Figure 3. — Polygonal \'irginal removed from outer case. (Smithsonian photo M.\'H 2S3.) 



The Typical Italian Polygonal Virginal 



To give a clear idea of the construction of the Italian 

 polygonal virginal, a detailed description of one partic- 

 ular example is presented here. This virginal is 

 included in the Hugo Worch collection at the U.S. 

 National Museum. The maker's name is not known, 

 but the instrument is belie\ed to have been built 

 around 1600. 



As is true of the great inajority of Italian virginals 

 and harpsichords of the 16th and 17th centuries, the 

 instrument proper is removable from its outer case. 

 The outer case (fig. 2), of sturdier construction than 

 the virginal which it was designed to protect, is made 

 of wood about %" thick and is decorated with paint- 

 ings of female figures and garlands. The original legs 

 are missing. 



Our main interest is in the virginal proper (fig. 3), 

 the construction of which is comparable in some ways 

 to that of the violin. The very thin sides of the 

 virginal are held together at the corners by blocks, and 

 the soundboard is supported by a lining. 



The cross section drawing (fig. 4) shows the JU" 

 thick bottom and the sides which are %" thick. The 

 lining, li" by 1/s", runs around four sides of the 

 instrument, the wrest plank replacing it on the fifth 

 side. The soundboard thickness, measured inside the 



holes through which the jacks pass, varies from '/ig" 

 in the bass to %" in the treble. The manner in which 

 variations in thickness are distributed over the entire 

 soundboard has not been determined. The cross 

 section drawing also shows the beautifully executed 

 mouldings that make the sides appear to be thicker 

 than they really are. 



The positions of the knee braces, the shape of which 

 can be seen in figure 4, are shown along either side of 

 the keyboard in figure 5. These braces are %" thick. 

 The positions of the blocks, small pieces with the grain 

 runnine; perpendicular to the bottom, and the wrest 

 plank, which is 1)4" thick, are also shown. The two 

 ribs are attached to the underside of the soundboard 

 in the positions indicated. The jack guide, built up of 

 separate pieces held together by long strips down 

 either side, is glued to the underside of the soundboard 

 and extends as far as the lining in the treble but stops 

 a little short of it in the bass (fig. 5). The jack guide 

 is ^U" thick. 



The layout of the soundboard in figure 6 gives the 

 relative positions of the bridges, tuning pins, hitch 

 pins, strings, jacks, and jack rail. There is, of course, 

 one jack and one string per key. The jacks presently 

 in this virginal, not being original, will not be 

 described. Typical Italian jacks will be described 

 later. The bridges are ^e" wide and vary in height 

 from "le" in the bass to ^s" in the treble. A cross 



PAPER 15: ITALI.^N HARPSICHORD-BUILDING IN THE 1 tiTH AND 1 7TH CENTURIES 



97 



