Amateurs of Tye-Wig music
Burney, Edward Francis (1760-1848)
- Yale Center for British Art
Paul Mellon Collection[Museum inv. no.: B1975.3.155]
Item location
Description
A group plays musical instruments in a room with paintings of musical personalities on the wall in the background. Numerous references to composers appear in the picture, some as portraits on the wall, some showing names on posters and books on the floor, and some, including Pleyel, Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn on scrolls fed into a fire in the fireplace on the left.From left, a male figure, apparently seated, claps his hands, a standing female figure fans herself, a younger male figure is shown emptying a tea service into the fireplace, standing over what appear to be two clarinets and a oboe, a male figure in the background faces away and covers his ears, his pocket reveals a book titled "Miseries of Human Life" (a book by James Beresford), a seated male figure plays violin, a female figure holds a slingshot in the background, a yawning male figure holds a pair of scissors, a seated male figure plays violin, a seated female figure faces away at an organ, a seated male figure plays viola, a standing male figure appears to fall asleep while pumping the organ, a standing male figure plays flute, a seated male figure plays violoncello with the bow under the neck, a standing male figure appears to conduct, holding a scroll that reads "Maestro di Capella," a female figure sits in the lower right corner. Composers pictured on the wall appear, from left, John Bull, Orlando Gibbons, Henry Lawes, Mathew Lock, Thos. Mace, Archangelo Corelli, Giuseppe Tartini, Giovanni Bononcini, G. F. Handel (above the organ), Chr. Tye, Fran. Geminiani, Jn. Blow, J. C. Pepusch, Anto. Vivaldi, Thos. Britton, Henry Purcell.
Two children appear in the foreground pretending to play a violin and a violoncello with objects from the room.
People as subjects
Pleyel, Ignace (1757-1831)Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827)
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791)
Haydn, Joseph (1732-1809)
Bull, John (1562-1628)
Gibbons, Orlando (1583-1625)
Lawes, Henry (1596-1662)
Locke, Matthew (ca. 1621-1677)
Mace, Thomas (ca. 1612-ca. 1706)
Corelli, Arcangelo (1653-1713)
Tartini, Giuseppe (1692-1770)
Bononcini, Giovanni (1670-1747)
Händel, Georg Friedrich (1685-1759)
Tye, Christopher (ca. 1505-1573)
Geminiani, Francesco (1687-1762)
Blow, John (1649?–1708)
Pepusch, John Christopher (1667-1752)
Vivaldi, Antonio (1678-1741)
Britton, Thomas (1644-1714)
Purcell, Henry (1659-1695)
Iconclass
43A(+3)music and song ~ festive activities
Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)
Violin [3573]Organ [2266]
Viola [3561]
Violoncello [3582]
Flute [3955]
Clarinet [3836]
Oboe [4232]
RIdIM images
Image URLs
image link 2Bibliographic references
Leppert, Richard D. “Men, women, and music at home: the influence of cultural values on musical life in eighteenth-century England”. Imago musicae 2 (1985) 51-133, fig. 15. RILM 1985-6899.Beresford, James. The miseries of human life; or the groans of Samuel Sensitive, and Timothy Testy. with a few supplementary sighs from Mrs. Testy. in twelve dialogues (London: Printed for William Miller, Albemarle-Street, by W. Bulmer and Co. Cleveland-Row, 1806).