter about whom very little is known; he was first active in The Hague, joining the Guild of Saint Luke in 1636 as a student of the portraitist Joachim Ottensz Houckgeest (c.1585–p.1644); his existing oeuvre comprises some seven paintings every one of which is an intimate vanitas still-life that depicts extinguished candles and skulls arranged with books or musical instruments on marble tabletops; active 1636–1670.

  • Vanitas, panel, 25.5 × 19.9 cm, Francois van Daellen (op. 1636–1670). Florence: Galleria Palatina (Pitti Palace), Inv. 1890, n. 1077. Ref. Paolo Biordi (pers. comm., 2000). In an alcove lie a candle and holder (tipped on its side where it is caught in the act of falling, the wick still smoking), a skull, and books. The upper part of a recorder sticks out from under one of the books, the beak, window/labium and first two finger holes clearly visible.
  • Vanitas Still-life (1692), oil on oak panel, 30.5 × 28.3 cm, Francois van Daellen (op. 1636–1670). Detroit: Detroit Institute of Arts, 58.402. On a marbled bench partly covered with a black drape are books, a candlestick and snuffed but smoking candle, a thigh bone and the top half of a human skull. Projecting from underneath the latter is a cylindrical soprano recorder, only the head and body of which are seen.

Johann I Dallinger von Dalling

Austrian painter of altarpieces, rural scenes and animals; born Vienna (1741), died 1806; father of the artist John Allinger von Dalling (1782–1868).

  • Musical Gathering, Johann I Dallinger von Dalling (1741–1806). Karlsruhe: Kunsthalle, Inv. 1912. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999, KAkh – 19). Depicts many players and instruments, including a young man playing a recorder of soprano/alto size, left hand lowermost. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 1999).

Michael Damaskinos [Michail Damaskenos]

The greatest Greek (Cretan) iconographer of the post-Byzantine Cretan School; he painted almost the whole iconostasis as well as many other sacred images in San Giorgio dei Greci (Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint George) in Venice (1574–1582) whilst Crete was under Venetian rule; active 1570–1591.

  • Icon from The Birth of Christ (1577), Michael Damaskinos (op. 1570–1591). Venice: San Giorgio dei Greci (Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint George). Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). Painted for the Greek Church of St George, Venice. Damaskinos was familiar with the work of Parmigiano, Bassano and Raimondi. A shepherd plays a pipe, probably a duct flute since it seems to have a window/labium. Below the uppermost (right) hand two finger holes are visible; the bell is somewhat flared. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000).

Patrick Damiaens

Contemporary Belgian woodcarver who creates reproduction and personal creations of 18th century Liége style furniture and custom-made woodcarving and ornaments, including hunting and musical trophies for wall-paneling and interior decoration; his workshop is in Maaseik; born 1966.

  • Trophy of Musical Instruments (2007), carved wooden panel, Patrick Damiaens (1966—). A complex trophy which includes mandolin, triangle (with jingle rings), valved trumpet, leafy branchlets, butterflies, tassels sheet music, and two baroque-style recorders. The characteristic beak, window/labium, fott and several finger-holes are clearly depicted.

Florentin Damoiselet

French tapestry designer and painter to king, Louis XIV; in collaboration with Claude Huilliot, he painted the over-door panels which adorn the first floor of the central pavilion of the Château de Marly; born Paris (1644), died 1690.

  • Air sur l’Amour (? 1683–1684), oil on canvas, Florentin Damoiselet (1644–1690) & Claude Huilliot (1632–1702). Landes: Town Hall, Musée du Louvre Inv. 3639. Ref. Website: Iconography de la cornamuse (2009); Brochure: Boston Early Music Festival (2009 – col, as Amour et Fleurs); Website: Lute Iconography, Image LI-893 (2023, col.) A cherub (winged putto) clambering over a balcony, holds a circlet above his head in one hand and toys with a flower amongst a bunch of them beside him with the other. Littered on the balcony are a bassoon, a lute, a violin, a musette and a baroque recorder. Only the head and uppermost body of the latter are visible. In the centre of the composition is a small orange tree in a pot. Possibly one of 58 tableaux de fleurs et d’enfants painted 1683-1684 for display at the Château de Marly.
  • Jeux d’Enfants , La Danse [Children’s Games, the Dance] (1723), tapestry, 334 × 255 cm, Manufacture de Beauvais after Florentin Damoiselet (1644–1690). Paris:  Mobilier National, Inv. GMTT 59/1. Ref. Exposition, Galerie Nationale de la Tapisserie, Beauvais: Beauvais 350 ans, Portraits d’une Manufacture, 6 May 24 August 2014. Although its cartoon is dated 1723, this tapestry was probably completed two years later. It illustrates one of the favorite themes treated in the eighteenth century by the Manufacture de Beauvais. The central panel depicts rather adult-looking  children dancing to the rhythm of a tambourine provide by one of their company. They are watched by a seated woman. The surrounding border is identical to other Children’s Games tapestries listed here and includes a number of musical instruments, including lutes, folded trumpet, violins, horns, pipes, timpani, guitar, various pipes and tabor, oboe, flutes, triangle, tambourine — and tennis rackets! Two of the pipes on the right-hand side appear to be recorders. One clearly has holes for seven fingers including an offset hole for the lowermost finger, but the head is hidden from view. Another seems to have a beak and the upper body has wave profile, but no finger holes can be seen. The feet of both recorders has a flared bell. he theme of the curtain intended for employment in the apartments of the royal children.
  • Jeux d’Enfants: La Petite Reine [The Little Queen] (1731), Manufacture de Beauvais after Florentin Damoiselet (1644–1690). Paris: Musée de Louvre. Ref. Exposition, Galerie Nationale de la Tapisserie, Beauvais: Beauvais 350 ans, Portraits d’une Manufacture, 6 May 24 August 2014. Beneath a makeshift canopy children attend to the needs of one of their number as if she was a queen. They are in the care of a man and a woman who seem to have been gathering mushrooms. The border is identical to other Children’s Games’ tapestries listed here and includes lutes, folded trumpet, violins, horns, pipes, timpani, guitar, various pipes and tabor, oboe, flutes, triangle, tambourine, and tennis rackets! Two of the pipes on the right-hand side appear to be recorders. One clearly has holes for seven fingers including an offset hole for the lowermost finger, but the head is hidden from view. Another seems to have a beak and the upper body has wave profile, but no finger holes can be seen. The feet of both recorders have flared bells.
  • Jeux d’Enfants:  Le Touple [The Spinning Top] (late 17th century), tapestry, Manufacture de Beauvais after Florentin Damoiselet (1644–1690). Paris: Mobilier National. Ref. Exposition, Galerie Nationale de la Tapisserie, Beauvais: Beauvais 350 ans, Portraits d’une Manufacture, 6 May 24 August 2014. On a terrace, one of the boys is playing with a spinning top and a loop of string. The other boys are all holding tops of their own. The border is identical to those of the other Childrens’ Games tapestries listed here and includes lutes, folded trumpet, violins, horns, pipes, timpani, guitar, various pipes and tabor, oboe, flutes, triangle, tambourine — and tennis rackets! Two of the pipes on the right-hand side appear to be recorders. One clearly has holes for seven fingers including an offset hole for the lowermost finger, but the head is hidden from view. Another seems to have a beak and the upper body has wave profile, but no finger holes can be seen. The feet of both recorders has a flared bell.
  • Jeux d’Enfants: Les Bulles de Savon [Soap Bubbles], (a. 1669), wool & silk tapestry, 305  × 183 cm, Manufacture de Beauvais after Florentin Damoiselet (1644–1690). Paris: Paris: Mobilier National Inv. 3020 GMT. Ref. Exposition, Galerie Nationale de la Tapisserie, Beauvais: Beauvais 350 ans, Portraits d’une Manufacture, 6 May 24 August 2014. The central panel depicts children playing at making soap bubbles on a garden terrace. The border is identical to those of the other Childrens’ Games tapestries listed here and includes lutes, folded trumpet, violins, horns, pipes, timpani, guitar, various pipes and tabor, oboe, flutes, triangle, tambourine — and tennis rackets! Two of the pipes on the right-hand side appear to be recorders. One clearly has holes for seven fingers including an offset hole for the lowermost finger, but the head is hidden from view. Another seems to have a beak and the upper body has wave profile, but no finger holes can be seen. The foot of both recorders has a flared bell.
  • Jeux d’Enfants: Les Bulles de Savon [Soap Bubbles] (17th century), wool & silk tapestry, 305  × 183 cm, Manufacture de Beauvais after Florentin Damoiselet (1644–1690). Paris: Tajan, 17ème, 18ème et 19ème siècle Meubles & Décoration, 17 June 2014, Lot 136. The central panel depicts children playing at making soap bubbles on a garden terrace. The border is identical to those of the other Childrens’ Games tapestries listed here and includes lutes, folded trumpet, violins, horns, pipes, timpani, guitar, various pipes and tabor, oboe, flutes, triangle, tambourine — and tennis rackets! Two of the pipes on the right-hand side appear to be recorders. One clearly has holes for seven fingers including an offset hole for the lowermost finger, but the head is hidden from view. Another seems to have a beak and the upper body has wave profile, but no finger holes can be seen. The foot of both recorders have flared bells.
  • Jeux d’Enfants: Les Bulles de Savon [Soap Bubbles] (17th century), tapestry, 238 × 185 cm, Manufacture de Beauvais after Florentin Damoiselet (1644–1690). Madrid: Ansorena, private sale (2016). A smaller version of the above. The central panel depicts children playing at making soap bubbles on a garden terrace. The border is identical to those of the other Childrens’ Games tapestries listed here and includes lutes, folded trumpet, violins, horns, pipes, timpani, guitar, various pipes and tabor, oboe, flutes, triangle, tambourine — and tennis rackets! Two of the pipes on the right-hand side appear to be recorders. One clearly has holes for seven fingers including an offset hole for the lowermost finger, but the head is hidden from view. Another seems to have a beak and the upper body has wave profile, but no finger holes can be seen. The foot of both recorders has a flared bell.

Sir Nathaniel Dance [Dance-Holland], 1st Baronet

English portrait painter and later a politician; with Hayman and his architect brother George Dance II (1741–1825), he was one of the founder members of the Royal Academy in 1768; in 1790, he gave up his artistic career and became Member of Parliament for East Grinstead in Sussex; born London (1735), died Winchester (1811); he added the suffix Holland later in life.

  • Renascentur quae Jam cecidere: ‘Concert of ancient vocal and instrumental music’ (1786) line engraving on woven paper, 14.2.× 17.3 cm, Francesco Bartolozzi (1725–1815), after Nathaniel Dance (1735–1811). London: Royal Academy of Art, Inv. 06/5684; London: British Museum, 1897,1231.334; Yale University Library. This is a concert ticket. On each side of a pedestal, two female figures (one standing, the other seated) play straight trumpet and lyre respectively. An inscription on the pedestal reads ‘Concert of Ancient Vocal and Instrumental Music’ and on the top is an open book of music. Scattered around the scene are musical instruments, including a cello, kettle drums, horn, folded trumpet, two violins, a flute and a recorder. The latter is narrowly conical its window/labium and 7 finger holes clearly visible.

Cornelis Danckerts (1603–1656), Dutch

Dutch engraver, a member of a large family which included various engravers, cartographers and print-sellers; born and died Amsterdam (1603–1656).

  • The Five Senses, oval medallions, brown wash over pen & brown ink and black chalk on paper, 244 × 197 mm, Cornelis Danckerts (1603–1656). Brunswick: Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Inv. Z 1060. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999, BSm – 340); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 1999); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Documentatie 69522 (2010, b&w). Five cartoons with putti representing each of the senses. The putto representing Hearing strikes a drum with two sticks. At his feet are a lute, a violin and a recorder, the latter with beak, window/labium and several finger holes clearly represented.

