ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the presentation of a simple finding in a medieval manuscript. The study of medieval sources can still lead to interesting, simple discoveries that in and of themselves will slowly but steadily improve our knowledge of medieval music performance. Vielle players are portrayed in a variety of ways, both singly and with other instrumentalists. A common iconographic context in the latter case is either an ensemble of angel musicians or the 24 Elders of the Apocalypse. Famous examples include relief sculptures at the portals of the Benedictine Abbey Church at Saint-Denis and the Saint James Cathedral at Compostela. In general, medieval depictions of musicians playing the vielle show them looking slightly away from the viewer and their instrument, over at an undetermined spot; they are presumably scouring their memory for inspiration or are simply lost in their playing. The documentary vacuum for medieval instrumental music is precisely what makes our example so exceptional.
