Dear list, there certainly are a number of possible interpretations of such paintings. We can be sure that most of the details of such a painting have a symbolic meaning which was clear to the viewer of that time but is more obscure to a contemporary ditto. I would advise a very humble attitude to this difficult issue and one should be careful not to over- or underinteprete the information on the paintings.
I have published an article in the yearbook of the nationalmuseum of Sweden, Lutor och lutspel i två målningar av Ferdinand Bol och Michael Dahl [Musiken i konsten - Det klingande 1600-talet. En konstbok från Nationalmuseum redigerad av Karin Sidén. Nationalmusei årsbok 47, Stockholm 2001 pp. 59-89] which deals with this problem. Unfortunately this article is at present only in Swedish. This article deals with two painting in the museum with lute motifs. I particularly stress that it is important that several professions are involved in the interpretation of these paintings (art historians, music instrument reserachers, music history reserachers etc.) I think a close cooperation between these disciplines could provid interesting interpretations. Best wishes Kenneth Sparr www.tabulatura.com To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