Giovannie Stefano Danedi [called Montalto Treviglio]

Italian artist of religious an mythological subjects; born Treviglio (1608/12), died Milan (1690); brother of painter Gioseffo Danedi, called ‘il Montalto’ (1618–1689).

  • Apollo Flaying Marsyas (c.1645), Giovannie Stefano Danedi [called Montalto Treviglio] (1612–1690). Rouen: Museé des Beaux Arts. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., (2000); Website: Greek Mythology Links by Carlos Pareda (2001); Website: flickr, jean louis mazieres’ photstream (2017-col.) Depicted as a satyr with furry goat’s legs, Marsyas screams in agony as he is flayed by a rather serene-looking Apollo. On the ground beside the satyr lies a cylindrical duct flute with a window/labium, six finger holes and a slight bell flare, probably a recorder. 
  • Apollo Flaying Marsyas (1665), Giovannie Stefano Danedi [called Montalto Treviglio] (1612–1690). Milan: Pinacoteca del Castello Sforzesco. Ref. Website: Wikimedia (2016). Marsyas is depicted as a nude satyr (without furry goat legs), who screams in agony as he is flayed by a rather serene-looking Apollo. On the ground beside the satyr’s outstretched arm lies a syrinx.  Behind Apollo’s left leg lies a slender duct flute with a window/labium, six finger holes and a slight bell flare, probably a recorder. Uniquely among the many versions of this diabolical scene, Apollo has been playing the flute rather than the usual stringed instrument! 

Jacques Dassonville

Franco-Flemish etcher in the Ostade mold, that is to say, doing genre scenes of taverns, peasants and general low life; born 1619, died 1670.

  • Le Concert au Chat [Cats’ Chorus], etching on laid paper, 87 × 80 mm, Jacques Dassonville (1619–1670). Ref. Goodfriend & Goodfriend (1993: 67; Exhibition – The Musical Scene Five Centuries of Prints and Drawings of Musical Subjects, Item 32 (2011). Conducted by a woman a group of peasant men and children play rebec, bagpipes, and a flared-bell pipe (recorder?) and a cat with its tail being pulled (lower right). PDQ Bach would have understood perfectly.

Honoré Daumier

French graphic artist, caricaturist, painter and sculptor; his caricatures were often of political import – in 1832 he was imprisoned for depicting the king as a Rabbelasian glutton; born Marseille 1808), died Valmondois (1879).

  • Valmondois Street Singers, Honoré Daumier (1808–1879). Locality unknown. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). A man sings and plays the violin. Another, with tall crumpled hat, holds a pipe of some sort in his right hand. The lower part of the pipe is obscured; the top has a pointed mouthpiece. The piper has three fingers on top his instrument, the thumb underneath.

Léon Davent [Léon Daven, Louis Danet]

French printmaker about whom very little is known; he made over 200 prints during his short career; he was trained initially as an engraver but eventually turned to etching; his works exhibit a variety of soft tones and movement, all of which are possible due to the freedom of line associated with etching; born 1540, died 1556.

  • Amphion, print, Léon Davent (1540–1556). Location unknown. Ref. Website: gallica (2012, b&w). Amphion was the son of Zeus and Antiope who, according to Greek legend, built Thebes by the music of his lute, which was so melodious that the stones danced into walls and houses of their own accord. The title given this print seems rather at odds with its subject which seems instead to refer to the foundation myth of Rome. A woman (Rhea Silvia) reclines amidst the ruins of a city on the banks of a river (the Tiber) playing a slender pipe (possibly a duct flute). Scattered before her are a ball, books, tools, a viol, a flute, a lute and a flute. On the lower right two infants (Romulus and Remus) suckle at the breast of a she-wolf (Lupa).

Paul Decker the Elder

German architect and copperplate engraver; born Nuremberg (1677), died Leipzig (1722).

  • Wenn je burch etwas ist erlaubt …, engraving, Paul Decker the Elder (1677–1722). Ref. Archiv Moeck. A man and a woman sing, hand in hand, accompanied by musicians playing two baroque alto recorders and a tenor oboe (taille de hautbois). A verse beneath reads:

Wenn je burch etwas ist erlaubt, Zeit zu vertreiben
So mag es wohl bas Musizieren sein.
Und das Bergnügen ist genug nicht zu beschreiben,
Man singt, man bläst, man geigt und stimmt duch alles ein.
Es bringt die harmonie ein himmlisches Entzücken
Und läßt unds auch en bild der Lebenslust erblicken.

Whenever it’s allowed to while away the time
Music-making may be the most innocent way.
The charm of its rich combat is indescribable;
One sings, one pipes, another fiddles, yet all join together.
Harmony, a heavenly delight, arises
And lets us glimpse an image of life’s transience.

This appears to be an excerpt from the more detailed engraving reproduced by Steudner (ca 1700).

  • Dulcissimum Melos Bona Fama (ca 1700), engraving, 2.5 × 33.5 cm, by Johann Christoph Steudner (1677–1713), ? after Paul Decker (1677-1722). Halle: Handel Haus, Sign. BS – VI 29. Ref. Salmen (1969: 83); Linde (1991: 93); Salmen (1969: 84) [Villa I Tatti ML85 M87]; Paolo Biordi (pers. com., 2000). Depicts two alto baroque recorders with oboe, harpsichord, violin, cello, singers (holding hands) – and a conductor waving a roll of paper! An accompanying poem (in German and Italian) elucidates the symbolism (see above).

Marijke A. Deege

Contemporary Dutch sculptress living an working in Hoogblokland; her output includes stone, wood, bronze, terracotta, some polyester figures, and mosaics; wife of Marcus Ravenswaaij, the Gorinchem city sculptor. Web Page.

  • Do-re-mi, bronze sculpture, Marijke A. Deege (contemporary). Exhibited “Open Beeldhowersatelier en – Tuin, 10 December 1994 – 1 January 1995. Ref. Tableau Magazine (1994, 3: 17, col.) A young boy, standing naked with a bird perched on his head, plays a neo-baroque recorder.

Pierre Claude de La Gardette [Delagardette]

French engraver and interior designer specialising in architectural plans; born 1743; died 1785.

  • Exterior Decoration in Perspective of the Organ of the Abbey of Weingarthen (1770), print, Pierre Claude de La Gardette (1743–1785). A group of twelve putti, five angels, and one man. The man is playing an organ while three angels are blow coiled trumpets; one angel is plays a straight trumpet, and another the kettledrums. Of the putti, two are play straight trumpets, two play end-blown horns, one plays violoncello, one plays cittern, and the remaining putti are playing bassoon, transverse flute, tambourine, frame harp, and triangle. A pillar on the far left bears a decorative swag comprising a viol or violin, two crossed recorders and what appears to be a furled sheet of music.  The organ was made by Josef Gabler (1700–1771). In the very middle of the scene the organist sits at the manuals. The organ was made in the period 1737-1750 by Josef Gabler (1700–1771).

Paul Joseph Delcloche

Flemish painter of interiors and battle-pieces; born Liège or Namur (1716), died Liège (1755); son of Pierre Delcloche, an almost unknown painter.

  • Pastoral Poetry (ca 1755), oil on canvas, Paul Joseph Delcloche (1716–1755). Liège: Palais de Justice, president’s office, South wall. Ref. Institute Royal du Patrimonie Artistique / Koninklijk Instituut voor hef Kunstpatrimonium (IRPA/KIK), Brussels (photo KN01044, 2001, col.) In a forest beside a stream, a female personification of pastoral poetry plays a flared-bell pipe, watched by a dog, sheep and goats. A banner beneath reads: PASTORUM CARMINA LUDO. No details of the pipe are visible, but the fingers are deployed as for recorder-playing.

Dirck van Delen

Dutch town counciller, burgomaster and artist; his focus was on architectural themes, originally depicting renaissance palaces, later adding gothic church interiors; he copied the figures in these architectural works from paintings by the artist Dirck Hals of Haarlem; his paintings were a major inspiration to the younger generation of architectural artists from Antwerp; born Heusden near Den Bosch (1605), died Arnemuiden (1671).

  • Interior of a Palace, oil on canvas, Dirck van Delen (1605–1671) & Dirck Hals ((1591–1656). Detail. Prague: Národní Galerie, Šternberský Palác [National Gallery, Sternberg Palace], Inv. 0-15689. Ref. Web-site: Exhibition, Rembrandt & Co. (2012, col.) Men and women around a meal table in a sumptuous room are entertained by three young men playing violin, lute and alto recorder. The labium and top two finger holes of the recorder are clearly visible. In the centre servants fill wine glasses from an ornate cooler-tub; there is a bed in a corner of the room.

Paul Delvaux

Belgian painter and printmaker, one of the major exponents of surrealism in Belgium; in many of his works he incorporated the somnambulant figures that were to become his trademark; born Antheit, near Huy (1897), died Veurne (1994).

  • L’Evell de la Forêt [The Awakening of the Forest], (1939), 150 × 200 cm, Paul Delvaux. London: sold by Sotheby’s. Ref. Sotheby’s (1982: cover); Archiv Moeck. Watched by a well-dressed couple on the far left, the forest is filled with naked women, spirits of the forest. A naked man on the far right plays a thin pipe (possibly a duct flute), and another reclines on a giant leaf.

Marco Dente da Ravenna (1493-1527) – See Rubens

Derby Porcelain Factory

British ceramics factory founded by the Huguenot, Andrew Planché in late 1747 or early 1748. He was later joined by Andrew Planché and William Duesbury. Many notable artists (including Zachariah Boreman, James Banford and William Billingsley) and figure modellers (incl. John Bacon RA, Pierre Stephan and Nicholas Francois Gauron from Tournai) were employed at the Derby factory and at the Chelsea Porcelain factory which William Duesbury acquired in 1770: hence Chelsea-Derby. Duesbury’s son William Duesbury II (1763–1797) became joint manager in 1784 and he ran the factory after his father’s death until with his own health failing he entered a partnership with Michael Kean in December 1795. The 18th-century Derby porcelains of particular note are the early ‘dry-edge’ figures; certain wares of the late 1750s and early 1760s decoratively painted with birds, cherries and moths; some of the biscuit porcelain figures of the Chelsea-Derby period and the years immediately succeeding it; and the best of the landscape and botanical painting in the closing decades of the 18th century. Porcelain manufacture continued in the 19th century under the management of Robert Bloor (from 1715 until his health deteriorated in 1828, died 1846). The Nottingham Road factory closed in 1848. Shortly afterwards some of the former employees set up a new factory in King Street, Derby which continued in production until 1935 when it was acquired by the owners of Royal Crown Derby which started life in a new works at Osmaston Road in 1877 and which is still in operation.

  • Youth Playing a Recorder (ca 1790), porcelain figurine, 27 cm high, Derby Porcelain Factory (ca 1748–1888). London: British Museum, Inv. 1936,0715.15.CR. Ref. Website: British Museum (2012, b&w) Marked “No 389”. A young man, too beautifully dressed to be a shepherd, plays a cylindrical pipe with a flared bell (possibly a recorder, but with insufficient details). A matching figurine depicts a young woman listening to the music intently whilst she seems about to dance.

Alexandre-François Desportes

French painter of animals, royal portraits and still-lifes and a designer of tapestry cartoons for Les Gobelins; noted for his landscape studies made directly from nature; credited with helping to popularize Flemish art, one of the essential ingredients of the Rococo style in France; born Champigneule (1661), died Paris (1743).

