Instruments Out and About

Wednesday 26 June 2013

Two treasures from the RCM Special Collections are being loaned out to special exhibitions this summer.

The National Gallery’s special exhibition ‘Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure’, which will be on from 26 June until 8 September, will include the RCM Museum of Music’s bass viol by Barak Norman (pictured), made in London in 1692.

Meanwhile, National Museums Scotland will be displaying the guitar attributed to Rene Voboam, c1650, as part of their summer exhibition ‘Mary, Queen of Scots’, from 29 June to 17 November.  This instrument has a spurious association with Mary’s private secretary David Rizzio, and will appear in the section of the exhibition dedicated to the myths which surround our interpretation of Mary’s life.

The remaining instruments from the RCM collections will of course be on display as usual in the RCM Museum of Music, open Tuesday to Friday 11.30am to 4.30pm.