The liberal arts in time of war

Heere, Lucas de (ca. 1534-ca. 1584)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

ca. 1568-1569

Height:

160.0 cm  (63 in.)

Width:

130.0 cm  (51 3/16 in.)

Technique / Medium:

oil on copper

Place of creation:

Flanders

School:

Flemish

Description

While the Liberal Arts are sleeping in a landscape strewn with ancient ruins, Mercury comes down from Olympus bringing them a message. In the background is a battle; on the ground are the symbols of the seven disciplines, including music represented with a partially visible bowed(?) string instrument.

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Stringed instruments [3101] (only a portion of the body is visible; it appears to be a bowed instrument, possibly a viola or lira da braccio)

RIdIM images

Bibliographic references

Santarelli, Cristina. Iconografia musicale nei musei torinesi (Lucca: Libreria Musicale Italiana (LIM), 2003) 48. ISBN 887096373X. RILM 2003-08617.

RIdIM record id

3140