  • Musical Still-life (ca 1680–1690), oil on canvas, Alexandre François Desportes (1661–1743). Location unknown. Ref. Favre (1990: 82–83, col.); Gabrius Data Bank (2001, col.) On a draped table lie music scores, a violin and bow, and two baroque recorders. One of the recorders is in a dark wood and inclined towards the viewer, its foot hidden behind the violin; the other is in a pale wood, and only the last three finger holes can be seen; the rest is hidden behind some music.
  • Still-life, oil on canvas, 76.0 × 63.5 cm; follower of Alexandre-François Desportes (1661–1743). Private Collection. Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999). “A violin and bow, flutes and music scores lie on a draped table.” One of the “flutes” is a turned baroque recorder only the lower part of the body and foot of which are visible. Sold by Christie’s, 26 March 1928, lot III, as van Aelst. Purchased by the present owner in 1973.

Claude-Louis Desrais

French draughtsman and watercolourist, known for illustrations of fashionable costumes of the day; born 1746, died 1816.

  • Recorder and Drum, sketch, Claude-Louis Desrais (1746–1816). Paris: Private Collection. Ref. Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Musique, VM PHOT MIRI-11 (202); Paris RIdIM (1999). A woman in an elaborate dress and an enormous puffed up wig strolls along playing an ornately turned alto baroque recorder. She is followed by a man beating an enormous drum.

Michele Desubleo [Michele Fiammingo, Michele di Giovanni de Sobleau]

Flemish-born painter who learned his trade under Abraham Janssens before moving to Rome and then Bologna where he worked in the workshop of Guido Reni before establishing himself in the Veneto, later Parma; his paintings include altarpieces and allegorical and mythological works; born Maubege (1601), died Parma (1676)

  • Flute Player / Allegory of Music, oil on canvas, attributed to Michele Desubleo (c.1601-1676). Milan: Private Collection. Ref. Negro & Pirondini (1992: 214); Website: Fondazione Federico Zeri, University of Bologna, Catalogo Fototeca, Cat. No. 54556 (2021, b&w). A beautiful young woman wearing a floral wreath and a satin dress, seated, her left hand on her hip holds a recorder in her right hand. The beak window-labium and several finger holes are clearly depicted, but the foot is out of frame.

Gerrit van Deurs (op. 1663 –ca 1702), Dutch

  • Zoo de ouden zangen zoo pijpen de jongen [As the old ones sing so the young ones pipe] (1663), ? Gerrrit van Deurs (op. 1663– ca 1702). Johannesburg: Art Gallery. Ref. Carman (1988); Website: gallica (2012, b&w). Depicts a family music scene in which an old woman sings from a broadsheet, an old man opposite her joins in, a young boy in the foreground plays a small soprano recorder, another boy holds a recorder in his hand, and a youth plays a flute. In the middle of the melee a youngish man with a small boy on his lap shies away from the din; although the small boy looks alarmed at the din he, too, clutches a small recorder.

Theophile Louis Deyrolle

French painter and ceramicist who, with his friend painter Alfred Guillo, is considered a founder of the Concareau school of painting; known for his many scenes depicting country life; born Paris (1844), died Concareau (1923).

  • Le joeur de flûte et la petite laitière [The Flute-player and the Little Milkmaid] (1875), oil on canvas, 115.6 × 80.6 cm, Theophile Louis Deyrolle (1844–1923). Location unknown: sold by Me Marc-Arthur Kohn – Drouto Richelieu Salle 5, 16 February 1996. Ref. Sale catalogue (1976: lot 76); Paris RIdIM (2000); Website: artnet (2016, col.) Before a rustic gate, a young bare-footed boy plays a small flared-bell duct flute with a long windway (probably a flageolet of the time) to a milkmaid holding her metal pail.

Abraham (Jansz.) van Diepenbeek

Flemish glass-painter, draughtsman, painter and tapestry designer; his reputation rests primarily on his drawings and oil sketches, of which several hundred survive, intended mainly as designs for stained-glass windows and prints; born ‘s Hertengebosch (1596), died Anterwerp (1675).

  • Rest on the Flight from Egypt, engraving in brown ink and wash, 9.7 × 16.3 cm, Abraham van Diepenbeek (1596–1675). Vienna: Albertina, cat. 9426. Ref. Bernt (1948, 4: 177, b&w). The Holy Family sit and a bank beside a style. Before them, eight winged putti dance in a circle holding hands. Behind them, on a cloud, two angel putti play fiddle and a small duct flute (flageolet or recorder).

Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich

German painter and engraver known for his meticulous reproductions of masters of the previous century, amongst them Salvator Rosa, Everdingen, Ostade and Rembrandt; he became director of the school of painting at the Meissen porcelain factory and professor of the Dresden Academy of Arts; born Weimar (1712), died Dresden (1774).

  • Musical Family (1756), graphite on paper, 21.9 × 29.9 cm, Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich (1712–1774). Frankfurt: Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie, Inv. 1933. Ref. Munich RIdIM (2009, Fsm – 134). A group of people making music. On the left, sitting on a chair, a man with a hat plays the bagpipes. Details of all the other people in the drawing are only hinted at. To the right and behind the bagpiper, a man sings and claps his hands, next is a man with a hurdy-gurdy. Further to the right and a little forward, a child plays a duct flute (possibly a recorder). In the background are two people, one playing a wind instrument, the other a violin. A preliminary sketch for an etching.

Hilarius Dietterlin

German painter from a family of artists active in Strasbourg (then Strassburg); born Strasbourg (1590), died 1622; son of painter, printmaker and architectural theorist Wendel Dietterlin the Elder (1550–1599) and father of etcher Bartholomäus Dietterlin (c. 1590-p.1630).

  • The Taking of Christ on the Mount of Olives (1621), aquarelle on paper, 36.0 × 76.3 cm, after Hilarius Dietterlin (1590–1622). Munich: Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Inv. 40578. Ref. Fischel (1932); Munich RIdIM (1999: Mgs – 139). On the left, Christ kneels in prayer at Gethsemane, watched over by an angel, while his disciples sleep. The soldiers are already entering the walled area, waking up the disciples still asleep on the ground. In the foreground, Peter is about to to cut off the servant Malchus’ ear in an attempt to prevent his master’s arrest. To the right of Christ, beneath a large crossbow, one of the soldiers blows into a wind instrument of some kind. On the ground, Malchus has dropped his pipe and tabor but still clutches the beater. The duct-flute has a clearly depicted window/labium and more than enough finger holes to be a recorder; the lowermost hole is doubled.  Judas is entering through a gate at left with a henchman carrying a crossbow, followed by more soldiers and an angry mob. This scene is modeled on the so-called Karlsruhe Passion.
  • The Taking of Christ on the Mount of Olives (1621), engraving, 29.6 × 30.8 cm, Bartholomäus Dietterlin (ca 1590–p. 1630) after Hilarius Dietterlin (1540–1622). London: British Museum, Inv. 1853,0312.240. Ref. Website: British Museum, Collection online (2016). On the left, Christ kneels in prayer at Gethsemane, watched over by an angel, while his disciples sleep. The soldiers are already entering the walled area, waking up St John, who is still asleep on the ground. In the foreground, Peter is about to to cut off the servant Malchus’ ear in an attempt to prevent his master’s arrest. On the ground, Malchus has dropped his pipe and tabor but still clutches the beater. The duct-flute has a clearly depicted window/labium and more than enough finger holes to be a recorder; the lowermost hole is doubled.  Judas is entering through a gate at the left with a henchman carrying a crossbow, followed by more soldiers and an angry mob.

Wilhelm Dilich

German cartographer, geographer, historian, graphic artist, architect, engraver, and draghtsman;  born Wabern(1571), died Dresden (1650). 

  •  People of Asia (c.1560), coloured engraving, Wilhelm Dilich (1571-1650). Bayerische StaatsBibliothek: Beschreibung der historischen und allegorischen Personen, f. 60r (c.1600), BSB Cod.icon. 340. Ref. Website: Will Kimball, Trombone History, Trombone Images, Update, 21 May 2010.  One of a series of prints documenting celebrations relating to the baptism of Princess Elizabeth von Hessen in 1596. Musicians in elaborate costumes, (which include conical hats) play cornetto, sackbut, lyre, syrinx, lutes, transverse flute, and a cylindrical pipe with a slightly flared bell, probably a recorder since all four fingers of the lowermost (right) hand are covering their holes.

Ralph DiNunzio

Contemporary USAmerican llustrator and musician based in Boston; fantasy, horror, film characters, children’s illustrations. Artist’s website here.

  • Out of the Woods (2010), Ralph DiNunzio (2010). Ref. American Recorder 51 (3):  front cover (2010, col.) Following the yellow brick road, Dorothy, Tin Woodman,  Cowardly Lion and Scarecrow emerge from a dense forest of neo-baroque recorders. Toto is travelling in Dorothy’s basket.

Dionijs van Nijmegen [Nymegen]

Dutch artist who made his name as wallpaper painter and maker of ceiling and chimney pieces; he also painted portraits and family groups and pastoral scenes; born Rotterdam (1705), died Rotterdam (1798); son of painter Elias van Nijmegen (1667-1755), father of painter, draughtsman and engraver Gerard van Nijmegen (1735-1808).

  • Decorative panel (1756), oil on wood, Dionijs van Nijmegen (1705–1798). Breda: Stedelijk Museum Inv. S 06240. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2004). One of two large panels from a house at 18 Catharina Street, Breda. The larger panel shows a broad logia with trees, a column at left and a crescent balcony wall at right. In the distance are more tall trees and distant mountains across pasture. Behind a low inner wall stand two women, and a boy, at the left. The boy drapes his arm over a cello. The woman on the right sings from a music-book on a stand on the low wall, beside which rest an oboe and a recorder, which lie sideways. The recorder is of a very beautiful late-baroque design, in boxwood with ivory mounts and bell. The head of the recorder is behind the music but the duct flute and the little duct flute offset to the left are clearly shown.

Johann Georg Dirr

Member of a German family of sculptors and stuccoists; his works include altarpieces and church furniture; born Weilheim, Ober-Bayern (1723), died Mimmenhausen, near Konstanz (1779); son of the sculptor Martin Dirr (1674–1733), brother of Franz Anton Dirr (1724–1801).

  • Design for an Organ, ink & wash on paper, 5.8 × 44.8 cm, Johann Georg Dirr (1723–1779). Munich: Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Inv. 1956:155 Ref. Munich RIdIM (2009, Mgs – 145). Probably a design for the organ case of the monastery church at Salem. Between two tall towers King David (with sceptre and harp) is crowned. A monk sits playing on the organ, a pedal is not evident, neither are manuals nor register leavers. To the left and right of the organist are trophies of musical instruments; that on the left with violin, bells and shawm (or clarinet); that on the right, with lute, recorder, flute, trumpet (folded), horn (natural) and triangle with rings. Not seen.

Ditz (contemporary), British

Ditz has exhibited paintings widely, namely at the Barbican Concourse Gallery, City of London, The Royal Academy of Art, London, Musée Fabre, Montpellier, St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and the Wilma Wayne Fine Art Gallery in Old Bond Street and also at her own gallery in London.

  • Scotland, Ditz (contemporary). Private Collection. Ref. Bridgeman Art Library (2001: Image DI21250). Amidst rolling hills, a young lad sits playing a recorder beneath a conifer tree. In the valley below is a village.

Simon van der Does

Dutch artist whose principle subject matter comprised shepherds and their flocks in Italianate, and sometimes mountainous, settings; born 1653, died 1718.

