Copy of a Ruckers 'spinett' virginal
Made in Edinburgh by Grant
O’Brien in 1981
Details about
the soundboard decoration
Both the ‘mother’ and the
‘child’ part of the 1599 spinett virginal in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan
retain their original soundboard paintings in reasonably good condition. The decoration of the soundboard of this
copy is based on that of the original ‘mother’ virginal. The decoration consists of a rosette and
paintings of flowers, fruit and insects.
The usual birds found on later soundboards of Ioannes Ruckers
instruments which were also painted in this style are lacking here. Also the decoration is particularly sparse
compared to a lot of later instruments.
Scalloped blue borders outline
the bridges and the edges of the soundboard and wrestplank, and elaborate blue
arabesques help to fill out what would otherwise be empty, undecorated areas of
the soundboard. The paint used was
prepared using only the traditional pigments available in the seventeenth
century and using raw gum arabic as a medium.
The blue arabesques were painted using smalt (ground cobalt glass) and
also used raw gum arabic as a medium.
The date, as was usual in Ioannes Ruckers virginals, is painted just
below the rosette.
All of the painting and
decoration and the casting and gilding of the rose was done by Grant O’Brien.
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