Angel Trombonists Throughout History: 50 Images

"What do the angels, those heavenly and most perfect musicanti, play other than these? For if we encounter something about music in the Scriptures, we hear either of a trumpet or a trombone” (Kuhnau, 28).

"Experience shows that when, say, our municipal pipers play a church song on trombones only from the tower, we are moved beyond all measure and imagine we are hearing the angels sing” (Kuhnau, 133-134).

The above quotations are from Johann Kuhnau's Der musikalische Quacksalber, written in 1700, reflecting the reputation of the early trombone as a sacred instrument. For more background on the trombone's roots in sacred music, as well as full citation of sources, see Trombone History Timeline. The majority of the below images are not well-known in the "trombone world," but they deserve to be. They highlight an important symbolism present during centuries of trombone history.

c. 1474—Asciano, Italy: Matteo di Giovanni’s The Assumption of the Virgin, the center panel of an altarpiece in S. Agostino, includes what may be an angel-trombonist along with several other angel-musicians. The instrument has what appears to be a slide but no visible bell (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Belán 111).

1488-93—Rome, Italy: In the Carafa Chapel of the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, the earliest reliable visual depiction of a trombone is painted: a fresco by Filippino Lippi entitled The Assumption of the Virgin. All of the musicians, including the trombonist, are angels (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Kurtzman, Trombe; Herbert, Susato 118; Partridge 118; Goldner 73).

16th century—Mexico: An anonymous painting in the church of San Esteban in Tizatlan, Tlaxcala, depicts a choir of angel musicians consisting of three shawms and a trombone. Facing them, on the opposite archway, is a choir of singers with guitar (see below image of shawms and trombone; public domain) (Starner 110).

1503-1529—Spain: Joan Gascó’s painting, God the Father and the nine angelic choirs, includes what appears to be a trombone-playing angel, grouped with two other wind-playing angels, although no bell is apparent on the trombone (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Ballester).

1508—Gonesse, France: In what may constitute the earliest non-Italian visual depiction of the trombone (see also 1503-1529, above), a painted panel on the organ balcony at Abbey Eglise Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul features an angel-trombonist. Other instruments, all played by angels, include viol, shawm, crumhorn, harp, lute, and organ (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Fischer, Organology; Luri, Les Anges).

1516—Freiburg, Germany: Hans Baldung’s painting, Coronation of the Virgin, the central panel of an altarpiece located in the Freiburg Cathedral, includes an angel-trombonist among a group of angels playing wind instruments above and to the left of the Virgin (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Burkhard pl. 2).

1521—Bergamo, Italy: Lorenzo Lotto’s painting, Madonna and Saints, in Bergamo’s Santo Spirito, includes a depiction of an angel playing what is probably a trombone (see detail below; public domain) (Berenson, 51, pl. 119).

c. 1522-23—Munich, Germany: Albrecht Altdorfer’s Mary and Child in Glory includes a depiction of an angel trombonist among several other angel musicians (see detail and full image below; public domain; Winzinger 45) (thanks to Stewart Carter and Herbert Myers for help identifying this painting).

c. 1530—Musical Angels, a detail from Assumption of the Virgin, depicts angels playing trombone, trumpet, shawm, and pipe (or recorder). The artist, Frei Carlos, was a Flemish monk working in Évora, Portugal (see below image; public domain) (Lisbon, National Museum of Ancient Art).

1550-1556—Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico: A stone carving on one of the four posa chapels occupying the corners of the atrium of the church of the Franciscan monastery of San Miguel, Huejotzingo features two trombone-playing angels (see below image; public domain) (Viñuales and Gant 23; Donahue-Wallace 12).

c. 1570—An engraving by Franz Ignaz Brun from the Nine Muses series features an angel-musician playing trombone (see below image; public domain) (British Museum).

c. 1575—Pieter de Witte’s painting, David Singing God’s Praise, features trombone among a mixed consort of angel-musicians. The upper half of the painting (see below image) is meant to depict Saint Cécile and angels. The lower half, not shown, depicts angels performing with David (Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum, photo A. Dingjan; Pieter Fischer 22) (public domain image).

c. 1590—Ravenna, Italy: Giovanni Laurenti’s painting in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Porto includes an angel-trombonist performing along with harp, lute, flute, and recorder (see below image; public domain) (source: recorder home page).

1591—Rome, Italy: Artist Ferrau Fenzoni paints the ceiling of the chapel of St. Francis in the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Included among numerous angel-musicians is an angel playing trombone (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Schwed, New Drawings by Ferrau Fenzoni).