  • Shepherd Playing a Pipe in a Landscape, black chalk and ink wash, 13.0 × 20.5 cm, Simon van der Does (1653–1718). Paris: Musée de Louvre, Inv. 23460. Amidst his sheep, goats and a cow, a shepherd leans against a tree stump playing a large, slender, flared-bell pipe. It could be a duct flute, even a recorder, but there is insufficient detail to tell.
  • Shepherdess and Shepherd with Sheep and Goats (1711), oil on canvas, 60 × 70 cm, Simon van der Does (1653–1718). The Hague: Mauritshuis, Inv. 31. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie 22402 (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). Beside a riverbank, a shepherdess walks amongst her sheep and goats. Behind her, a shepherd boy sitting beneath a tree, his dog besidehim, plays a soprano- or alto-sized pipe, probably a recorder, given the fingering. On the other side of the tree stands an enormous urn, incongruously.
  • Southern Landscape with a Flute-playing Shepherd and a Shepherdess, oil on panel, 31.5 × 40.0 cm, Simon van der Does (1653–1718). Vienna: Dorotheum, 2 October 2002, Lot 343. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, Illustration 0000136735 (2014, col.) Beneath a tree, his dog beside him, his sheep and goats browsing contentedly around, a shepherd plays his recorder to a shepherdess. He must play pretty well because she already has her arm around his shoulders. In the distance is a ruined castle. The perfectly depicted recorder is one-piece, slender with a flared bell, the beak, window/labium clear. One of a pendant pair, auctioned at the same time (Lot 342).

Bartholomeus [Bartholomäus] (Willemsz.) Dolendo

Dutch engraver; born ? Leiden (ca 1571), died Leiden ca (1629); brother of the engraver Zacharias Dolendo (1561/73–1604).

  • Portrait of a Flute-player, engraving after a design by Lucas van Leyden, Bartholomeus Dolendo (ca 1571-ca 1629). London: Royal Academy of Music, Inv. 2003.2293 (b&w photocopy). Ref. Buijsen & Grijp (1994: 226); Debra Pring (pers. comm., 2006); Lasocki (2023: 117). Said by Buijsen & Grijp (loc. cit.) to depict a young man with a long recorder; but in reality the instrument is very clearly a transverse flute. Lasocki (loc. cit. appears to make the same error.) An accompanying verse reads:

Well lusti[c]h fluyterken
Wilt mynen lust coelen,
Fluyt met u luytken
Dat ick ‘t mavh voelen

Well, lusty little flutist,
Won’t you cool my lust?
Flute with your little lute,
So that I too may feel it

Jean Dolivar [Dolivart]

Spanish-born printer and engraver, working in Paris; born Zaragozza (1641), died 1692.

  • Basses continuës composées par M. Marias: Title Page (1689), engraving after Jean Dolivar (1641–1692). Location unknown. Ref. Website: gallica (2012, b&w). A decorative frame which includes two swags of musical instruments, amongst them lutes, cornetti, shawms, triangle (with jingle rings), viol, bows, guitar, xylophone and what appears to be a baroque recorder, only the characteristic beak of which is visible.
  • Basses continuës des pièces à une ou deux violes … composées par M. Marias …: Frontispiece (1689), engraving by Antoine Pezey (fl.1695–1710) after Jean Dolivar (1641–1692). Location unknown. Ref. Website: gallica (2012, b&w). In a large rococco chamber, before a high wall with pilasters and decorated panels, winged putti make music. They are arranged in two ensembles, one each side of a decorated pedestal surmounted by a lyre and supporting a large trophy of musical instruments which includes violin, viol, theorbo, lute, cornetto, shawms, trumpets and flute. The ensemble on the fight comprises harpsichord, theorbo and cello. The ensemble on the right comprises tympani, xylophone and what appears to be a recorder, from its silhouette; it also has a conductor.

Ernst von Dombrowski

Austrian draughtsman, wood-engraver and painter associated with the German fascist and neo-facist movements; born 1896, died 1985.

  • Little Angels with Recorders (1979), woodcut, Ernst von Dombrowski (1896–1985). Ref. Archiv Moeck. Two child angels play stylised recorders; a third holds his in the crook of one arm.

Domenichino [Domenico Zampieri]

Italian painter who was a leading practitioner of Baroque classicism in Rome and Bologna noted for his monumental and landscape painting, born Bologna (1581), died Naples (1641).

  • St Cecilia with an Angel Holding a Score (1625–1633), oil on canvas, 160 × 120 cm, Domenichino, (1581–1641). Paris: Musée de Louvre, Inv. 793. Ref. Berenson (1952: vol. 1 pl. 183); Lallement & Devaux (1996: 240-2421, pl. 7, b&w); Joconde Website (1999); Bridgeman Art Library (2001: Image PWI89777); Website: Città dell’Arte; Ausoni (2009: 152, col.); Website: gallica (2012, col.) With her eyes cast heavenward, Saint Cecilia plays a lyra viol which stands on a bench on which a putto stands holding a music book above its head. A soprano flared-bell recorder lies on the bench. There is an engraving of this by Etienne Picart (1632–1721).
  • St Cecilia, oil on canvas, circle of Domenichino (1581–1641). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank (2001, col.) A copy of the original in the Musée de Louvre, Paris. Auctioned 5 December 1991 (Gabrius, loc. cit.)
  • St Cecilia, oil on canvas, circle of Domenichino (1581–1641). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank (2001, col.) A copy of the original in the Musée de Louvre, Paris. Auctioned 14 December 1990 (Gabrius, loc. cit.)
  • St Cecilia (ca 1820–1830), engraving, 8.0 × 5.9 cm, Lambert, after Domenichino (1581–1641). Hall in Tirol: Sammlung Hochenegg. Ref. Innsbruck RIdIM (2001, Nr 325); Prof. Tilman Seebas (pers. comm., 2001). A copy of the original in the Musée de Louvre, Paris.
  • St Cecilia, engraving by Etienne Picart (1632–1721), after Domenichino (1581–1641). Location unknown. Ref. ? Author (1982: 48); Paolo Biordi (pers. comm., 2000). A copy of the original in the Musée de Louvre, Paris.
  • St Cecilia, engraving by Fleuret (? dates), after Domenichino (1581–1641). Location unknown. Ref. Website: gallica (2012, b&w). A copy of the original in the Musée de Louvre, Paris.
  • Martyrdom of St Agnes (1625), preparatory drawing, Domenichino (1581–1641). Windsor Castle. Angel musicians play harp, organ, viola, bass viol and alto recorder. The recorder is shown side-on, so no finger holes show, but the fingering position (right hand uppermost) including the left hand little finger (all fingers down) is correct. There is a brief bell flare, Virdung style. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm.)
  • Martyrdom of St Agnes (1619-1624), oil on canvas, 533 × 342 cm, Domenichino (1581–1641). Detail 1. Detail 2. Bologna: Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, Inv. 473. Ref. La Rassegua Musicale 1 (1930); Emiliani (1969: 322, no. 223 [Villa I Tatti N252OE41967]); Mirimonde (1974: 73); Angelo Spear (1996: 32 [Villa I Tatti ND 623]); Zaniol ex Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000); Paolo Biordi (pers. comm., 2000); Website: Super Stock (2011: detail, col.); Website, flickr: Anges Musiciens (2013, col.) Above the scene of Agnes’ beheading, angel musicians play lute, harp, organ, two viols (one a large bass) and alto recorder. The recorder is shown side-on, so no finger holes show, but the fingering position (right hand uppermost) including the left hand little finger (all fingers down) is correct. There is a brief bell flare, Virdung style. Above all, Christ leans down to join hands with Agnes, now an angel, as she ascends into heaven.
  • Martyrdom of St Agnes (1655–1703), engraving by Gárard Audran (1640–1703) after Domenichino (1581–1641). London: Victoria & Albert Museum, Inv. DYCE.2476; Website: gallica (2012, b&w). Above the scene of Agnes’ beheading, angel musicians play lute, harp, organ, two viols (one a large bass) and alto recorder. The recorder is shown side-on, so no finger holes show, but the fingering position (right hand uppermost) including the left hand little finger (all fingers down) is correct. There is a brief bell flare, Virdung style. Above all, Christ leans down to join hands with Anges, now an angel, as she ascends into heaven.
  • Hermione among the Shepherds (1623–1625), oil on canvas, 123 × 181 cm [118 × 178 cm (1683), 126, × 168 cm (1709-1710)], Domenichino (1581–1641). Paris: Louvre, Inv. 799. Ref. Lallement & Devaux (1996: 241–242); Joconde Website (1999); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2007). The subject is taken from Canto 7 of Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered (1581). Hermione (Erminia), clad in Clorinda’s armor and carrying a spear, hails a group of shepherds seated beneath a tree. An old man, returns her greeting; a youth holds a syrinx; a second youth peers out from behind the bushes; a child plays a cylindrical pipe, probably a duct flute (possibly a recorder). There are copies in the Gustave Moreau Museum, Paris (Inv. 15764), by G. Moreau, and in private collections by an anonymous 19th-century painter (see Champlin et Perkins 1888: pl. 47).
  • Mercury Stealing the Herds of Admetus guarded by Apollo, 261.6 × 201.9 cm, fresco (transferred to canvas on wood), Domenichino (1581–1641). London: National Gallery, Inv. 6291. The subject illustrates a tale from Ovid’s Metamorphosis II: 680–707. Apollo sits dreamily playing his pipe, a conical instrument played with all fingers of lower (left) hand covering their holes and the hint of a window/labium suggesting a recorder. Across the river behind him, a herd of cattle amble downstream, urged on by Mercury in his winged helmet. One of a series of large frescoes (now transferred to canvas) that once decorated the walls of a spectacular pavilion in one of the great Italian Baroque gardens, the Villa Aldobrandini in Frascati was rebuilt by Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini, nephew of Pope Clement VIII. Domenichino’s frescoes – two of which remain in situ – were arranged around a room called the Stanza di Apollo, which also contained a musical fountain representing Mount Parnassus, the mythical home of the Greek sun god Apollo and the Muses. Based on themes drawn from the Greek myths, the iconographical programme glorified the triumph of the Catholic Church, and the role of the Aldobrandini family in it, emphasising the superiority of the intellect over the emotions. Although Domenichino designed the pictures, much of the actual painting was done by his assistants.
  • The Temptation of St Anthony, oil on canvas, 161 × 227 cm, Domenichino (1581–1641). Modena: Galleria Estense. Ref. Cosetta (1985, 1: pl. 55); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). At the back, right centre, six girls dance in a circle accompanied by two young men playing ? recorder and tambourine. The recorder player, with a feather in his hat, plays left hand uppermost. His instrument is not clear, but is of soprano/alto size.
  • Allegory of the Reign of Pope Paul V (1605-1621), brush point with brown wash heightened with white on bluish/grey paper, 27.5 × 42.1 cm, Domenichino (1581–1641). Stockholm: Nationalmuseum, NM 1105/1863. Ref. Exhibited Asmolean Museum, Oxford (2002); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). In classical style, a personification of Rome carries aloft a statuette of Fame. Figures line up on both sides, including a girl playing an ‘aulos’, with a man leading a sacrificial bull further to her right. In fact she holds centrally across the body of the instrument in each hand, two beaked duct flutes with the window/labium visible on the one in her right hand. This shows two, perhaps three, finger holes below her hand (none visible above), the lower offset to the player’s right. The other has two finger holes in line below the hand. All is a little blurry as the medium doesn’t make for accuracy. Both instruments have medium to slight bell-flare (otherwise cylindrical), the one in her left hand less so than the right. This appears to be a case of substitution of recorders for the aulos. Notes by Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.)

