Double virginal
by RUCKERS, Hans the Elder, Wood and various other materials, width 190 cm
This sumptuously painted virginal, the oldest extant work by Hans Ruckers the Elder, was made in Antwerp in 1581, when Spain dominated Flanders. Above the right keyboard are medallions of Philip II and his fourth wife, Anne of Austria. On the underside of the lid is a painted scene of a garden fete; the panel below the keyboards bears a Latin motto meaning “Music, sweet solace of labour.” The double virginal, which anticipates the double-manual harpsichord, consists of two instruments. When the higher-pitched “child” at the left is withdrawn from its compartment and placed above the “mother,” both can be played by one person.