Origins and History of The Dulcimer
The dulcimer is a member of the string family. It is further categorized into the Psaltrey family, a group of instruments that are comprised of strings stretched across a frame and played by plucking or drumming. The only difference, in fact, between the dulcimer and the psaltrey is the fact that one is plucked and the other is drummed. The dulcimer family is divided into two sections. The dulcimers with keys and dulcimers without keys. A dulcimer with keys would be played by depressing a key which would move a mechanism that would cause a hammer to strike the string. The most improved instrument in the keyed dulcimer section is the piano. Dulcimers that are played without the aid of a key are usually in the unusual shape of a trapezoid. Early descriptions of this instrument, dating back to the Middle Ages, describe the instrument as a rectangular box with strings stretched over two bridges. Both the single and the double bridged dulcimers are common in traditional Irish music. It is played by striking the strings with padded wooden hammer.
It is commonly believed that the dulcimer came to Europe from the East sometime in the fifteenth century. This cannot be true. The dulcimer is closely related to the yang ch'in from China. However, the yang ch'in was introduced to the
Chinese around 1800. A similar traditional dulcimer found its way to Korea in about 1725. The dulcimer originated as the santir in what is now Iraq from a
Greek instrument, the psalterion. The santir was a trapeziodal box covered with strings. It was played by striking the strings with light sticks. From there the Arabs carried the santir through North Africa where it was integrated into the Jewish culture. From North Africa it was taken to Spain, for a carving was discovered in the cathedral Santiago de Compostela, dated 1184. It is unknown why the Irish make mention of the timpan, a generic term for any member of the psaltrey family, being used by St. Patrick in the 6th century, six hundred years earlier than the dulcimers first introduction into Spain from North Africa.
Dulcimers gained popularity from the churches and cathedrals throughout the 14th century. But in the 16th century, as the violin and wind instruments became increasingly fashionable, the dulcimer virtually disappeared. For the next two hundred years it went unnoticed. In 1705 Pantaleon Hebenstreit presented the
French King Louis XIV with a slightly revised dulcimer.
The Holy Trinity by Masaccio was a painting done in approximately 1428. It is a
Emeline Richardson researched and learned that many Etruscan sculptures and artifacts, like the Chimera from Arezzo, were made of bronze and other materials and artifacts imported from the Eastern regions – Northern Syria or Anatolia, Phoenicia, and Egypt. These imported materials “supplied the motifs that characterize the Orientalizing styles” in Ancient Greece, including winged monster hybrid figures. For example, the Ivory Sphinx from Cerveteri has it’s
Long before Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic to the ‘New World’, the Western Hemisphere had already divided and developed civilizations. Some of these civilizations were extremely advanced for the time. As people settled in the Americas and developed cultures, so did differences in the life styles, religions, and art of these peoples. The cultures of Mesoamerica, South America, and North America all developed many different types of art, most notably ceramics and larger scale items that still baffle historians today.
However, the artefacts brought to England from Benin in 1897 were an anomaly. The craftsmanship and sophistication were such that some were reminiscent of the beautiful figures in the Hofkiche, Innsbruck 1502-1563 (plate 3.1.12. Visited...
As I walked into the first gallery, I saw a wood sculpture that stood in the center of the room. This carving depicted “the crucified Christ, flanked by the Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist with Angels holding instruments of the Passion”. It was painted oak and very appealing to the eye. It stood approximately 15 feet in the air. The origin of this sculpture is unknown, but it was found in a Belgium church. This kind of sculpture usually stood at the entrance or at the center of the alter in the church facing the congregation. This image of the suffering Christ relates to the Christian ideas of suffering and Christ’s salvation of all mankind.
It originates from the Aztecs. Although the exact date of when this celebration began is unknown, it’s estimated
The Irish throughout time have been stereotyped as a very low-culture people. Many people have characterized the Irish as “fighters and drinkers,” (Krim & Early, 1995, p.31) which is not true, because many Irish who are normal working, non-drinking or non-fighting individuals. However, when the holiday called St. Patrick’s Day comes around, it is celebrated with drinking and eventually fighting. The reality is that no matter what bar you go into, you can find a drunk fighting about somet...
Dürer used both woodcut, and engraving techniques to create art prints that were easily reproduced, and spread to the masses. Woodcuts consist of carving away the negative space on a wood block leaving a relief that will be inked and then pressed with damp paper. Gold and metal workers had been using engraving probably since the dawn of civilization to decorate jewelry and armor. Shortly before Dürer’s time it was developed as a method of printmaking. In this technique a burin is used to carve away the lines that the artist wants to...
of the Sistine chapel, da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, and the Last Supper. Medieval art is used
At the time when humans were learning to use spears constructed out of sticks and stones and the
The question arises to many historians that when did this work originated. It has been said that it was originated in Persia in pre-Islamic time period and then later translated into Arabic. The Norton Anthology of World MasterPieces states:
The artworks of Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, the Aegean cultures, and Ancient Greece have similarities that not only reflect objects and images, but also the media, style and representation. These countries were not always wealthy, clever, creative and powerful enough to gain supplies, but they all find a way to create art with what they had. They have all influenced on each other’s cultures and belief through their artistic values and ways, ranging from the materials and tools they use, position and representation of their monuments and their religious intent.
McCann et al. Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1994, 95-109).
the tradition of primitive tribes. “In many cases the painting was only used to decorate
Compared to the the shell which represents art and poetry. As the arab leaves to bury the two items the realization that the two objects represent human knowledge in a tangible form and nature, who is in the form of an Arab and a Knight on a camel are there to help guide the human race to have our knowlege from decay and destruction by burying the objects.