Ridolfi Single Manual Harpsichord: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This harpsichord was made by Giacomo Ridolfi in Italy, in 1665. It is a single manual harpsichord with a compass of C/E - c3, and a disposition of 2 x 8’. The harpsichord has a cypress soundboard, walnut wrestplank, and boxwood naturals and black-stained accidentals with ebony slips. The nameboard is inscribed: “Jacobus Rodulphus Hieronymi de Zentis Discipulus MDCLXV Facieba.”

The separable outer case is made of painted wood and the present décor was applied after the instrument arrived at the museum. The separate trestle stand is made of made of gilt wood with three gilt putti. The original case was painted in a wood-grain finish and can be seen in Hugo Worch photograph #108.

There are examples of Ridolfi instruments in the collections of the National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota and the Yale Collection of Musical Instruments in New Haven, Connecticut.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1665
• maker: Ridolfi, Giacomo
• Object Name: harpsichord
• Physical Description: wood (overall material)
• Physical Description: paint (overall material)
• Physical Description: metal (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 42 3/4 in x 33 in x 77 1/2 in; 108.585 cm x 83.82 cm x 196.85 cm
• Measurements: overall: 41 1/2 in x 33 in x 79 1/2 in; 105.41 cm x 83.82 cm x 201.93 cm
• place made: Italy
• ID Number: MI.095235
• accession number: 26256
• catalog number: 95235
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.