1592-1601—Freibourg, Switzerland: The high altar in the Augustin Church includes a sculpture by Peter Spring depicting an angel playing a trombone (see image below; public domain) (Wold 82).

c. 1595—Frankfurt, Germany: Adam Elsheimer’s The Exaltation of the Cross, part of an altar piece of several copper panels, portrays an angel playing trombone among a group of other angel musicians. Elsheimer, known for his variety of light effects, places the trombonist near the burst of light at the top of the painting (see below detail; public domain: wikimedia commons) (Klessmann).

Late 16th century—Italy: Bolognese painter and engraver Francesco Brizio includes trombone among numerous angel-musicians in his study, Lunette with Musical Angels in the Clouds (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Bohn 532).

1600s—Southern Netherlands: An anonymous 17th century drawing portrays five angel-musicians, including a trombonist, performing from a balcony or platform (see below image; public domain) (Paris, Louvre; Wangermée vol. 1 287). The drawing is almost certainly either a preparatory sketch for or a copy of Guido Reni’s fresco, Gloria d’angeli (see 1609, below).

1604—Azores, Portugal: Vasco Pereira Lusitano paints Coroacão da Virgem, in which he depicts numerous instruments, including two trombones, being played by angels (see below image) (Museu Carlos Machado, Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal) (public domain; source: wikimedia commons).

1606—Innsbruck, Austria: Paolo Piazza’s Adorazione dei Magi, an altarpiece painting in Innsbruck’s Kapuziner-kirche, depicts many angel musicians, including an angel trombonist (see detail below; public domain) (Panchieri 43).

1609—Rome, Italy: Guido Reni’s Gloria d’angeli, a fresco located in S. Gregorio Magno, Cappella di S. Silvia, includes two trombones (see details and full image below) (Cavalli, pl. 28 and 32; Pepper, pl. 30). A drawing pictured above (see 1600s—Southern Netherlands) is clearly either a preparatory sketch for or a copy of the painting.

c. 1610—Piacenza, Italy: A fresco by Lorenzo Gabrieri in the tribuna of the Duomo di Piacenza includes a depiction of an angel playing trombone with a diverse instrumental ensemble of other angel-musicians (see image below; public domain) (Brogi plate 203).

c. 1610—Loreto, Italy: Cristoforo Roncalli, sometimes known as “Pomarancio,” makes a set of preparatory drawings for a fresco he is preparing to paint on the cupola of the Basilica di Loreto (fresco now largely lost). Among the drawings is an angel-trombonist (see below image; public domain).

1611—Pieter de Witte (also known as Peter Candid) includes an angel playing trombone in his drawing, Euterpe (see detail below; public domain) (Volk-Knüttel 102).

c. 1615—Cislago, Italy: The Church of Santa Maria della Neve contains an anonymous fresco lunette featuring several angel musicians, including a trombonist. The trombone is particularly noteworthy because it is a rear-facing (sometimes called “over-the-shoulder”) instrument, an unusual configuration for this early date (see below image; public domain) (Morandi; Farioli).

1615—Reggio Emilia, Italy: Lionello Spada’s fresco in the cupola of the Chiesa della Ghiara includes depictions of numerous angel-musicians, including an angel playing trombone. The other instruments include harp, recorder, triangle, tambourine, cornetto, lute, and violin (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Quintavelle, plate 81; Monducci 130; Artioli, plates 8 and 12).

1616—Bologna, Italy: Ludovico Carracci’s Paradise, an altarpiece painting located in the Church of San Paolo Maggiore, features an angel-trombonist situated prominently among a group of angel-musicians (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Komma 109; Emiliana 167).

1617—Milan, Italy: Bartolomeo Roverio includes three trombones among many angel musicians in a ceiling fresco at San Marco (see three details and full image below; public domain) (Perer 172).

1623—Varese, Italy: Cappella XI, cappella della Resurrezione, of Sacro Monte, is completed. The semicircular apse features a fresco by Isidoro Bianchi that includes what is probably a trombone among one group of angel-musicians (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Angelis 147).

c. 1625—Ascona, Switzerland: Giovanni Serodine paints Coronation of the Virgin with Saints in Ascona’s parish church. The image features a consort of angel-musicians playing two viols, cornetto, and trombone (see detail below; public domain).

c. 1641—Prosto di Piuro, Valchiavenna, Italy: A fresco in the vault of the presbytery of chiesa dell’Assunta painted by either Giovan Battista Recchi or his brother, Giovan Paolo Recchi, includes a trombonist among several angel musicians (see below image; public domain) (Pescarmona 77).

1644—Florence, Italy: Il Volterrano (also known variously as Baldassare Franceschini and Franceschini Baldassare detto Volterrano) is commissioned to paint a lunette fresco in Florence’s Santissima Annunziata. He makes a red-chalk preparatory sketch for the painting (see below) that is quite similar to the final painting (see lower image, below). The images feature angels playing violin, trombone, and lute (public domain images) (Strozzi 332; Falletti 76).

c. 1645—Campione d’Italia, Italy: Isidoro Bianchi paints Gloria d’angeli, a fresco in the sanctuary of S. Maria dei Ghirli. The painting includes an angel playing what may be an awkwardly-rendered trombone, with a slide clearly visible but without the rear bow of the instrument extending behind the head (see detail and full image below) (Angelis 43). For a similar rendering by the same artist, see 1623.

