Late Medieval 5 course Lute

Late Medieval 5 course Lute

5 Course lute by Gerard David c.1480

58 cm, 5 courses; medieval lute based on iconographical sources circa 1480, especially the painting of Gerard David shown above. 9 ribs of figured sycamore with a smooth curve between body and neck. Two gothic roses: a very elaborate circular sunken rose of pine and parchment as well as a lancet-window shaped rose just below the fingerboard. This feature suddenly appears in paintings of lutes at about 1480 and becomes particularly common in Flemish paintings of the period. Curiously there is one surviving instrument of the period which also has this feature, it is the upright clavicytherum in the Royal College of Music museum in London.

This has also been independently dated to about 1480 and comes from South Germany, where most lutes were being made before the big exodus of talent to Italy at the turn of the century. .

This was the transitional period between plectrum and finger style techniques and this lute is suitable for both.

Price: £3700
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