Double Virginal (Muselar) by Ruckers, A

• Motto on lid (not original): 'OMNIS SPRITVS LAVDET DOMINVM'.

• On the jackrail 'ANDREAS RVCKERS ME FECIT ANTVERPIAE

• Rectangular case with a recessed keyboard positioned on the right. Single manual; original keyboard compass C/E–c³ (later extended to C, D–c³); 8' register; originally featured an *arpichordum* stop (no longer present). Bottom board made of poplar, 15 mm thick; the section on the keyboard side was replaced across an average width of 100 mm. The walls, front flaps, and lid are also made of poplar and share the same thickness. The walls are miter-jointed and rest upon the bottom board. Following the construction typical of a double virginal, the keyboard-side wall is divided into several sections: on the left, a fixed frame element and the small front flap (flanking the compartment that houses the octave instrument); on the right, the recessed keyboard area. Both front flaps fold downwards and are attached to the case by wire hinges, as is the lid. Internal structural reinforcement is provided by a central partition extending up to the height of the octave instrument compartment and another partition to the right of the keyboard, extending up to the level of the lower guide rail. The compartment for the octave instrument is enclosed at the top by a lid made of soundboard timber. The Henkel catalogue (listing plucked-string keyboard instruments) mentions a lost copy of this instrument, designated No. 1093a. It can be virtually ruled out that such a copy—meaning a replica of the entire assembly comprising both virginals—ever existed. In all likelihood, this represents a misinterpretation by Henkel of the data found in the "Kleiner Katalog" (Small Catalogue). The replica mentioned there refers only to the octave virginal designed to slide into the left side of the instrument (modeled on the surviving large virginal, which forms the instrument's main body)—serving either as a supplement to the original instrument or as a replacement for a lost component. Furthermore, this replicated component of the instrument is not lost.

Credit: Uni Leipzig