Technical Library

DECORATION VII: Latin Mottos

Latin mottos…
The lid interiors of many of the original Flemish instruments had mottos in Latin, lettered in bold black Roman upper case on the moiré papers after the papers were glued to the lid and flap. Thomas McGeary made a thorough study (AMIS vol vii 1981) of the mottos both occurring on original instruments, and presumed to occur because of iconographical evidence, mostly from surviving paintings. A list of mottos used only on Ruckers instruments was published on pp165–7 of Grant O’Brien’s 1990 book for Cambridge University Press, Ruckers — A harpsichord and virginal building tradition.

One of the most frequently-asked questions at concerts is what the mottos actually mean. To fit on the lids, many of the mottos were truncated versions of much older conceits or biblical references, so knowing a little Latin is not necessarily enough to grasp the idea of some.

Some mottos split nicely into two lines for the main part of the harpsichord lid, or the lid of a virginal. The shorter three- or four-word mottos are suitable for the flap, which can be lettered sideways and accommodate two short lines in a double-manual instrument. Blank space at the ends of lines can be filled with an ornament, and the date could appear in the cheek/bentside corner of the main lid if the main motto has a long first word, and so must be fitted in only two lines. Today, most makers tend to letter far more neatly than the originals. If you were working to deceive, you would imitate the original lettering which was often poorly spaced, and becoming increasingly crowded at the ends of lines.

Here are a list of some of the mottoes we’ve used over the years. Of course, you could also make up your own: Maybe not Hello, sailor! New in town? but something tastefully displaying some of your philosophy. Mottos marked by † in the list below don’t occur on surviving originals, but were chosen specially by our customers to reflect their own philosophies.

ACTA VIRUM PROBANT	Deeds prove the man
† AD MAIORA NATUS	Born for greater things
ARS NON HABET INIMICUM NISI IGNORANTEM	Art has no enemy but an ignorant man
ARS USU JUVANDA	Art must be aided by practice
AUDI VIDE ET TACE SI VIS VIVERE IN PACE	Listen, watch and be silent if you wish to live in peace
DULCISONUM REFICIT TRISTIA CORDA MELOS	Sweet song refreshes sad hearts
† EUM LAUDATE CHORDIS ET CANTICIS LÆTIS	To Him be praise with strings and song
† MAGNIFICAT ANIMA MEA DOMINUM ET EXULTAVIT SPIRITUS MEUS	My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my saviour
MUSICA LETITÆ COMES MEDICINA DOLORUM	Music is the companion of joy, the medicine of sorrows
MUSICA MAGNORUM SOLAMEN DULCE LABORUM	Music is the sweet consolation of great labors
MUSICA PELLIT CURAS	Music dispels cares
† NATURA ARTIS MAGISTRA	Nature, the mistress of art
† NULLA VITA MELIOR QUAM BONA	There’s no life better than a good life
SOLI DEO GLORIA	Glory be to God alone
VITA BREVIS ARS LONGA	Life is short; art is long (lived)

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