Domenico di Paris

Italian sculptor, bronze-caster, wood-carver and stuccoist; he undertook to execute reliefs to cover the ceilings of upper rooms in the Palazzo Schifanoia, Ferrara, and although the contract makes no mention of the walls, the elaborate polychrome stucco decorations on the walls of the antechamber are universally given to him and Bongiovanni di Geminiano; born Padua (fl. ca 1443–1501).

  • Wall decorations, stucco, (? ca 1480), Domenico di Paris (fl. ca 1443–1501). Ferrara: Palazzo Schifanoia, Musei Civici di Arte Antica, Salone de Stucchi [Room of the Virtues]. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). The stucco is painted with instruments and angel wings in gold. Many instruments are depicted on the upper wall next to the ceiling. Two on each side of a representation of ‘Spes’ (Hope) could be recorders of tenor size, one with the right and the other with the left hand uppermost but lower to suit the composition. The left-hand instrument has a beaked mouthpiece and an offset hole for the little finger of the lowermost hand, and it has a slightly more flared bell than the right-hand instrument; no window/labium or other finger holes are visible.

Donatello [Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi]

Italian (Florentine) sculptor, the greatest of his age, who excelled in his rendering of human character and the emotional force of his dramatic narratives; worked in stone, metal, wood, terracotta, stucco, and even glass; an innovator in relief sculpture, carved or cast; born and died Florence (1386/7–1466).

  • High Altar, frontal:  Musical Angels, bronze relief, each 58 × 21 cm, Donatello (1386/7–1466). Padua: Basilica di Sant’Antonio. Ref. Paris RIdIM (2000); Website: Web Gallery of Art. The row of bronze panels beneath the altar table includes five musical angels, including two who sing from a music book, one playing gittern, one playing double pipes, and another a small flared-bell pipe. All fingers of both hands seem to be employed covering holes; a raised bead seems to hint at a pirouette and the players cheeks are inflated, indicating a shawm, though a recorder remains a possibility, given the context.
  • Pulpit: bronze reliefs (1465), Donatello (1386/7–1466). Florence: Basilica de San Lorenzo, North pulpit. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002). These pulpits, the result of collaboration between Donatello and his pupils Bertoldo and Bellano, were not quite finished when Donatello died. They depict Christ’s Passion and Resurrection. There are friezes of frolicking putti along the bottom of the central panel on the north side of the north pulpit, and along all of the top three panels. Some of the putti are blowing short pipes which could be duct flutes, judging from the positions of their hands. Images of the pulpits can be found at the Web Gallery of Art.

Gerrit [Gerard] [van] Donck

Dutch portrait, genre painter, printmaker and book illustrator, probably active in Amsterdam and possibly Haarlem; he painted market scenes and street vendors and small scale portraits; born a. 1610, died ca 1640.

  • Portrait of Nicolaes Jansz. Lossy (c. 1604-1664), Organist of the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, and his Wife Marritgen Pieters (1630s), oil on canvas, 47.6 × × 62.9 cm, Gerrit Donck (a. 1610–ca 1640). London: Richard Green, Inv. BH1, 24 August 2011; formerly offered for sale by Sotheby’s (New York), Sale N08645, Old Master & 19th Century European Art, 10 June 2010, Lot 64. The sitters in this portrait have recently been identified by Sabine Craft-Giepmans of the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie. Lossy came from a musical dynasty that held prestigious posts as city musicians over several generations; like many such families, they were Catholic. His grandfather Jan Willemsz. Lossy (ca 1545–ca 1629) was a well-known Haarlem musician, the teacher of the famous organist and composer Jan Pietersz. Sweelinck (1562–1621). Nicolaes’s father, Willem Jansz. Lossy (ca 1580–1639), was an organist and composer for the flute. On 25th May 1604 Willem married Haesgen Willems, daughter of Willem Aertsz., city organist of the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. On Willem Aertsz.’s death in 1607 he inherited his father-in-law’s post, as his son Nicolaes Lossy was to do on his own death in 1639. Gerard Donck’s painting is indistinctly dated 163… it is possible that the last number was a 9 and that the painting was made to mark Nicolaes Lossy’s promotion.Nicolaes Lossy and his wife are depicted seated in an interior with black and white tiled floor. He rests his hand on a muselar virginal, while Marritgen is seated beside a table covered with an oriental carpet and a still life of a perfectly depicted one-piece alto recorder of slightly tapering profile with an abruptly flared bell, song books and sheet music. The manuscript leaf visible on the table contains an anonymous canon for two voices, tenor and soprano, with the tenor leading. A canon is a strict and learned musical form, in which the two parts use the same material as in a traditional round. Since the form of the canon depicted in the present work is perpetual, it could also signify stability, unity and constancy in marriage. The lid of the virginal is decorated with the coat of arms of the Lossy family between grisaille images of a couple making a sacrifice and a soldier.

Francesco Donnela (early 16th century), Italian

  • Coronation of the Virgin, fresco, workshop of Francesco Donnela (early 16th century). Albi: Cathédrale Sainte-Cécile, ceiling vault of the nave. Ref. Rey (1934: 313); Rasmussen (1999c). “Three groups of three musical angels, including one with lute, woodwind (recorder?) and tambourine” (Rasmusen, loc. cit.) Not seen.

Lambert (Harmensz.) Doomer

Dutch painter, draughtsman and collector; born and died Amsterdam (1624–1700).

  • Shepherd and Shepherdess (ca 1670/75), painting, 52.5 × 77.5 cm, Lambert Doomer (1624-1700). Oldenburg: Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgesichte. Ref. Muller et al. (1978: 63); Griffioen (1988: 438–439). In a copse, surrounded by sheep, goats and a dog, a shepherd fingers an alto/tenor sized early baroque-style recorder which is blown by a shepherdess. The recorder appears to have a wave-profile head and an abruptly flaring bell.
  • Interior with Peasants Singing and Dancing around a Table (1681), oil on panel, 42.5 × 62.5 cm, Lambert Doomer (1624–1700). London: Sotheby’s 23 April 1998, Lot 111 (sold); formerly Lord Digby, Dorset. Ref. Sumowski (1983, 1: 478, fig. 223); Gabrius Data Bank (2001, col.); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Domumentatie 26186 (2010, col.) Around a table laden with food, peasants eat, drink, dance and sing to music played by a man standing at the right playing a flared-bell pipe (shawm or recorder) and a small child leaning over her father’s knee playing a small cylindrical duct flute (probably a recorder). Between the two musicians, a brown and white dog dances on its hind legs!

R. Doorenbos

Northern Dutch painter of still-lifes and landscapes, active in Amsterdam (op. 1665-1672).

  • Vanitas (1665–1667), oil on canvas, 55.9 × 68.6 cm, R. Doorenbos (op. 1665–1672). The Hague: H. Jüngeling (1965); formerly Private Collection, Millwaukee. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, illustration 108643 (2014, b&w). On a table are a skull, playing cards, an open music book, an open account book, a watch, a kit (dancing master’s fiddle) and a duct flute (probably a recorder) only the head and upper body of which are visible. There appears to be a maker’s mark just below the window/labium.

Ludovico Dorigny

French painter and engraver who spent most of his life and career in Verona; born Paris (1654), died Venice (1742); grandson of painter Simon Vouet (1590–1649), son of painter and engraver Michel Dorigny (1617–1663); brother of painter and engraver Nicolas Dorigny (1658–1746).

  • Procession of Silenus, etching by Pierre-Jean Mariette (1694–1774) after Ludovico Dorigny (1654–1742). Location unknown. Ref. Website: gallica (2012, b&w). A very drunken Silenus astride a goat is assisted by satyrs old and young putti musicians. Two of the latter play slender cylindrical pipes which might be duct flutes (maybe recorders) and one plays a syrinx; bringing up the rear, one plays a transverse flute, another a small shawm.

Johann Jakob Dorner I

German painter and etcher of historical occasions, genre scenes and portraits; worked in Augsburg as a façade painter and in Munich, where he was employed copying the Dutch paintings at Schloss Schleissheim, later appointed a court painter to Elector Max III Joseph; born Ehrenstetten, near Freiburg im Breisgau (1741), died Munich (1813).

  • Bagpiper & Recorder-player, watercolour on paper, 39.5 × 28.1 cm, Johann Jakob Dorner I (1741–1813). Frankfurt: Städelsches Kunstinstitut: Städtische Galerie, Inv. 823. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999, Fsm – 137). In a barn, a man and a boy in rough torn clothes play bagpipes and recorder. Two peasants watch through an open window.

Dosso Dossi [Giovanni de Lutero or Luteri or de Constantino]

Italian draughtsman and painter; the outstanding painter of the Ferrarese School; he spent most of his career in Ferrara, combining with the poet Ariosto in devising court entertainments, triumphs, tapestries, etc; he painted mythological and religious works, portraits, and decorative frescos; his work has a quality of fantasy and a sense of color and texture that gives it an individual stamp; born Trameschio, Mirandola (1486/1487), died Ferrara (1542); brother of the painter Batista Dossi (op. 1512–m. 1548).

  • Soldier in Armour Accompanied by a Female Recorder-player (ca 1513), Dosso Dossi (1486/1487–1542). Venice: Galleria di Palazzo Cini. Ref. Paolo Biordi (pers. comm., 2002); Website: gallica (2012, b&w); Gétreau (2016). A bearded soldier in armour holds a pair of gloves. Beside him, a young woman holds a large, wide, cylindrical recorder the beak, window/labium, and first four finger holes of which are clearly depicted. The subject may be an allegory (of Love and War, for example), but it includes elements of particularization (the man must be left-handed, as he wears his sword on his right hip).
  • Soldier in Armour Accompanied by a Female Recorder-player (ca 1600), oil on canvas, 99.1 × 87.9 cm, after Dosso Dossi (1486/148–1542).  Royal Collection Trust, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, JS 83. A bearded soldier in armour holds a pair of gloves. Beside him, a young woman holds a large, wide, cylindrical recorder the beak, window/labium, and first four finger holes of which are clearly depicted. Previously attributed to Giorgione (ca 1478-1510), This painting is thought to be a good copy after an original in better condition by the young Dosso in the Cini Collection, Venice.
  • [Recorder-player], fresco, Dosso Dossi (1486/1487–1542). Trento: Castello del Buonconsiglio. Ref. Angelo Zaniol (pers. comm., 2003); Heyghen (2005: 249, 252 & 321, col.) A man plays a tenor-sized cylindrical recorder with a distinctive beak, lighter in colour to the body and possibly metal-sleeved. The window/labium is clearly visible. Beside him is a harpsichord.
  • Bacchanal (ca 1513), oil on canvas, 108.5 × 162.0 cm, Dosso Dossi (1486/1487–1542). Rome: Museo Nazionale di Castel di Sant Angelo, Sala dei Festoni. Ref. Postcard: Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant’Angelo, Nr. 35150; Walter Bergmann (ex Anthony Rowland-Jones, pers. comm., 2003, col.); Website: gallica (2012, b&w); Website: Castel di Sant Angello (2013, col.) A group of naked or part-naked men and women disport themselves beside a stream in a secluded glade. One of their number plays a viola da bracchio; behind three fully clad youths play lute and two recorders, the characteristic beak and window/labium of each clearly visible. To the right of the adults two naked children play with monkeys. In the background, a river winds past a town on a hill.

