Opus 2 recreation
1566 Dominicus Pisaurensis (2024)

An entry in a 1700 Medici inventory, almost certainly by Bartolomeo Cristofori, describes and gives dimensions for a now-lost instrument from 1566 made by one of the leading 16th century Venetian builders, Dominicus Pisaurensis . It had two 8’ registers, a range of C to a’’, a short octave with the lowest two sharps split F# and G#, and a total of 50 notes including additional split sharps throughout the compass. I reimagined what this instrument might have been with details gleaned from the restoration of its closest surviving relative, the 1570 Dominicus Pisaurensis. I gave it a simple turned stand based off the 1574 Trasuntino harpsichord in Edinburgh, and a red outer case to protect it.

Pictures from the build