Harpsichord after Ioannes Ruckers 1624, petit ravalement, double-manual
As coveted as the Ruckers instruments were, they had at some point fallen out of date, so that a decision had to be made: mothball them or rebuild them? In France, the practice of 'ravalements', the rebuilding of Ruckers instruments to adapt them to new requirements and thus keep them serviceable, developed. Our fine example of such a 'petit ravalement', in which the case was not enlarged, is in Colmar in the Museum d'Unterlinden.