Cello Gallery

Man in the Iron Mask, playing the cello in prison

There are conflicting theories as to who this man was. One is that he was Count Ercole Antonio Mattioli (Matthioli or Marchioly, 1640-1703), an Italian diplomat, arrested as Eustache Dauger in 1669, imprisoned by Louis XIV for 34 years, who died in the Bastille. Another theory, according to Voltaire, is that he was the older, illegitimate brother of Louis XIV -- this later formed part of Alexandre Dumas Three Musketeers saga, in which the man is Louis twin brother

© Mary Evans Picture Library

Two gentlemen composers in a music room before

Two gentlemen composers in a music room before a piano, 19th century. The portly man says, I'd give three operas to have created your romance. Handcoloured lithograph by the Gihaut brothers after an illustration by Swiss artist Jean Gabriel Scheffer from Petites Scenes du Monde, Ce qu'on dit et ce qu'on pense, Gihaut Freres, Paris, 1829. Date:

© Florilegius/Mary Evans

Auguste van Biene - Dutch composer, cellist

Auguste van Biene (1849-1913) - Dutch composer, cellist and actor, best known for his composition The Broken Melody, performed by the composer as part of a musical play of the same name. Date: circa 1908

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