Dear all, and David (or any Dutchman) in particular, I have just read an article by Carla Zecher entitled "The Gendering of the Lute in Sixteenth-Century Love Poetry" (Renaissance Quarterly 53) about representations of the lute in renaissance paintings...... and well, in it the author discusses how the Dutch word for lute, "luit", was also the same word in Dutch for, well, ahem......aside from "lute"....I'm just going to write it......with apologies ....."pussy". Yes.
This would certainly explain the lute's depiction in Dutch brothel scenes - I hadn't realised the meaning of the lute was quite so explicit as that! No wonder writers like Mace later had to defend the lute as being a *manly* instrument...are there any Dutch writers who bring up this double entendre? (Huygens?) I'd be curious to know if this word still has the same meaning in Dutch? This could be important knowledge just in case I ever need to advertise a concert in the "Netherlands"............ As ever, Benjamin -- Benjamin Narvey Luthiste: http://www.luthiste.com -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
