While we are on virginals, here is a very beautiful Flemish double virginal.
What is the meaning of the Latin ARS USU IVVANDA?
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Le 01/03/2024 03:16, Andrew Bernard via The Jackrail Ă©crit :
What is the meaning of the Latin ARS USU IVVANDA?
Carey Beebe gives the following translation on his site:
Art must be aided by practice ARS USU JUVANDA
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Le 01/03/2024 03:16, Andrew Bernard via The Jackrail Ă©crit :
What is the meaning of the Latin ARS USU IVVANDA?
Quite logically (?), it actually reads ARS VSV IVVANDA.
âArs usu iuvanda [est]â- Art needs to be assisted by practice.
Boalch-Mould online carries more information under BMO-586 .
Wrongly labelled as âharpsichordâ, I just submitted a suggested fix for this, but BMO carries interesting (and correct of course) details worth reading.
The soundboard rose depicting the god Pan blowing into the wind-feed of an organ (rather than onto a set of pan pipes) is interesting. Not entirely unlike some depictions of the Annunciation, with Pan instead of the angel Gabriel and the organ in place of Maryâs ear.
Better write to The Met! They use U in their description - even though clearly V on the instrument s you point out.
@mshields is this a classical quotation?
I find it a curious saying as to me it is simply a truism, hardly worthy of comment or inscription or as moral instruction or spiritual uplifting. Perhaps it is just short and fits the space available!
On Ars iuvanda est Andrew wrote: âis this a classical quotation⊠to me it is simply a truism.â Itâs used in a print illustrating a poet and his muse by Pieter Yver, 1738 Amsterdam (quick online search).
Proverbs do tend to be truisms, and their popularity is quite culturally specific. German speakers still use them more frequently and less ironically than English speakers: Ăbung macht den Meister.
Iâve seen âVâ used to replace âUâ in Latin a lot. Especially in carved stone. So Iâm surprised you think there is something wrong about this.
I never said there was anything wrong - but actually there was no U in Latin, only V.
Not when I learned Latin anyway. [back somewhere near Roman times 
]
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Here we are, (complete with late Latin 'Uâs )
Since iuvare means to help to aid or to assist, could this mean Art requires help (from the Muse?) and since ivvanda is Latin gerundive (not gerund) which implies a sense of obligation, can it mean Art must be helped (by the Muse?)
[Pardon my undergraduate Latin efforts.]
[quote=âandro, post:12, topic:1706, full:trueâ]
Yes, there is a sense of obligation. Literally it means âArt must be helped by practiceâ.
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The front flap of my virginal, completed last year, was copied from this Grouwels, though with a different motto.
Sic transit gloria mundi.
I always wondered where that originated:
The phrase was used in the ritual of papal coronation ceremonies between 1409 (when it was used at the coronation of Alexander V)[3] and 1963. As the newly chosen pope proceeded from the sacristy of St. Peterâs Basilica in his sedia gestatoria, the procession stopped three times. On each occasion, a papal master of ceremonies would fall to his knees before the pope, holding a silver or brass reed, bearing a tow of smoldering flax. For three times in succession, as the cloth burned away, he would say in a loud and mournful voice, âPater Sancte, sic transit gloria mundi !â (âHoly Father, so passes worldly glory!â).[4] These words, thus addressed to the pope, served as a reminder of the transitory nature of life and earthly honours.[5][6][7]
From Sic transit gloria mundi - Wikipedia
Reminds me very much of this Roman practice:
by the way, an alternative translation of âArs Iuvanda Estâ would be âSkill alone wonât do it, you have to help by fudging a littleâ.