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Images from The Rawlins
Gallery
Sixteenth-Century Lira da Braccio
NMM 4203. Lira da
braccio by Francesco Linarol, Venice, 1563.
Ex coll.: W. E. Hill & Sons, London. Rawlins Fund, 1988.
One of the most important stringed
instruments of the Renaissance, the
lira da braccio was used primarily by courtly poet-musicians in Italy to
accompany themselves while reciting poetry.
The five strings over
the fingerboard
were played with a bow, while the two strings on the instrument's bass
side were plucked by the player's left thumb. A Latin motto or saying is
painted on the carved ribs of this lira da braccio and describes the
playing of
the
instrument. It can be translated: "while the horse [referring to the
horse-hair on the bow] crosses the
sheep [referring to the strings, traditionally made of sheep gut] up
and down, the wood [referring to the lira] returns a mellifluous sound;
hail the playing hand."
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of Bowed Stringed Instruments Made Before
1800
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of 16th- and 17th-Century Instruments
A poster of this
instrument is available from the Gift Shop
National Music Museum
The University of South Dakota
414 East Clark Street
Vermillion, SD 57069
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