Casgliadau Arlein

The virginal is a keyboard instrument that can either be rectangular or polygonal and its strings, which are plucked by quills, run roughly parallel. The soundboard of this instrument is painted with flowers and contains a picture of Orpheus and a his lute on the interior lid. The virginal comes with a purpose-built stand (also 49.64), which is believed to be of the same period as the instrument.

There are only some twenty virginals of this period still in existence, but as far as we are aware only the St Fagans example has survived with the original wooden stand.