The trombone as portrayed in Portuguese iconography during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries

Abstract

This article studies eleven sixteenth and seventeenth century iconographical sources depicting slide brass instruments, by both Portuguese and foreign artists active in Portugal, as well as foreign artists depicting Portuguese scenes. This study addresses questions concerning aspects of trombone technique that have not previously been considered and may have implications in the way the trombone was understood elsewhere in Europe. It focuses on aspects of technique depicted that may be representative of the trombone’s contemporary design and performance and therefore the manner in which the instrument was held and indeed played. Finally, this article suggests a transitional technical period when the way of holding the single-slide trumpet may have been used to play the trombone.