That is a fascinating painting for all sorts of reasons. Apparently the painter, Jan Vermeyen, spent a fair amount of time in Spain, and I wonder if his "lutenist" might not have been a composite of his northern (lute) and southern (vihuela) experiences? It seems as though that lute has a number of quite vihuela characteristics (primary rose, other sounding holes).
Or perhaps there were models like this in the Spanish Netherlands? Combining the best of both worlds, so to speak. Here is the link to the painting details etc: http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/collectie/zoeken/asset.jsp?id=SK-A-4820&lang=en -- Best regards .. mark To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
