MINIATURIST, Spanish (active 1280s) |
Cantigas de Santa María, Codex of the Musicians, folio 209rafter 1280Manuscript (RBMECat b-I-2), 404 x 274 mm Real Biblioteca de San Lorenzo, El Escorial | ||
|
The Códice de los músicos (Codex of the Musicians) is the most complete manuscript of Alfonso X's "Cantigas Project", which occupied most of his reign (1252-1284). He considered it an important part of both his political survival and his personal salvation. The picture shows folio 209r, which contains a miniature, a poem, and sheet music. The miniature depicts two women playing the chirimía, the Spanish variant of the medieval shawm, a loud double-reed instrument which is the ancestor of the oboe.
| ||
