Harpsichord thumbnail 1
Harpsichord thumbnail 2
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This object consists of 4 parts, some of which may be located elsewhere.

Harpsichord

1521 (made)
Artist/Maker
Jerome of Bologna (maker)
Place of origin
Rome (made)

This harpsichord was made in Rome in 1521 by Jerome of Bologna. Although almost nothing is known about its maker, this example is one of the earliest dated keyboard instruments to survive. Rome was the ideal place for an instrument maker to be in the early 1500s because music flourished there as much as art and architecture. Pope Leo X (reigned 1513-1521) was a keen patron of music and collector of musical instruments. Like most other surviving harpsichords of this date, this instrument, although treasured because of its quality and prestige, has subsequently been altered so as to keep up with the latest musical fashions.

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read Renaissance music Music underwent an extraordinary transformation from the mid-15th to the early 17th century, when new types of musical instruments developed and existing instruments were produced in ever greater numbers. The first printed music book appeared in Italy in 1501, and by the 1540s music was be...

Object details

Category
Musical Instruments
Object type
Harpsichord
Parts
This object consists of 4 parts.

  • Harpsichord
  • Harpsichord Case
  • Harpsichord Case
  • Lid Prop
Materials and techniques
Cypress case and soundboard, with decorative stringing, gilding and inlay
Cypress
Gilding
Joining
Stringing
Brief description
Harpsichord, Italian, 1521, Jerome of Bologna
Physical description
Soundboard of pine, sides of cypress, and case of tooled leather, with decoration in the style of about 1550. Naturals of boxwood and sharps stained hardwood. The instrument's present range is forty-seven notes, C-d3, and has two 'eight foot' registers, having originally only had one.
Dimensions
  • Length: 180cm
  • Width: 75cm
  • Depth: 22.1cm
  • Weight: 39kg
Dimensions taken from Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum, part I, keyboard instruments by Howard Schott. part II, non-keyboard instruments by Anthony Baines.
Marks and inscriptions
  • Hieronymus Bononiensis faciebat Romae MDXXI (1) Decoration 2) Signature; Latinn; Small case; Above the keyboard; Inscribed; Ink; Jerome of Bologna; 1521)
    Translation
    Jerome of Bologna made this in Rome in 1521
  • Aspicite ut trahitur suavi modulamine vocis/ Quidquid habent aer sider terra fretum (1) Decoration 2) Makers's mark; Latin; Roman; Above the keyboard; Jerome of Bologna; 1521)
    Translation
    See how whatever the sky, stars, earth and see possess is brought out by the sweet modulation of its voice.
Gallery label
(pre September 2000)
HARPSICHORD
By Jerome of Bologna (Italian), 1521
Inscribed Hieronymus Bononiensis faciebat Romae MDXXI [Jerome of Bolgna made this in Rome in 1521] below the verse Aspicite ut trahitur suavi modulamine vocis/ Quidquid habent aer sider terra fretum. [See how everything from the air, sea and earth is brought out by the modulation of the sweet voice]. Soundboard of pine, sides of cypress, and case of tooled leather, with decoration in the style of about 1550. Naturals of boxwood and sharps stained hardwood. The instrument's present range is forty-seven notes, C -d3, and has two "eight foot" registers, having originally only had one.

Keyboard Catalogue No.: 1

This harpsichord is the only known extant instrument of Jerome of Bologna, who flourished in Rome in the 1520s, and one of the earliest dated examples to survive.


226-1879
Object history
X-ray(s) of this object are held in the Furniture Collection Library, Box of X-Rays of V&A instruments, shelfmark FW2.G.3 (2024)
Summary
This harpsichord was made in Rome in 1521 by Jerome of Bologna. Although almost nothing is known about its maker, this example is one of the earliest dated keyboard instruments to survive. Rome was the ideal place for an instrument maker to be in the early 1500s because music flourished there as much as art and architecture. Pope Leo X (reigned 1513-1521) was a keen patron of music and collector of musical instruments. Like most other surviving harpsichords of this date, this instrument, although treasured because of its quality and prestige, has subsequently been altered so as to keep up with the latest musical fashions.
Collection
Furniture and Woodwork Collection
Accession number
226:1 to 3 -1879

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Record createdMay 16, 2001
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O58980/harpsichord-jerome-of-bologna/
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