MOST people, it is probably fair to say, have never thought to the subject of musical images in 18th-century Dublin plasterwork. But then most people - in Ireland at least - are blissfully unaware of the existence of an academic discipline called music iconography; which is why Dr Barra Boydell of Maynooth College has organised a one-day seminar on the topic, to be held in the National Gallery today.
Music iconography, Dr Boydell explains, is the depiction of musical instruments and performance in works of art. "This is something that is of interest not only to musicians but also to people in the visual arts because, for instance, the identification of musical instruments in paintings can help in dating them - and even in identifying fakes." Music iconography is also of great potential interest to those engaged in bibliographical and manuscript studies and in the study of social history.
Ireland, Dr Boydell admits, has been lagging behind the European mainstream in music iconography but we appear to be catching up at last, with the establishment of the Irish Centre for Music Iconographical Documentation (ICMID) at the Department of Music in Maynooth College.
Eventually, sponsorship permitting, a computer database will make Irish music iconographical material instantly accessible for study purposes. Meanwhile, Dr Boydell hopes today's seminar will attract people from all artistic disciplines. As well as his introductory lecture, entitled The Echoing Mirror: music iconography in Ireland, the seminar will include a talk on Music in Islamic Art by Dr Anna Contadini of the Chester Beatty Library, a discussion of iconographical sources for Irish traditional music by Sandra Joyce of the world music centre at the University of Limerick, a workshop on the documentation of music-iconographical materials by Prof Tilman Seebass of Innsbruck University - and a paper on, you've guessed it, musical images in 18th-century Dublin plasterwork by Kathryn Moore of Maynooth College.
