Double Virginal, Joannes Ruckers,  Antwerp, circa 1600, poplar, fir, oak, beech, printed paper. Provenance: purchase - Natale Gallini Collection  (1961) (inv. n. ST. MUS. n. 595) 

By Joannes Ruckers, a member of a famous family of Flemish harpsichord makers, the double virginal falls under the category of a "moeder met het kind" (mother and child), in which a larger instrument contains a smaller removable one whose strings are half the length of the “mother’s” and thus plays at an octave higher.

The two virginals could be played by two musicians contemporaneously or the smaller virginal could be placed above the "mother" so that its keys would move the jacks on both sets of strings.

The surfaces are decorated with printed paper, while the lid is painted with a scene depicting the leisure activities of Flemish high society, from deer hunting and boat trips to the idle pursuits of the arts and reading. Under a pergola a lady is playing a virginal on whose lid is in turn depicted a musical scene.