Ringling Museum Of Art
1876 Weber Grand & 1652 French Harpsichord
by Doug Brandt
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I went to the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida with my mother. I thought you might be interested in a couple of musical instruments displayed there, of which I've attached pictures.
These instruments are an 1876 Weber grand and a 1652 guilded wood harpsichord. I've attached pictures of both. I've also got a piece of video of the harpsichord. (down below) The rosewood Weber grand is seemingly in good condition. Although I wasn't able to lift the fallboard to look at the keys, I did notice that the piano was strung and that it did have a set of new dampers. Here's an article about the instrument (search "Weber"): http://www.ringlingdocents.org/pages/Gallery19.pdf The harpsichord was not strung. It was built in 1652 by Claude Jacquet of France, and is one of the oldest known French harpsichords in the world. Here's some info about that instrument (look for "Jacquet"): http://harpsichordphoto.org/french/ This article from 1969 calls it the oldest known French harpsichord. From the article above, it appears there are two that are older: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19690616&id=4kpSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=13sDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7229,4321630 It's quite a fabulous museum. Upon entering the museum, you see five huge paintings by Rubens that originally came from a larger set. Only seven remain- five at Ringling, and the other two displayed at the Louvre in Paris. |