Pinnell, Richard.

The theme of the Libro de Apolonio, from the 13th century, is based on women and an aristocratic guitar called vihuela. The prestige of this instrument continued during the sixteenth century in the hands of empresses, queens, princesses and ladies of the Spanish upper classes. Their inclination to play these types of instruments expanded the importance of humanistic and educational values ​​from the Italian Renaissance that reached the Mediterranean ports of Spain. On the return ships, beginning around 1550, Spanish women began the baroque guitar expatriation to Naples, and were preparing for an invasion of the North through the city-states and in the rest of Europe as the "guitar Spanish". Reinforcement came from popular Italian and Spanish culture, moving both north to Scandinavia and west to America. Following in the footsteps of the Habsburg infantas, who became the wives of Louis XIII and Louis XIV of France, the guitar movement reached its apotheosis under the Bourbons, which, after 1700, returned to Spain. From 1660 to 1800, the princesses and queens of the Habsburg, Savoy, Stuart and Bourbon dynasties continually raised the prestige of this instrument, adding more popularity and opening the way for their influence on secular art music.

Composer

Instrument VIHUELA, GUITAR

Century 16CENT, 17CENT, 18CENT

Region ITALY

Medium

Music genre

Research field HISTORY, SOCIAL HISTORY, INSTRUMENTS