The Macedonian military camp welcomes the arrival of Alexander the Great

Unknown (Byzantine)

Item type:

miniature

Date of creation:

14th century

Technique / Medium:

parchment

Place of creation:

Trebizond, Empire of

Additional titles

Description

Five musicians are depicted in total at the right part of the miniature. Three of them are blowing trumpets and is hitting a pair of membrane drums with two sticks, but is not possible to determine if they are single or double membrane drums. In the group of the musicians is another one who is one playing an aerophone but he blows it in a way that reminds the technique of a transverse flute. Taking into account that the theme of the miniature is the arrival of Alexander the Great and that transverse flute doesn't sound loud enough perhaps he plays some kind of trumpet or a horn.

People as subjects

Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE)

Iconclass

98B(ALEXANDER THE GREAT)5
non-aggressive activities of Alexander the Great
48C753
more than one musician with instrument

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

End-blown trumpet [6556]
Wind instruments [3730]
Drum [2585]

Image URLs

image link 1
image link 2

RIdIM record id

7053

Data provider

Koç University – Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for Late Antique and Byzantine Studies (GABAM) and The Friends of Music Society in Athens launched the Byzantine Musical Instruments Project in 2018 with Dr. Antonios Botonakis, under the scientific supervision of Prof. Nikos Maliaras. In 2020, the results of the research were integrated with Koç University Suna Kıraç Library’s website to present an online database with various filters to help researchers make in-depth research.
The main objective of the project was to thoroughly document the depictions of Byzantine musical instruments. During the research, a great number of visual representations on artefacts from the wider geographic area of the Byzantine Empire were studied. In the database more than 400 visual representations of musical instruments spread across 136 different cultural institutions in 27 countries around the world are presented to researchers.
In order to encompass the rich variety of the instruments used in the Byzantine times, some recurring visuals have been eliminated from the database to make room for unique visuals. Since the research was conducted by a Post-Doctorate researcher who is a musicologist, the database demonstrating the iconography also provides a unique classification of instruments. This project is a natural partner for the RIdIM database of performing arts images from all cultures and eras.
Project Direction- Engin Akyürek | Scientific Supervision- Nikos Maliaras | Scientific Research- Antonios K. Botonakis | Content Editor & Turkish Translation- Merve Özkılıç | Project Coordination- Barış Altan, Alexandros Charkiolakis | Digital Collection Technical Support- Senem Acar (Digital collection archivist), George Boumpous, Vera Kriezi, Sina Mater (Web design) | Funded by: Koç University – Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for Late Antique and Byzantine Studies (GABAM)