Creator anon
Medium Artwork: Sculpture
City Inca | Region Baleares | Old kingdom Aragon
Body Lute | Strings None | Neck Medium | Pegbox Obscured |
Bridge Fixed | Frets Unclear | Back Lute | Pegs Lateral |
Technique Plucked fingers |
Artwork.
This sculpture and the associated vihuelist/guitarist (19-100a) are from the retablo (altarpiece) of the church of Santa Maria la Major, Inca, Mallorca. The date is hard to establish. The present building was begun in 1706 and finished in 1893. Perhaps these cherubs are from the 19th century. Provisionally, I am assigning this instrument to the early nineteenth century until further information is known.
Instrument
The lute has features of a renaissance lute, although the sound hole is low down near the bridge. The strings are plucked close to the bridge, and the chord configuration of the left hand seems to match well the standard chord configurations of the instrument. It is very likely modelled on an earlier example.