Harpsichord
Artist
Claude Jacquet
(French, active in Paris after 1632)
Date1652
MediumCarved, painted and gilded wood
Dimensions35 1/4 x 89 1/4 x 32 1/4 in. (89.5 x 226.7 x 81.9 cm)
ClassificationsMusical Instruments
Credit LineBequest of John Ringling, 1936
Object numberSN1108
This instrument is a rare surviving example of a seventeenthcentury French harpsichord. The open lid reveals a scene of the god Apollo pursuing the nymph Daphne. Daphne prayed for rescue and was turned into a laurel tree as Apollo touched her. When the harpsichord was made, Louis XIV was king of France. Louis used the sun as his emblem, and the sun is associated with Apollo, god of Peace and the Arts. Images and attributes of Apollo appear throughout works of art made for Louis and his court.
On View
On viewLocation
- Museum of Art, Gallery 15
Collections
c. 1790
ca. 1790
circa 1790-1800
late 18th Century
18th century
