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Renaissance Organs

• 
  The Coronation of the Virgin, ca. 1455
  Giovanni di Paolo (Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia) (Italian, Sienese, ca. 1400–1482)
  Tempera on panel

  70 5/8 x 51 11/16 in. (179.9 x 131.3 cm)
  Robert Lehman Collection, 1975 (1975.1.38)

• 
  Studiolo from the Ducal Palace in Gubbio, 15th century (ca. 1479–82)
  Possibly designed by Francesco di Giorgio Martini (Italian, Sienese, 1439–1501/2); Executed by Giuliano da Maiano (Italian, 1432–1490)
  Made in Gubbio, Italy
  Walnut, beech, rosewood, oak, and fruitwoods on walnut base

  H. 15 ft. 10 15/16 in. (485 cm), W. 16 ft. 11 15/16 in. (518 cm), D. 12 ft. 7 3/16 in. (384 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1939 (39.153)

• 
  Claviorganum, 1598
  Made by Laurentium Hauslaib
  Nuremberg, Germany
  Wood and various materials

  L. 26 in. (66 cm)
  The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889 (89.4.1191)

• 
  Regal, 1575
  Labeled: "Georg Vell" (Voll)
  Nuremberg, Germany
  Wood, metal

  Closed case: L. 27 in. (68.6 cm), W. 11 1/2 in. (29.2 cm), D. 5 1/2 in. (14 cm)
  The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889 (89.4.2883)

• 
  Musical clock with spinet and organ, ca. 1625
  Veit Langenbucher (German, 1587–1631); Samuel Bidermann (German, 1540–1622)
  Augsburg, Germany
  Ebony, various wood and metals, wire, parchment, leather

  Overall 30 3/4 x 12 5/8 x 19 11/16 in. (78.1 x 32 x 50 cm)
  Purchase, Clara Mertens Bequest, in memory of André Mertens, 2002 (2002.323a–f)

• 
  Positive organ, 17th century
  Germany
  Woods, metal alloys, leather, and various materials

  L. 64 in. (162.5 cm), W. 41 1/2 in. (105.5 cm), H. 37 1/2 in. (95 cm)
  Gift of Fenner Douglass, and Purchase, Rose M. Badgeley Bequest, The Howard Bayne Fund, Mrs. Vincent Astor, Ann Eden Woodward Foundation, Ursula Corning, Newton Donner and Howard Phipps Jr. Gifts, Eleanor Patterson Bequest, Bequest of Dorothy S. Swenson, by exchange, Rogers Fund and funds from various donors, 1978 (1978.6)

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The organ is a complex wind instrument that employs one or more keyboards to operate valves that admit air into a series of individual pipes, which make the sound.

Related

Timelines (4)

• Central Europe (including Germany), 1400–1600 A.D.
• Florence and Central Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.
• Rome and Southern Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.
• Venice and Northern Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.

Primary Thematic Essays (4)

• The Golden Harpsichord of Michele Todini (1616–1690)
• Music in the Renaissance
• Renaissance Keyboards
• Renaissance Violins

Other Thematic Essays (9)

• Art and Love in the Italian Renaissance
• The Guitar
• Joachim Tielke (1641–1719)
• List of Rulers of Europe
• The Lute
• Music in Ancient Greece
• Musical Terms for the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
• The Piano: The Pianofortes of Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655–1731)
• The Piano: Viennese Instruments

Maps (1)

• World, 1400–1600 a.d.

Index Terms (17)

Art Movement/Style

• Northern Renaissance in European Art
• The High Renaissance in Europe

Artist

• Bidermann, Samuel (German, 1540–1622)
• Giovanni di Paolo, or Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia (Italian, Sienese, ca. 1400–1482)
• Giuliano da Maiano (Italian, 1432–1490)
• Hauslaib, Laurentium (German)
• Langenbucher, Veit (German, 1587–1631)
• Martini, Francesco di Giorgio (Italian, Sienese, 1439–1501/2)
• Vell, or Voll, Georg (German)

Geography/Place

• European Renaissance Art

Material and Technique

• Leather
• Musical Instrument in Wood

Object

• Clock
• Keyboard
• Musical Instruments from Central Europe
• Musical Instruments from the Italian Peninsula

Subject Matter/Theme

• Deposition from the Cross

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The organ is a complex wind instrument that employs one or more keyboards to operate valves that admit air into a series of individual pipes, which make the sound. Organs are related to the syrinx, or panpipes, with its row of individual pipes that are blown directly by the musician, and the bagpipe, with its bag storing and providing air to the pipes.

The ancient Greek engineer and theoretician Ctesibius (second-century B.C.) is credited with the invention of the organ, or hydraulis. The hydraulis was so called because the air pressure was controlled by a reservoir of water, and the player would use fingers or fists to depress levers or sliders to uncover the base of the pipe to admit the air. These organs could play long, sustained notes to accompany singers, but as organ music became more complex and polyphonic, keyboards were substituted for the sliders to allow the player greater facility.

Portative Organs

Portative organs were small and could be played on the musician's lap or set on a table. They were popular from about 1100 to 1650, and can be seen in works of art (Gubbio Studiolo, 39.153). They could be played by one person operating a bellows with the left hand and the keyboard with the right, or by two people, one pumping the bellows and the other operating the keyboard (Coronation of the Virgin, 1975.1.38).

Rebecca Arkenberg Department of Education, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Citation Arkenberg, Rebecca. "Renaissance Organs". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/reno/hd_reno.htm (October 2002) Related exhibitions and online features Special Exhibitions (including upcoming, current, and past exhibitions) The André Mertens Galleries for Musical Instruments

These related Museum Bulletin or Journal articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship. "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. "A Suspicious Spinet." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 30, no. 4 (February–March, 1972). JSTOR | PDF