from “Virgen de los Ángeles”, Diego Valentín Díaz, c.1615
(1615/ca) - Valladolid, Church of San Miguel y San Julián.
instrument: vihuela de mano | century: 17cent/1/early | catalogue nº: 17-124a
Artwork
Creator Díaz, Diego Valentín
Medium Artwork: Painting
Location
City Valladolid | Region Castilla-León | Old kingdom Castile
Characteristics
| Body Waisted | Strings | Neck Long | Pegbox Flat rectangle |
| Bridge Obscured | Frets Yes | Back Flat | Pegs Rear |
| Technique Plucked fingers thumb in |
Commentary
ARTWORK
“Virgen de los Ángeles”. Oil on Canvas. Diego Valentín Díaz ((Valladolid 1586-Valladolid 1660). 246 x 206 cm. Iglesia de San Miguel y San Julián (Valladolid).
One of the five bowed and plucked stringed instruments in the painting. The full painting is given as 17-124.
INSTRUMENT
Small vihuela depicted with seeming accuracy of detail. The body is small, lightly incurved with both bouts of similar width. Most of the bridge and soundhole are obscured. The neck is long with the neck/body join at about the 14th fret. The number of strings cannot be determined clearly, nor the number of pegs on the pegbox. The instrument is being plucked with the thumb behind the index finger (figueta extranjera). Taken in conjucntion with the vihuela de arco painted alongside this instrument, it could easily have been based on an early sixteenth-century model.