Gerrit (Gerard) Dou

Dutch Baroque painter, leading artist of the school of Leiden, especially known for his small, detailed, and elaborately finished domestic genre paintings and portraits; born and died Leiden (1613–1675)

  • Woman Playing the Clavichord (ca 1655), oil, 37.5 × 30 cm, Gerrit Dou (1613-1675). Detail. London: Dulwich Picture Gallery, Inv. 56. Ref. Brown (1986: 118; Early Music 8 (2): front cover (col.); Griffioen (1988: 438–439); van Dijck & Koopman (1987: no. 134); Paolo Biordi (pers. comm., 2000); Website: gallica (2012, col.) A woman sits at a table playing a clavichord; a viol stands against a smaller table to her right on which a book of music lies open. In front of that is a jug in a basket. Lying across the right-hand corner of the music book is a small, one-piece, cylindrical duct flute (probably a soprano recorder, though only the upper four fingerholes are visible). There is another version in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen – Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden.
  • Woman playing the Clavichord, oil, Gerrit Dou (1613–1675). Dresden: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen – Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister. Ref. van Dijck & Koopman (1987: no. 131); Paolo Biordi (pers. comm., 2000). A woman sits at a table playing a clavichord; a viol stands against a smaller table to her right on which a book of music lies open. In front of that is a jug in a basket. Lying across the right-hand corner of the music book is a small, one-piece, cylindrical duct flute (probably a soprano recorder, though only the upper four finger holes are visible). There is another version in the Dulwich Picture Gallery, London.
  • The Little Musician, wood, 21 × 16 cm, Gerrit Dou (1613–1675). Location unknown: sold Galerie Charpentier, Paris (before 1965). Ref. Paris RIdIM (1999); Universitatario Olandese di Storia dell’Arte Firenze, Special Photo Study Collections, Image 0036799 (2009, b&w). A boy in a lace collar sits at a table holding a soprano recorder the window/labium of which is clearly shown, as are the off-set little-duct flute and the slightly flared bell with two decorative incised rings.
  • Boy Playing the Flute, oil on wood, oval, 14.6 × 12.3 cm, Gerrit Dou (1613–1675). Innsbruck: Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Inv. 624. Ref. Website: flautotraverso.it (2003, col.); Website: FBI Art Theft Program (2005). A boy in a feathered hat sits playing a small, flared-bell recorder. On a table beside him lies an open music book. This work was stolen from the Museum between 17-19 May  2001.  Said to have been inspired by Caspar Netscher’s Boy Playing a Recorder by Lamplight (1664-5), Baterische Staatsgemaldesammlungen, Munich, Inv. 297.
  • Boy Playing the Flute, oil on wood, oval, after Gerrit Dou (1613–1675). Private Collection. Ref. Website: Pinterest, Ellen’s photstream. A copy of the above. A boy in a feathered hat sits playing a small, flared-bell recorder. On a table beside him lies an open music book.
  • Boy Playing the Flute (ca 1780), mezzotint, 27.3 × 20.5 cm, by Johann Veit Kauperz (1741–1816) after Gerrit Dou (1613–1675). Berlin: Kunstbibliothek, Inv. 918a,17; London: British Museum, Asset 594285001. Ref. Munich RIdIM (2009, Bkb – 444); Website: Lebrecht Music & Arts Photo Library (2012 – b&w.) A copy of the above. A boy in a feathered hat sits playing a small, flared-bell recorder. On a table beside him lies an open music book. Details of the beak and window/labium are unclear.  Dedictated to ‘HRR Freyherrn von Fries’, and lettered further with information about the original painting.
  • The Flute Player, engraving, 15 × 11 cm, by Friedrich John (1769–1848) after Gerrit Dou (1613–1675). Uppsala: Universitetbibliotek, UBG 1925/5. Ref. RIdIM Stockholm (2000); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000). A young man with an open music book at his side plays a flared-bell recorder with a wide bore opening. Details of the beak and window/labium are unclear. Notes by Anthony Rowland-Jones (loc. cit.)
  • A Young Artist Sketching, oil on panel, 31.0 × 24.8 cm, Gerrit Dou (1613–1675). Vienna: Dorotheum, 14 October 1997, Lot 59. Ref. Gabrius Data Bank (2001, col.); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Documentatie (2010, col.) A young artist sits at a curtain-draped table before a stone casement in a candlelit room sketching a bronze statue of Orpheus and Cerberus. Beside his sketch book is a cylindrical object which gives every appearance of being a recorder, the beak and window/labium and several fingerholes are clearly delineated. loc. cit.)
  • Young Musician in a Niche, oil on panel, 22 × 18 cm, studio of Gerrit Dou (1613–1675). Cologne: Lempertz, Paintings 15-19th Centuries Aftersale, 28 June 2021, Lot 60. Ref. Website: Bowed Strings Iconography Project, bsip1981 (2022, col.) Beneath a tasseled drape, a young man sits in a niche holding a perfectly depicted baroque soprano recorder over some sheet music. Behind him are a cello and a violin.

Louis Fabritius Dubourg

Dutch historical painter, decorative artist, engraver and watercolorist; born and died Amsterdam (1693–1775).

  • Music (1741), corner-piece of a ceiling decoration, oil on canvas, triangular, 255 × 460 cm , Louis Fabritius Dubourg (1693–1775). Private Collection. Ref. Website: Rijksbureau vor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, Image 0000094621 (2016, col.) A young man plays a beautifully depicted alto-sized baroque recorder. He is surrounded by winged putti one of whom claps crotales whilst others dance. At his feet are a tambourine (with pellet bells and jingles), a bagpipe, two ?shawms, a syrinx and a lyre. One of the putti seems to be preparing the drinks!

Willem Doudijns

Dutch painter and teacher, and founder-member of the Confrerie Pictura, a more or less academic club of artists founded in 1656 in The Hague by local art painters who were dissatisfied with the Guild of Saint Luke there; born 1630, died 1697.

  • Mercury and Argus, black chalk on paper, 28.1 × 18.7 cm, Willem Doudijns (1630–1697). Vienna: Albertina, Inv. 9941. Ref. Rijksbureau Kunsthistorische Documentatie 55148 (2010, b&w). Seated on a bank beneath a tree, Mercury pipes Argus to sleep, watched by Juno (as a heifer). Mercury’s pipe is a conically flared model, possibly a recorder.

Frans Bartholomeus Douven [Doeven, Douven de Jonge] (1688-p.1726),

German painter whose works include mythological and religious subjects, and portraits; born Düsseldorf (1688), died p. 1726; possibly the son of painter Jan Frans van Douven (1656–1727).

  • Euterpe, oil on canvas, Frans Bartholomeus Douven (1688–p . 1726). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank (2000, b&w). Euterpe (Muse of music and lyric poetry) sits on the plinth of a cenotaph, surrounded by birds (two ? thrushes and a parrot). In her hands is a conical duct flute (probably a recorder). All fingers of her uppermost (left) hand and the first two fingers of her lowermost (right) hand are covering their holes. The bell opening is very wide and the walls seem very thin. Beside her are a tambourine (with jingles) and an open book of music which it may be possible to read.

Jan Frans van Douven [Johan Francois Douven]

Southern Netherlandish portrait painter belonging to the Dutch Leyden School who spent most of his life as Court painter in Düsseldorf (now in Germany), where he created most of his works; born Roermond (1656), died Düsseldorf (1727); possibly the father of the painter Frans Bartholomeus Douven (1688–p. 1726).

  • Portrait of Johanna Helena Glauwe (1670), oil on canvas, 122 × 100 cm , Jan Frans van Douven (1656–1727). Arnhem: Huis Zypendaal,  Ref. Website: Rijksbureau vor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, Image 72532 (2016, col.) Johanna Helena Glauwe (?-1689), who  was born and died in Kampen, stands before a stone table on which are a violin and bow, musical scores and an alto-sized recorder in a pale wood, possibly box. The beak, window/labium and body of this recorder are clearly depicted; six finger holes can be seen, but the lower part of the instrument and its foot are hidden behind a music book which Johanna seems to be in the process of opening with one hand whilst in the other she holds a page of music. Between the violin and the alto recorder is a second recorder of soprano size in a dark wood; its head is hidden but holes for seven fingers are clearly seen, the lowermost doubled.  The music appears to be nonsensical.

Cornelis Jacobs Drebbel [or Drebber] (1572–1634), Dutch

  • The Seven Arts: Music, print by Cornelis Jacobs Drebbel (1572–1634), after Hendrick Goltzius (1558–1617). Ref. Bartsch 3/5 (120); Munich RIdIM (1999). Includes a recorder.

Willem [Wilhelmus] Drost

Dutch painter, draughtsman and printmaker, possibly of German origin, of whom very little is known; only half a dozen paintings (and an even smaller number of etchings) are recognized as being by him; all his works that are dated are of the 1650s, when he is presumed to have been a pupil of Rembrandt; born ? Germany (ca 1630), died ? Amsterdam (p. 1680).

  • Flute-player (ca 1665–1660), oil on canvas, 74.9 × 62.2 cm, Willem Drost (ca. 1630–p. 1680). Location unknown: auctioned Christie’s, London 27 October 2004, Lot 23 (unsold). Ref. Sumowski (1983[–1994], I: 634, #325); Griffioen (1988: 438-439); Gabrius Data Bank (2007, col.); Bikker (2001: p. 140 & fig. 31); Rijksbureau Kunsthistoriche Documentatie 6947 (2010, col.) A half-length figure of a young man seen in side-profile who plays an alto-sized hand-fluyt, his lowermost (right) hand in perfect recorder-playing position with all fingers in play.
  • Mercury and Argus (ca 1660), oil on canvas, 116.5 × 98.5 cm, Willem Drost (ca 1630–p. 1680). Dresden: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen – Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Inv. 1608. Ref. Sumowski (1983[–1994], I: 623, #314); Griffioen (1988: 438–439); Bikker (2001: 132 & fig. 26); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, illustration 2642 (2014, b&w). A drowsy Argus leans against his stick. Beside him, Mercury has disguised himself as a shepherd boy but has forgotten the wings on his hat. Mercury holds a near-cylindrical recorder of soprano size. This is clearly a recorder with its characteristic beak and window/labium. Two holes are visible by the little finger of the upper (right) hand; four holes are visible under the left hand, the upper two very close to the fingers.
  • Boy with a Recorder, oil on panel, 75.0 × 64.5 cm, Willem Drost (ca 1630–p. 1680). Florence: Galleria Palatina (Pitti Palace Gallery), Inv. 18890, n. 2935. Ref. Paolo Biordi (pers. comm., 2000); Bikker (2001: 141 & fig. 32); Website: Archiv für Künst und GeschichteAKG3335171 (2014, col.) A pensive boy in a skull-cap holds a small cylindrical recorder the beak, window/labium and first three finger holes of which are visible. This painting had a pendant depicting an old man, dressed in black and white, holding a book. The two may have represented a teacher and his pupil (Bikker, loc. cit.)
  • Young Man with a Flute, oil on canvas, 99.0 × 82.5 cm, Willem Drost (ca 1630–p. 1680). Scandinavia: Private Collection: auctioned Chisties, New York, Sale 9318, Important Old Master Paintings, 27 January 2000, Lot 58. Ref. Gabrius Data Bank (2001, col.); Biker (2001: 144 & fig. 34); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Documentatie 64047 (2010, col.) A young man in a wide-brimmed straw hat, his left arm outstretched, holds a small cylindrical duct flute (probably a recorder) in his right hand. The window/labium is clearly visible and a single duct flute shows between his fingers. Auctioned 27 January 2000, lot 58, unsold (Gabrius, loc. cit.; Bikker loc. cit.)

Joost Cornelisz. Droochsloot

Dutch painter of village scenes, landscapes, genre pictures, moral allegories, and biblical stories; father and teacher of the painter Cornelis Droochsloot (1630–1673) whose paintings are hard to distinguish from his own, and the teacher of painter and etcher Jacob A. Duck (1600–1667).

