19th C. art WTF.

[jbsegal]

At
https://www.evernote.com/shard/s1/sh/9de6ac9f-2959-4654-9608-9df279e2be19/933e659fdbbbdd3b239446c89a5b6ab4
there's a large picture of a section of a painting from 1870 that hangs in the Hamburg Kunsthalle. SFW.

Has anyone else ever seen such a way of holding a twinned fipple flute??

Comments

[nacht_musik]

Yes. Those are classical Greek aulos.

"A leather strap, called a phorbeiá (φορβεία) in Greek or capistrum in Latin, was worn by the auletai to avoid excessive strain on the lips and cheeks due to continuous blowing. Aulus players are sometimes depicted with puffed cheeks.?"

[nacht_musik]

c.f. http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fájl:Phorbeia_001.png and http://www.giucat.it/musica43.htm

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :)

[coraline]

i can't find the entry right now, but i took photos of some gorgeous tiffany stained glass in the arlington street church in downtown boston, which had pictures of the same contraption. and i was similarly baffled, and edified by eric and my friend vanessa :)