There are so many things to appreciate and wonder about in this
painting. The hands look so natural you can see the chord he's playing
(a Gmaj chord on an E lute? It could be a C chord but it appears he's
playing the 6th course w/ his right hand). Maybe he's listening to hear
if the strings are in tune --a test chord? Or I wonder if the painter
started to capture the player's boredom from having to sit for too
long.
I love the fact that a table is being used and his hands look so
relaxed that we hardly notice that his elbow is at chin-height! There's
a lesson for us here but we should probably take it w/ a grain of salt.
Despite many of the proportions being very good the lute does seem to
confuse the artist a little. The lute shell just below his throat seems
a little off and there are other lute parts that "wander". This really
isn't important but the width of the neck leads may lead one down the
garden path. I think, in order for the left hand to appear more
natural, the artist has narrowed the neck, perhaps unconsciously which,
in turn, leads to the pegbox walls becoming parallel. (Are there any
other references to a square/rectangular pegbox?)
It all leads me to wonder if there are two artists at work here: the
body parts are almost too competent compared to the lifeless table top,
background and stringbox. Is there a symbolic relationship between the
headdress and the lace? Are they an actual trio of musicians or is the
composition contrived to be a more allegorical presentation?
One thing is certain: he was someone's favorite lutenist. My apologies
for all the questions and conjectures. If anyone could offer more
clues, I'd appreciate it.
Sean
On Jul 9, 2008, at 12:00 PM, G. Crona wrote:
There was more detail if you look at the left hand.
G.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Jarosław Lipski"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "'Lute'" <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 8:35 PM
Subject: [LUTE] Re: El Gordo
It looks like the painter didn't care to show double strings, or the
player
used single strings omitting every second peg.
Best
JL
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