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    Chapter 15 Fantastic Finials

    Proposal review

    The Materiality, Decoration and Display of Renaissance Musical Instruments

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    Author(s)
    Vai, Emanuela
    Language
    English
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    Abstract
    Renaissance musical instruments frequently feature masterfully carved figures, intricate geometric and arabesque patterns, expensive and exotic materials, and a variety of pictorial representations. The headstocks and pegboxes of stringed instruments, in particular, often feature carved finials with anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and monstrous figures. Taking as its entry-point the pegboxes of three citterns from the Ashmolean Museum's collection of stringed instruments, this chapter explores what these visual and material features say about the role that musical objects played in Renaissance social worlds, beyond their music-making capacities. While there has long been critical interest in the material culture of music in Renaissance studies, object-orientated approaches and new materialist frameworks invite us to reflect more deeply on the social, political, and affective dimensions of the materiality of musical instruments. Renaissance musical instruments were often designed for the eye as much as the ear, to be seen—and otherwise sensed—as well as played. A focus on their ornamental features opens valuable windows onto questions of power in Renaissance music cultures. Such a focus directs attention to the material environments and social settings in which these instruments were played and dis-played. These elaborately decorated musical objects articulated values concerning gender, wealth, knowledge, and prestige. Their ornamentation also invites reflection on the circulation of aesthetic influences beyond Europe, on the colonial and racial relations of Renaissance music within an interconnected global culture.
    Book
    Music and Visual Culture in Renaissance Italy
    URI
    https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/76543
    Keywords
    Italian musical culture, Italy, Music, Musical pictures, Renaissance, Renaissance art theory, Visual media, fifteenth century music, musical media, paragone
    DOI
    10.4324/9781003029380-18
    ISBN
    9780367465391, 9781032036083, 9781003029380
    Publisher
    Taylor & Francis
    Publisher website
    https://taylorandfrancis.com/
    Publication date and place
    2023
    Grantor
    • Worcester College, University of Oxford
    Imprint
    Routledge
    Pages
    29
    Public remark
    Funder name: Opler Fellowship, Worcester College
    Rights
    https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
    • Imported or submitted locally

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    License

    • If not noted otherwise all contents are available under Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

    Credits

    • logo EU
    • This project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 683680, 810640, 871069 and 964352.

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