> On Apr 30, 2018, at 12:16 PM, John Mardinly <john.mardi...@asu.edu> wrote: > > The left lute does not seem to have any pegs and neither appears to > have a bridge, yet both lutenists look like they are trying to stop the > lowest course with their thumbs.
Neither lute appears to have strings. The artist was not interested in showing the finer points of lute building or playing. Unless you’re looking at a portrait of a musician (who, as Arthur points out, would want to be shown playing properly), you can’t read too much into the hand positions in paintings. In other paintings, like Nativity scenes, the models may not have been players. A model who has to hold an instrument for a long time will hold it in the most comfortable way he can. And an artist may have something other than photographic accuracy in mind. I’m sure, for example that when he created the Isenheim alterpiece Grunewald knew that he was painting instruments not found in nature: https://www.wga.hu/support/viewer_m/z.html He was likely emphasizing the supernatural nature of the event. So looking at the hands of angels and supernumerary characters in paintings for answers to questions about real playing can be a fool’s errand. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
