Alessandro Trasunti

Biography

Alessandro Trasunti was an Italian instrument maker who, along with other Italian makers, improved on Geronimo's early wing-formed harpsichord designs. Trasunti and his contemporaries built special cases detachable from the body of the instrument, decorated with exquisite carvings, inlaid ivory designs, and often paintings by master artists, continuing the Italian tradition of the decorated art harpsichord. Alessandro Trasunti is named as the maker of an art harpsichord dated 1531, illustrated in the book's plates with detailed carvings and painted panels on the case. The instrument is presented, alongside Hans Ruckers' double spinet, as an early historical example of the tradition of artistically embellished keyboard instruments that the chapter traces forward into the elaborate art pianos of Dolge's own era.

Highlights

• Improved on Geronimo's early wing-formed harpsichord designs
• Built special cases detachable from the body of the instrument, decorated with carvings, inlaid ivory, and painted pictures
• Built an ornately carved and painted art harpsichord dated 1531, reproduced in the book's plates as an early example of the art-instrument tradition

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911).

Public domain.