  • The Five Senses, drawing, 18.5 × 30.0 cm, Joost Cornelisz. Droochsloot (1586–1666). Leipzig: Museum der bildenden Künste. Ref. Jan Briels, Vlaamse schilders in de Noordelijke Nederlanden in het begin van de Gouden Eeuw (1987); Website: Lute Iconography, LI-1738 (2023: fig. 166, b&w). In what appears to be a tavern, a man plays an archlute and a woman sings, seated at a table. They are accompanied by standing musicians playing violin and a flared bell pipe (possibly a recorder). Amongst the people drinking around them, a man  dozes against a large barrel. This may be a sketch for a painting.

Jean(-Philippe-Arthur) Dubuffet (1901-1985)

French painter, sculptor, printmaker, collector and writer; an avant-garde maverick whose revolt against beauty and conformity has come to be seen as a symptomatic and appreciable influence in 20th-century culture; born Le Havre (1901), died Paris (1985).

  • Er hat die Sandalen ausgezogen [He has pulled his sandals off] (1947), oil on canvas, 99.5 × 80.5 cm, Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985). Hamburg: Kunsthalle, No. 5364. A ghastly oriental character sits crosslegged – sandals beside him – on a mat; no sign of snakes! He plays a duct flute with six conspicuously large finger holes (it is just possible that another is covered by the player’s upper (left) hand – finger 1 is down).

Isaac Duchemin

Flemish draughtsman and printmaker; op. 1560–1582.

  • Tabula Asinaria: inscitiae saeculi vivum exemplum [Donkey Picture: Vivid Demonstration of the Ignorance of our Age] (1612), engraving, 44.3 × 35.0 cm, Isaac Duchemin (op. 1560–1582). Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum RP-P-1878-A-889; Berlin-Grunewald: Galerie Bassenge (sold). Ref. Burlington Magazine, October (1999). Published by German engraver and printer  Johann Bussemacher  (op. ca 1580–1613). An allegory on the decline of appreciation for the arts and sciences. In a barn-like artist’s studio, a horde of asses trample the furniture, easel, paintings and props. The latter includes a globe, a sundial, a lute, a very stout bass recorder with a fontanelle and swallow-tail key, and a container for flutes (perhaps smaller recorders). Through a vast doorway, winged asses fly to join their vandalistic friends; they represent the power of money in the hands of those who despise and ridicule the liberal arts. Beneath them, the muses lament the scene. In the foreground, two Muses and a poet try in vain to mend one of the donkey’s ways by washing his head, while in the distance the Seven Liberal Arts lament their treatments. There is a long accompanying verse. Later, Duchemin changed the title to Eselen Kunstkammer [Donkey Museum] with the explanation: “This is a living illustration of how today the worthy liberal arts are treated by the ignorant buffalo, how they are pushed around, trampled and despised.”

Jacob A. Duck (or Duyck)

Dutch painter and etcher of the Utrecht School; known for his portraits, merry companies, and domestic scenes; born ? Utrecht (1600), died Utrecht (1667); doubtless a distant relative of comic genius Donald Duck (1934–).

  • Musical Gathering, oil on copper, 49.0 × 38.5 cm, Jacob A. Duck (1600–1667). Dresden: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen – Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Kat. 1388 (1908). Ref. Haas (1931: 170); Archiv Moeck; Salmen (1969, 3: 59); Viola da Gamba Society of America (1975: 10); Paolo Biordi (pers. comm., 2000). Musicians seated around a table play viols and a duct flute (beak and window/labium are clear ), probably a recorder by playing position and context. A woman is obviously playing a harpsichord or spinet, the instrument hidden behind a table: a man leaning over her shoulder is turning the page for her! Notes (in part) by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2000).
  • The Musical (or Amorous) Trio, 50 × 42 cm, Jacob A. Duck (1600–1667). ? Private collection. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001); Web site: The Great Bass Viol (2004, col.); Website: gallica (2012, b&w); Website: Il Condottiere (2010, col.) Depicts an interior, probably a brothel, with a covered bed in the background. A man plays a bass viol and a woman a soprano viol at a table. A girl holds a music book for a man playing a recorder, the bell end of which is obscured by her hand. The recorder player holds his instrument right hand lowermost; all his fingers are down, the upper little finger supporting the side of the instrument. The beak is clear and the window/labium is just visible in shadow.
  • Ladies and Gentlemen of Pleasure Making Music in an Interior, oil on canvas, Jacob A. Duck (1600–1667). Ref. Gabrius Data Bank (2001, col.) Depicts an interior, probably a brothel, with a covered bed in the background. A man plays a bass viol and a woman a soprano viol at a table. A girl holds a music book for a man playing a recorder, the bell end of which is obscured by her hand. The recorder player holds his instrument right hand lowermost; all his fingers are down, the upper little finger supporting the side of the instrument. The beak is clear and the window/labium is just visible in shadow. Auctioned 13 September 1990 (Gabrius, loc. cit.) Identical to the Musical Gathering by the same artist at the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden.
  • Men Making Music in an Interior (p. 1635), oil on panel, 50 x 54 cm, Jacob A. Duck (1600–1667). Loc. Cologne:  Van Ham Kunstauktionen, 13 May 2016, lot 533. Ref. RKD Images 0000193654 (2016, b&w). In a room three men seated around a table play violin, bass viol, and an alto-sized recorder, the window/labium and flared bell clearly depicted. Behind them a fourth man seems to be leaving in a hurry. In the foreground, a lute lies on the floor.

Claude Augustin Pierre Duflos (1700-1786), French – see Johann Eleazar Schenau

Jan de Duits [Duyts]

Flemish artist; born Antwerp (1629); died Antwerp (1676).

  • Pastoral Scene, Jan de Duits (1629–1676). Private Collection. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (2001); Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2001). Two shepherds listen to a third playing a soprano-sized pipe which has a narrow mouthpiece but a short, strong bell-flare. The instrument is played left hand uppermost with the duct flute covered underneath, the first and second fingers and the first finger of the right hand raised. The other fingers are down, but the little finger is stretched to cover a hole quite close to the bell expansion. Thus this would seem to represent a recorder.

J.N. Dupaix, (18th century), Flemish

  • Musical Putti, wood sculpture, J.N. Dupaix (18th century). Hoegaarden: Sint-Gorgoniuskerk, organ case. Ref. Website: Koninklijk Instituut voor het Kunstpatrimonium (2010: b&w). On top of the positive organ five putti play musical instruments: one plays a transverse flute, one holds what may be an oboe, and another plays a recorder, the beak and window well-depicted. A third putto plays a drum enthusiastically; and a fifth plays a horn. The organ was made by Jean Baptiste Goynaut, the case by Jan Stockmans.

Jean Duplessi-Bertaux

French engraver and painter whose works were often compared favourably to those of Jacques Callot (1592-1635), whose work he studied and copied; Duplessi-Bertaux’ engravings include religious subjects, copies of paintings by LeBrun, Rubens and Teniers, illustrations for travel books, landscapes, military scenes, portraits, book illustrations, depictions of military campaigns and events during the French Revolution – he was said to be an ardent revolutionary himself; born Paris (1747), died Paris (1818).

  • Mr. de la Flute. Joueur de plusieurs instrumens [Monsieur de la Flute. Player of Several Instruments] (1814), engraving, 8.0 × 10.2 cm, Jean Duplessi-Bertaux (1747–1818). Washington DC.: Library of Congress, Dayton Miller Flute Collection, 0217/M. This small etching depicts a street musician wearing a bicornute hat who plays many instruments. People have gathered around him to hear his performance. He is seated on a chair and plays a narrowly conical pipe with one hand and plucks a harp with the other, a drum with his left foot, and bells are tied around his right knee. On a small table next to him on the left are cymbals which he operates with his right foot. A Jew’s harp lies in the foreground. A woman with a dog in her arms stands at the left and holds a folded leaflet, perhaps a music score, or lyrics. A boy next to her, appears to be singing. They may be the wife and son of the musician and perhaps they perform as a family group. On the far left and right are bystanders of different social classes, judging from their dress. At the right are a gentleman and his dog, a soldier, a woman wearing a bonnet and with keys hanging from her waist, and a barefoot man. In the right background are two men, perhaps artisans, and another dog. On the far left is a man with a wide-brimmed hat and another young boy. The musician’s pipe is possibly a recorder, though no details of the window/labium can be seen.

François Duret-Robert (17th-18th century), French – see Giulio Pippi

Francis Leonard Dupont (1756–1821), French

  • Still-life, Francis Leonard Dupont (1756–1821). London: Phillips Auction House. Ref. Bridgeman Library of Art (2001: Image PFA52082). On a table are a bowl of fruit, a fruit-knife, music score, a vase of flowers, and a small recorder with a very curved beak.

Albrecht Dürer

Painter, printmaker, engraver, etcher and draughtsman, generally regarded as the greatest German Renaissance artist; also the author of works on geometry and perspective, anatomy, and fortification; active in southern Germany and Alsace, Basle, Nuremberg, Augsburg and the Netherlands; born and died Nuremberg (1471–1528).

  • [The Men’s Bath] (ca 1496–1497), woodcut, 38.7 × 28 cm (image), Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528). San Francisco: de Young Museum 3306201406690044 A010898; Sibiu (Romania): Muzeul Muzeul National Brukenthal; Walsall: New Art Gallery; Auckland: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, 1962/10/4; Washington DC: Library of Congress, Dayton C. Miller Flute Collection, 0481/U; Vienna: Albertina, DG1934/496. Ref. Wollitz (1982: 244); Zaniol (1984, December: 7, fig. 7 – detail); Landau & Parshall (1994: 172, pl. 181); Thomson & Rowland-Jones (1995: 215, pl. 42); Hijtmans (2005: 216); Lancaster (2007: 16, fig.); Ausoni (2009: 325); Website: gallica (2012, b&w); Website: Bowed Strings Iconography Project, bsip221 (2022, b&w); Lasocki (2023: 119). A group of six men of different ages lounge in a town bath house and are entertained by two musicians, one playing a flared-bell recorder, the other a rebec or fiddle. This illustration is exceptionally clear, showing an instrument in one-piece form with a distinctive flared bell and tone-holes for seven fingers (including double holes for the little finger of the lowest hand, one of which would have been blocked with wax), and appears to be of the design consistent with the so-called ‘Ganassi-style’ recorder (Thomson & Rowland-Jones, loc. cit.)
  • Nude Man Playing on a Flute and Leaning his Head on one Shoulder, drawing on paper, Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863), after Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528). Paris: Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques, RF 9377, Recto. A sketch of the central figure from Dürer’s engraving The Men’s Bath.
  • Maximilian I’s Prayer Book: [Musical instruments],  Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528). Munich: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, f. 19r. Ref. Munich RIdIM (1999, Strauss 3/1515/14). A circle with many instruments including one which could be a recorder or a shawm, and another which may be a small recorder.
  • Border decoration: Maximilian I’s Prayer Book: Pater noster (1514), ink drawing, Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528). Besancon: Bibliothèque municipale 67633, Oratio ad suu[m] proprium angelu[m], [Augsburg], 1514 [VD16 M 1657] .  Ref. American Recorder 8 (4): 106 (1967); Thomson (1974: 23, fig. 4); Thomson & Rowland-Jones (1995: 225); Hijmans (2005: 217); Website: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (2016, col.). A stern looking soldier holding a halberd watches as some hens are enticed to cross a stream by a fox playing a small duct flute (possibly a recorder) doubtless in an effort to get them to join him for supper. Dürer’s monogram AD is clearly seen at the bottom right.
  • Border decoration: Maximilian I’s Prayer Book: Psalmus: Ludate domino omnes gentes (1514), ink drawing, Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528). Besancon: Bibliothèque municipale, BSB 2 L.impr.membr. 64 Inv. 67633, Bd.: 2, L.impr.membr. 64.  Ref. Website: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (2016, col.). Presided over by an angel reading at a lectern, an old man sitting praying beneath a tree is encouraged by two winged putti, one of whom rides a hobby-horse whilst the other plays on a small duct flute (possibly a recorder). Dürer’s monogram AD is clearly seen at the bottom right.
  • Von nachtes Hofyeren, pl. 62 from Sebastian Brant’s Narrenschiff (1494, Nuremburg), woodcut after Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528). Basel: Library; Heidelberg: University Library. Ref. ? Author (1964/1988, 60/2: 218); Rasmussen (1999b); Web-site: Art and Early Music (2001). Fools (with asses’ ears and bells) playing musical instruments serenade a bare-bossomed woman who douses them with the contents of her chamber pot for their troubles. Two of the fools plays cylindrical pipes (probably duct flutes). Their companions sing and play lute. This is similar but by no means identical to that below.
  • Von nachtes Hofyeren, pl. 62 from Sebastian Brant’s Narrenschiff (1494, Nuremburg), woodcut after Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). Basel: Library; Heidelberg: University Library. Ref. Wiese (1988: fig. 39); Archiv Moeck. Fools (with asses’ ears and bells) playing musical instruments serenade a bare-bossomed woman who douses them with the contents of her chamber pot for their troubles. Two of the fools plays cylindrical pipes (probably duct flutes). Their companions sing and play lute. This is similar but by no means identical to that above.

