Hans Ruckers, Beugelen. 1581

Beugelen, painted on Double Virginal, 1581

English, Nederlands

English

Double Virginal (1581), built by Hans Ruckers the Elder (Mechelen, Belgium, 1533/40 - 1598, Antwerp)

This double virginal is the earliest known instrument by Hans Ruckers, who founded a dynasty that dominated Flemish harpsichord building for a hundred years.Double virginals consist of a large instrument (called "the mother"), with its keyboard placed off-center, and a small virginal ("the child"), tuned an octave above that of the large instrument and stored in the space next to its keyboard. Either instrument may be played by itself, or the small virginal may be removed from its space and placed on top of the larger one. When this is done, the keys of the "child" are activated when those of the "mother" are played, thereby causing both instruments to sound at once, in octaves.

The rectangular shape is typical of Flemish virginals. When not in use, the front panel swings up to conceal the keyboards, and the lid closes to protect the strings. The inner surfaces, revealed when the instrument is opened, are decorated with painted patterns, and the Latin inscription Mvsica Dvlce Laborvm Levamen (Sweet music is a balm for toil) hangs from the instrument like a banner. The jackrail of the smaller keyboard is signed "HANS RVEKERS ME FECIT" and the initials "HR" appear to the left of the larger keyboard. Over the larger keyboard two gilded medallions, profile portraits of Philip II of Spain and his wife Anne of Austria, face each other.

The inside lid reveals a beautiful painted interior with a pleasure garden scene, the maker of which is unknown. The theme of the outdoor garden party, the buitenpartij or fête champêtre, of which this is an early example, became a popular genre in the seventeenth-century Netherlands, reviving the age-old artistic tradition of the Garden of Love.

Although somewhat stiffly executed, stylistically this painted view on the virginal fits garden scenes made by contemporary Flemish Renaissance artists, including Lodewijk Toeput (1550–ca. 1605) and David Vinckboons (1576–1629). Particularly charming in this garden scene is the way in which the elegantly dressed members of the upper class are amusing themselves in the meadows of the adjoining, moated castle. Their activities range from dining and playing musical instruments in the central pergola, to gentle promenades, embarking on a boat ride, or playing the Dutch and Flemish game of 'beugelen'. The text painted on the dropboard of this virginal, Musica Dulce Laborum ("sweet music eases work"), not only refers to the playing of this keyboard instrument, but also to the musicians in the painted garden of leisure.

The royal family may have commissioned this instrument to send to friends or emissaries in the New World, as it was found in Cuzco, Peru, in a hacienda chapel early in the twentieth century. Although it is not known who owned or played this instrument, keyboards often were associated with women musicians.

Nederlands

Hans Ruckers (1533/40-1598)[1] stamde zeer waarschijnlijk uit een Duitse familie. Een Arnold Rucker was rond 1520 orgelbouwer in Weissenburg. Hans Ruckers was in Mechelen geboren en kwam in 1575 naar Antwerpen. Hij geldt als de stichter van de dynastie. Hij trouwde er dat jaar in de kathedraal met Adriana Cnaeps. In 1579 werd hij als instrumentenbouwer opgenomen in de Sint-Lucasgilde en in 1594 werd hij poorter van Antwerpen. Het gezin had elf kinderen, onder wie twee zoons die eveneens instrumentenbouwer werden.

Ruckers, die in de buurt woonde van Peter Paul Rubens, signeerde zijn instrumenten door zijn initialen HR te verwerken in een medaillon. De van hem overgebleven instrumenten zijn virginalen, onder meer bewaard in musea in Berlijn, Brugge, New York, Parijs en Yale University. Hij was ook orgelbouwer maar niets van dit werk is overgebleven.

Kanttekening

Robin Bargmann: Ik denk dat het een variant van het kolfspel betreft, en wel het beugelen. Dat leid ik af aan het perk waarbinnen gespeeld wordt, de vorm en stand van de stokken waarmede gespeeld wordt, de grootte van de bal(len) en de beugel, die afgebeeld zijn (soms fragmentarisch).

English

Object details

Double virginal, made of pine, beech, poplar, mahogany, paint, gesso, metal, parchment, brass. Width: 71 3/4 in. (182,2 cm); depth: 19 1/2 in. (49,5 cm). Paintings.

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Signature: Signatures: [on rail of ottavina]: HANS RVEKERS ME FECIT 1581; [on string box]: H. R. (and cipher in cartouche)

Inscription: Inscribed: (on drop board) MVSICA DVLCE.LABORVM.LEVAMEN (music is the sweet lightener of labor)

Provenance

• B. H. Homan

References

• J. Kenneth Moore, Jayson Kerr Dobney, Bradley Strauchen-Scherer. Musical Instruments: Highlights of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. First Printing. @2015 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. New York, 2015, p. 16, pp. 58-59, ill.

• "Flemish Harpsichords and Virginals in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: An Analysis of Early Alterations and Restorations." Metropolitan Museum Journal (1997), vol. 32, pg. 85-91, ill.

• Charles Mould. Makers of the Harpsichord and Clavichord 1440-1840. 3. Clarendon Press.. Oxford, England, 1995, pg. 571.

• Ed. Barbara Burn. Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Revised Edition 1997. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, pg. 132, ill.

• Written by. Ruckers: A Harpsichord and Virginal Building Tradition. Cambridge University Press 1990. Cambridge, 1990, pg. 36, 86, 129, 149, fig. 3.1, 5.8, 7.3, 7, ill.

• "Keyboard Instruments." Summer. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (1989), Vol. 47, No. 1, pg. 15, ill.

• The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments: vol 3 P-Z. @ Macmillan Publishers Limited 1980. London & New York, 1984, vol. 3, pg. 818, ill.

• Written by. "Regional Schools of Harpsichord Decoration." Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society (1978), vol. IV, pg. 65.

• "Musical Instruments in The Metropolitan Museum." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (1978), Vol. XXXV, No. 3, pg. 7, ill.

• Charles Mould. Makers of the Harpsichord and Clavichord 1440-1840. 2. Clarendon Press.. Oxford, England, 1974, pg. 571.

• Ruckers Genootschap. Antwerp, 1974, pg. 68, ill.

• Musical Instruments of the Western World. McGraw Hill Book Company. New York, Toronto, 1967, pg. 92-95, fig. 26, ill.

• Keyboard Instruments in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Picture Book. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1961, pg. 14-15, fig. 6, ill.

• "A Double Virginal, Dated 1581 by Hans Ruckers." Metropolitan Museum Studies (1930), vol. 2, pg. 176-186, ill.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA (DP302659). Gift of B. H. Homan, 1929

Source: Do Smit