February - 2017

SA-VOIR

Servir Antico's

Viewer-friendly Organology & Iconography Resource

a Voyage into the Organology & Imagination of the long Renaissance

By Catalina Vicens

In line with ensemble Servir Antico, my purpose is to bring the work of creative and visionary minds from the past (in form of music, literature and art) to the the spotlight and to transform it into inspiration for the future.

The idea here is to share musical images found in manuscripts, prints, paintings and sculpture as part of their artistic and functional context. In this site I don’t want to take the place of an art historian, and although I use iconography and organology as part of my research, it is not the intention of this site to serve as a form of research output.

There is religious related content in this site, but it does not serve any particular religious view.

Catalina Vicens

The angel-orchestra of the Sforza Hours - 1

The Sforza Hours (1494-1521). Part 1 The vibrant colors of this book of hours is what struck me immediately. And what a nice surprise that it is filled with musical instruments! Either projecting from the page like a window that leads us into a biblical scene, or as part of the 'almost bold' marginal paintings, the pages are filled with music. Not only the common late-medieval instruments like the lute, harp and positive organ are part of this imaginary angel-orchestra, but a

Sa-Voir starts the blog with birds, flowers and pipes!

Discover who's hiding behind those trees! 'The Hours of Marguerite d'Orléans'. Another fascinating French books of hours, where I could stare for hours at just one page discovering the finesse of these images. This manuscript was made for Marguerite d'Orléans, and not unlike other contemporary French breviaries, the artist makes sure to fill the whole page with delicate figures, golden initials and vivid colors. In this one, the fauna strikes me for being particularly presen