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Israhel van Meckenem

The Organ Player and His Wife

1495–1500
engraving

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In the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · as of July 2026

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FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’S CATALOG

In a cozy, domestic setting, an organ player plays a portative with four registers. His wife operates the two bellows, producing the wind that gives the instrument its sound. The activity of one would be inconceivable and pointless without the other. The music they create together--as well as the faithful dog placed prominently in the foreground--refers to marital harmony.

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