Viola da gamba in festoon shape

Viols of at least three different shapes are employed simultaneously in this consort! The three viols in the foreground – a treble, a bass and perhaps a large tenor? – are in the festoon shape with flame holes and a rosette. The viol visible on the right has the classical form. The great bass viol or violone in G has sloping shoulders but f-holes like the violin-family. This North-German painting dates from around 1635, in the middle of the Thirty-Years’ War.

 


Viola da gamba Consort in Braunschweig, ca. 1635

Michiel van Musscher (1645-1705): Viola da gamba in festoon form

 

Bass viola da gamba perhaps by John Rose II, London. ca. 1600
(This viol is regrettably not in our collection!)

 

Treble viola da gamba
by Anonymous German 1 (ca. 1730)
Treble viola da gamba
by Anonymous German I1 (ca. 1730)