Cornelis Dusart

Dutch genre painter, draughtsman and printmaker; known for his raucous tavern scenes; pupil and close friend of Adriaen van Ostade whose style he followed; born and died Haarlem (1660–1704).

  • Caricature, Head of a Leering Man, a Recorder Tucked into his Hat (1690), red & black chalk and watercolour on vellum, tondo, 97 cm diameter, 15.5 × 14.4 cm, Cornelis Dusart f. (1660–1704). Germany: Private Collection; formerly The Hague: Haags Historisch Museum, Unicorno Collectie; auctioned Sotheby’s (Amsterdam), 19 May 2004, Lot 80. Ref. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie 65678 (2010, col.); American Recorder ? vol.: 8 (2004, b&w). A caricature of a leering peasant with a small, flared-bell recorder fixed to his hat, very much like that depicted by Brouwer and elsewhere by Dusart himself. The off-set hole for the little finger of the lowermost hand is clearly depicted.
  • The Fiddler in the Inn (1685), copperplate print, Cornelis Dusart f. (1660–1704). Ann Arbor: University of Michegan, Museum of Art, Acc. No. 1992/2.18; New York: New York Public Library, Print Collection; New York: David Tunick Inc. (2005). Ref. Roth & Beck (1965: pl. 29); Bartsch 7/19 (477); Munich RIdIM (1999); University of Michegan, Museum of Art (2014); Website: New York Public Library (2001); Website: gallica (2012, b&w). A tavern scene in which variously carousing and dozing peasants, including the hooded rat-catcher, are entertained by one of their number who plays the fiddle. There is a small recorder (with seven finger holes including the lowermost offset) fixed to his hat, very much like that depicted by Brouwer and elsewhere by Dusart himself. A dog watches a child annoying another mutt. The Latin caption below refers to the simple amusement of peasants.
  • Recorder Player, Cornelis Dusart f. (1660–1704). Heidelberg: Gotha [Str.] Ref. Archiv Moeck. A man with one leg plays a small flared-bell recorder, his music open on a small table before him.

Thomas Germain Joseph Duvivier

French painter and member of a family of artists active in Paris; known for his depictions of architecture, still-lifes, portraits, sculptures, and tromp l’oeil; born 1735, died 1814.

  • Still-life with Bust of a Woman in Marble, Flute and Score, in a Niche, pastel, attributed to Thomas Germain Joseph Duvivier (1735–1814). Paris: Sotheby’s, Old Master and 19th Century Drawings and Paintings, Sale PF9011, 24 June 2009. In a niche the bust of a young woman gazes at a recorder and sheet music lying on a cloth-covered ledge. The recorder is a three-piece baroque-style alto, perfectly depicted; the head-joint appears to be of a different colour to the remainder of the instrument.

Pieter Jacobsz. (Colinchovius) Duyfhuysen [Duiufhuizen, Duyfhuisjen, Duyfhuljsen]

Dutch genre painter; born Rotterdam (1608), died Rotterdam (1677).

  • Interior with Woman Playing a Recorder / The Musical Cook, oil on oak panel, 25.5 × 21.0 cm, Pieter Jacobsz. Duyfhusysen (1608–1677). Basel: Private Collection. Ref. Archiv Moeck; Website: Archiv für Künst und Geschichte, AKG291303 (2014, col.) In her kitchen, a peasant woman, with a large dead duck on a dish in her lap, plays right hand uppermost a cylindrical alto recorder to a young boy. A man leaning on a long hoe looks on.
  • Peasant Interior (ca 1660), oil on panel, 39 × 51 cm, Pieter Jacobsz. Duyfhuysen (1608–1677). The Hague: Hoogsteder & Hoogsteder. Ref. Buijsen & Grijp (1993); Gabrius Data Bank (2001, b&w); Spliethoff, M. et al. (2002: 10-11, pl., col.) ; Website: Hoogsteder & Hoogsteder (2014, col.) A man sits on a stool, filling his pipe from an earthenware bowl. Leaning over his shoulder is another man with a nasty leer on his face, and threaded through a tuck in his hat is a recorder much like those depicted by Brouwer and Dusart but much bigger. Behind them at a table two men play cards. Hanging on the wall is a garland of onions and a knob of garlic. Overindulgence in alcohol and smoking were held to cause impotence; the outsize recorder (an obvious phallic symbol) says much about the other man’s potency, and garlic was held to be an aphrodisiac.
  • A Peasant Family Making Music, oil on panel, 32 × 54 cm, Pieter Jacobsz. Duyfhuysen (1608–1677). Amsterdam: Glerum, Sale 341, 19th Century Paintings & a Collection of Works by Old Masters, 15 April 2008, Lot. 13. A peasant woman stands bawling and thrumming a rommelpot (friction-drum). Her husband lolls on a chair, singing from a song sheet, a capacious tankard at his feet. A lad tootles away on a hand-fluyt as his grandpa leans on his shoulders, singing. An aunt offers a cup of something to a downcast young fellow facing her. An infant seems to be joining in the singing. The recorder is well-depicted despite the gloomy room. The remains of a meal in the form of a partly eaten leg of ham takes centre stage, and a little girl with her back to us seems to be making a bee-line for it. The recorder is well-depicted despite the gloomy room.

Abraham van Dyck [Dijck]

Dutch draughtsman and painter, thought to have been a pupil of Rembrandt; his works include biblical scenes, portraits and genre scenes; born Amsterdam (ca 1635), died Dordrecht (1672).

  • The Piping Boy (1665–1660), oil on canvas, 92.8 × 74.3 cm, Abraham van Dyck (ca 1635–1672). London: Christie’s, Sale 6323, Old Master Pictures, 7 July 2000, Lot 18. Ref. Sale Catalogue: Charles Sedelmeyr, Illustrated Catalogue of the Eighth Series of 100 Paintings by Old Masters, Paris (1902: no. 14); Sumowski (1983: 3180 & 2092, no. 2049); Ruth van Baak Griffioen (pers. comm., 2003); Universitatario Olandese di Storia dell’Arte Firenze, Special Photo Study Collections, Image 0049521 (2009, b&w); Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, illustration 114157 (2014, col.). Half-length portrait of a seated youth, in a slashed doublet and red felt hat, playing a slender recorder with a prominently flared bell. His right hand is uppermost, and his thumb and fingers are perfectly positioned for recorder playing. Formerly regarded as a celebrated work by Rembrandt, and later by Barent Fabritius (1635/6–1672), but now reassigned to Abraham van Dyck by Sumowski (loc. cit.)

Sir Anthony van Dyck

One of the most prominent Flemish artists of the 17th century; prolific painter of portraits of European aristocracy and works on religious and mythological subjects, also a fine draftsman and etcher; active Antwerp, Genoa and London; born Antwerp (1599), died London (1641).

  • Lucas van Uffel (1621–1627), oil on canvas, 124.5 × 100.6 cm, Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641). New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 14.40.619. Ref. Howard & Montebello (1983: 148, pl. 68, col.) The Flemish merchant and shipowner Lucas van Uffel (m. 1637) holds a pair of dividers on a table on which are a globe, a bust, the bow of a viol, a cylindrical recorder and some sheet music. The dividers and the recorder had the same symbolism for van Dyck as they did for Cranach almost a century earlier, ie as something challenging one’s power of learning and need to achieve, but they doubtless reflect the subject’s various interests. Note by Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm.) A preliminary sketch for this (without any of the props) was auctioned on 24 January 1901 but unsold (Gabrius Data Bank OMP, 2001).
  • Lucas van Uffel (1660–1675), engraving, 37.5 × 29.3 cm, by Wallerant Vaillant (1623–1677) after Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641). Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, Inv. RP-P-OB-17.407; London: British Museum, Inv. 1847,0713.91 & 1902,1011.7843. The Flemish merchant and shipowner Lucas van Uffel (died 1637) holds a pair of dividers on a table on which are a globe, a bust, the bow of a viol, a cylindrical recorder and some sheet music. The dividers and the recorder had the same symbolism for van Dyck as they did for Cranach almost a century earlier, ie as something challenging one’s power of learning and need to achieve, but they doubtless reflect the subject’s various interests.
  • Drunken Silenus Supported by Satyrs (ca 1620), oil on canvas, 133.5 × 197.0 cm, possibly by Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641). London: National Gallery, NG853. Ref. Anthony Rowland-Jones (pers. comm., 2002); Website: Wikimedia Commons (2013, col.) Silenus is surrounded by satyrs and revellers. At the lower right two putti offer him grapes, while above them an old Bacchante carries a torch. On the left a figure plays pipes, and a young Bacchante squeezes grapes over Silenus. The piper plays two duct flutes: that in his right hand is a perfect, very slightly flared recorder with seven finger holes; only the upper portion of the instrument in his left hand is visible, but it looks no different from its companion. This work was previously thought to be by Rubens, but recent examination of the way the brush-strokes were applied has resulted in its being re-assigned to van Dyck whilst he was still working in Rubens’ studio. The sky and landscape are probably by Jan Wildens, and the foliage and fruit by Frans Snijders. The composition derives in part from a work of a similar subject by Rubens, The March of Silenus (Munich, Alte Pinakothek).
  • Marsyas Kneeling with Flute, oil on canvas, Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641). Národní Galerie, Šternberský Palác.  Inv. DO-4206 Marsyas (with horns, furry ears and curling tongue) kneeling on his right leg, grasps a small, narrowly conical duct flute (possibly a recorder) in his right hand. The beak and triangular window/labium of the latter are clearly depicted but only two duct flutes are visible, one above and one below Marsyas’ hand.
  • Silenus Drunk with a Following of Bacchantes and Satyrs, canvas, 123 × 137 cm, school of Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641). Pommersfelden: Wessenstein Schloss, von Schönborn-Wissentheid Collection, Inv. 483a, Cat. 160. Ref. Leppert (1977: 46). A bacchanal in the countryside in which two sharply conical recorders are played in double-aulos fashion; six finger holes are visible.

Cite this article as: Nicholas S. Lander. 1996–2024. Recorder Home Page: Artists–D. Last accessed 19 March 2024. https://www.recorderhomepage.net/recorder-iconography/artists-d/