On Tue, 14 Dec 2004 02:28:32 -0800 "Roger E. Blumberg"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
<snip>
>
> Ok, so, it turns out a man named "Ephraim Segerman" writes about the
Segerman is one of the most prolific authors on the history of stringed
instruments. He has quite a large number for articles in the FOMRHI
journal, for example, stretching back 30 years or more.
<snip>
>
> I've yet to learn what Woodfield's book (on early viol history) has
> to say about the picture.
Nothing particularlly interesting or valuable:
"Further North, Urbino was also receptive to the new Spanish
instruments. Under the rule of the Montefeltro family the Duchy of Urbino
had become one of the most important cultural centers in the Papal
States. In 1502, however, the city fell to Cesare Borgia's army after a
surprise attack during his campaign to subdue dissident elements in the
Papal States. It is surely no coincidence that the viol first appeared
in the art of Urbino about the time of the Borgia occupation. Timoteo
Viti, for example, included a viol in one of his earliest commissions in
that city, a painting of the Madonna and Child completed before c1505
(Plate 52). Vasare singled out Viti's young viol player for special
praise: 'there is a little child angel sitting on the ground who plays
the viol with a truly angelic grace and childlike simplicity' ('dove è un
Angeletto sedente in terra, che suona la viola con grazie veramente
angelica e con semplicità fanciullesca'). The continuing popularity of
the viol at the court in Urbino is attested to by Castiglione, whose Il
Libro del Cortegiano,a wonderfully evocative, if idealized, record of the
life at a Renaissance court, was largely based on his experiences at
Urbino. etc...
DFH
