Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

The Metropolitan Museum of Art


    • Harpsichord, 1666
    Girolamo Zenti
    Rome, Italy
    Wood and various materials

    L. of inner instrument 93 in. (236.2 cm), W. 33 1/4 in. (84.5 cm), D. 7 3/4 in. (19.6 cm)
    The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889 (89.4.1220)

    This large cypress instrument has two sets of unison strings, and, like most Italian harpsichords, can be removed from its outer painted case. An inscription explains that the instrument was restored in 1755 by Giovanni Ferrini, who replaced Bartolomeo Cristofori as Medici court harpsichord maker. Ferrini extended the range of its keyboard to the present GG–c'''. This harpsichord is one of only two that can be firmly attributed to Zenti.

    Related


    This work has been published in the Museum's Bulletin or Journal. These articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship.
  • Libin, Laurence. "Keyboard Instruments." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 47, no. 1 (Summer, 1989).
    JSTOR | PDF
  • Libin, Laurence. "Musical Instruments in the Metropolitan Museum." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 35, no. 3 (Winter, 1977–78).
    JSTOR | PDF | Supplemental PDFs
    • "Director's Note" PDF
  • Ripin, Edwin M. "The Surviving Oeuvre of Girolamo Zenti." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 7 (1973).
    JSTOR | PDF
  • Winternitz, Emanuel. "The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments: Its Origin and Development." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 3 (1970).
    JSTOR | PDF
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  • Harpsichord, 1666
    Girolamo Zenti
    Rome, Italy
    Wood and various materials

    L. of inner instrument 93 in. (236.2 cm), W. 33 1/4 in. (84.5 cm), D. 7 3/4 in. (19.6 cm)
    The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889 (89.4.1220)