Harpsichord

This harpsichord has three sets of unison strings, one of which is plucked at a point very close to the nut, producing a brighter timbre than the others. The mermaid holding one of the supporting columns is a device of the Colonna family. The painting inside the lid is a landscape that includes a hunter and his dog. On the lid above the keywell is a scene depicting Tobias and the angel Raphael. The conventionalized foliage and the aerial perspective are associated with the work of Gaspard Dughet, brother-in-law of Nicolas Poussin, who painted chiefly in Rome.

Technical description: Inner-outer case, inner of cypress or cedar with spruce or fir soundboard, present compass AA-c3, 3x8', probably enlarged from C/E-c3 2x8'; pin-block, nuts and registers possibly not original; interior much altered; in painted outer case on 3 columnar legs, front 2 supporting crowned mermaid, signia of the Colonna family.