1648—An engraving by Michael Frommer on title page from Currus Triumphalia by Andreas Rauch depicts four angels playing trombone among other angel musicians (see below image; public domain) (Naylor 217).

c. 1650—Mexico City, Mexico: The Martyrdom of St. Lawrence, an oil painting by José Juárez, depicts a trombone-playing angel with several other angel-musicians (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Toussaint 227; Juárez 156).

c. 1650—Joachim von Sandrart, a German artist who works at various locations throughout Europe, makes a red chalk drawing of an angel concert that includes a trombone (see below image; public domain) (source: Deutsche Fotothek).

1651—Modena, Italy: Mattia Preti’s fresco, Gloria di Angeli Musicanti, located in the apse of San Biagio, includes a depiction of an angel playing trombone among many other angel musicians (see below detail; public domain) (Adani; Quintavalle plate 95).

1658—Schöningen, Germany: Jonas Weigel completes the organ for St. Vincenzkirche, which includes a sculpture of an angel-trombonist on the organ case. The angel-musician on the opposite side plays the cornetto (see below detail; public domain).

1661-66—Valletta, Malta: Italian artist Mattia Preti includes an angel-trombonist in his fresco located in the apse of San Giovanni (see below image; public domain) (photo by Alfred Gouder). For a similar painting by the same artist, see 1651, above.

1668-93—Passau, Germany: Carpoforo Tencalla’s fresco in St. Stephan’s Cathedral includes depictions of angels playing various instruments, including trombone, tambourine, trumpet, and timpani (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Crombie 50). For additional views, see here.

1697-1703—Görlitz, Germany: Eugenio Casparini’s famous organ in the church of St. Peter und Paul features decorative sculpures of angels sitting atop the pipe structure. Each angel holds two instruments; two of the angels, sitting on opposite outside edges of the structure, hold trombones while playing trumpets (see below detail) (Sonnaillon 92).

1701—Lauffen am Neckar, Germany: The organ housing at the evangelische Kirche St. Regiswindis includes two sculptures of angel-trombonists, the angels apparently playing one-handed (see below detail; public domain) (Völkl 50).

1704—Tönning, Germany: A painted ceiling by Barthold Conrath at the Church of St. Lawrence depicts a group of angels playing wind instruments and percussion, including a jubilant angel-trombonist (see below detail; public domain) (Bowles, The Timpani 167).

1704-14—Saalfeld, Germany: Italian artist Carlo Ludovico Castelli paints a cherub playing trombone in Saalfeld’s Schlosskapelle (see below image; public domain).

1709—Monticelli d’Ongina, Italy: The church Collegiata di San Lorenzo is refurbished in Baroque style. It is probably at this time that an anonymous artist paints a fresco in the church depicting several angel-musicians, including a trombonist. This painting, along with the painted wood ceiling in Tönning, Germany (see 1704, above), is a relatively late example of trombone being depicted among angel-musicians (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Genesi).

1710—Verona, Italy: Felice Torelli, younger brother of composer Giuseppe Torelli, depicts an angel playing trombone in Immacolata Concezione, painted for the church of Sant’Orsola dei Mendicati shortly after the proclamation of the feast day of the Immaculate Conception. The image is noteworthy because no other musical instruments are depicted with the trombone. The artist includes the usual flat stays found on trombones of the time, but the slide appears to be somewhat longer than usual and the player’s grip on the instrument’s back tubing somewhat unorthodox (below; public domain image; Verona, Museo di Castelvecchio) (Chiodini; Oxford Art Online).

1714—Lüneburg, Germany: A major rebuild of the organ in Johanniskirche is completed by Matthias Dropa. One of several rebuilds and renovations after the organ’s original installation in 1551-53, it is probably this early 18th-century rebuild that ads the sculptures of what appear to be two angel-trombonists perched atop the organ pipes (see detail and wider view below; public domain).

1725-30—Vienna, Austria: A fresco in Karlskirche (St. Charles's Church) by Johann Michael Rottmayr includes an angel-trombonist (see below image; public domain).

1891—Booton, Norfolk, England: The extensive rebuild of St. Michael and All Angels church, overseen by the eccentric Reverend Whitwell Elwin, is completed. One of the nave stained-glass windows, completed by Alex Booker, includes a depiction of an angels playing trombone and cymbals (see below image; public domain) (Wilson, North East Norfolk and Norwich: Norfolk 1, 409).