A COLLECTION of weird and wonderful instruments inspired by the artist Hieronymus Bosch is now on display at the Bate Collection in St Aldate’s, Oxford.
The exhibition runs until next year with creation of the instruments drawing on the painting The Garden of Earthly Delights, part of which depicts musical instruments in unusual forms and used as torture devices.
The collection includes 10 pieces made by local craftsmen, and from private collections, including a hurdy-gurdy, a harp and a drum.
The twist is that they are all strangely proportioned and therefore do not produce the sounds expected of them.
Bate Collection manager Andy Lamb said: “This is a small part of a broader series of research projects that have been going on for many decades.”
He himself himself crafted a flute for the exhibition.
Mr Lamb said the display had increased visitor numbers dramatically.
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