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Miniature virginal
Alternate name:Ottavino spinet harpsichord
Alternate name:Ottavina
Alternate name:Spinettina
Maker: Francesco Vanini
Date: 1672
Place Made:Bologna, Italy, Europe
Serial No: none
SignedPaper label inscribed in ink pasted to the jack guide in the interior.
Penciled on the underside of the bottom is a modern transcription of the interior inscription:
Franciscus Vaninus Bononiensis faciebat anno Domini MDCLXXII
Penciled on the underside of the bottom is a modern transcription of the interior inscription:
Franciscus Vaninus Bononiensis faciebat anno Domini MDCLXXII
DescriptionCharles Burney wrote in 1771 (The Present State of Music in France and Italy), "Throughout Italy they have generally little octave spinets to accompany singing, in private houses, sometimes in a triangular form, but more in the shape of our old virginals; of which they keys are so noisy, and the tone so feeble, that more wood is heard than wire." This miniature virginal is perhaps even smaller than the instruments Burney wrote about. Made of cypress with a spruce or fir soundboard, it has a single set of strings pitched two octaves above normal pitch.
Compass: c/e-f2 (2+ octaves)
Compass: c/e-f2 (2+ octaves)
Dimensions305 x 188 mm.
ProvenancePurchased in 1984 from the Laurence Witten Family. Witten acquired the instrument in 1968 from the estate of E. M. W. Paul, London, England.
Terms
Credit Line: Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984
On view
Published ReferencesKuronen, Darcy. “Keyboard Instruments at The Shrine to Music Museum,” Early Keyboard Studies Newsletter, October 1991, p. 7, 9.
Larson, André P. The National Music Museum: A Pictorial Souvenir (Vermillion:
National Music Museum, 1988), p. 19, 41.
Larson, André P. The National Music Museum: A Pictorial Souvenir (Vermillion:
National Music Museum, 1988), p. 19, 41.
Object number: 03449