A bit of a stony sound: the marble harpsichord signed Michele Antonio Grandi of the Galleria Estense in Modena

In the year 2005 a harpsichord entirely made in marble appeared on the market in Rome and was purchased by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Modena, to be permanently lent and displayed at the Galleria Estense. This article is a study of the marble harpsichord, in the context of other marble instruments, aimed at assessing its original state, through the individuation of the many modifications it underwent during its history, in an attempt to define whether it was originally conceived as a sounding object, or as a mute aesthetic reproduction