David Kilpatrick writes of a guitar by Signorelli in Orvieto cathedral. We cannot get Channel 5 in the wilds here, but I suspect that this is the viola de mano from the centre of the group of musicians above the blessed. There is a somewhat similar instrument, side view, very shallow, being tuned lower down on the left-hand side. The viola da mano player seems to be the lead singer of the group which also includes a harp, three lutes, two tambourines and a viola da bracchio. The vihuela reached Italy before 1500, pictures also in Naples and Rome, where it slightly altered its form as a plucked instrument, and greatly altered its form as the viol family.
Peter To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
