Hi Alexander,
Yes, the ribs here seem to stay fluted even as they go over the block,
but in general old lutes seem to have developed the fluting after they
were taken off the mould. I glue my paper linings in wet, and find that
when they shrink they tend to pull the ribs into a fluted shape, which
can be enhanced by choosing the grain direction of the rib in the first
place. Many old lutes seem to have been distorted in the same way,
because they show a sharp curve up towards the rib join and a relatively
flat middle of the rib (hard to explain in words but easy to see).
No, I can't see any reason to slope the nut rebate either, but it would
work fine as shown in the painting, so I don't see any reason to
disbelieve it, and I think I have seen this in other paintings as well -
sorry I can't remember which ones.
What do you think the lump is inside the pegbox on the treble side? I
think there's one on the bass side as well, but it's less clear.
Best wishes,
Martin
On 08/02/2011 21:58, Alexander Batov wrote:
Hi Martin,
I can't really see any reasons for putting the nut in a sloped rebate,
can you? He must have got something wrong in otherwise such a perfect
painting ... :)
The other feature that I'm sure was remarked upon before is the rather
pronounced fluting of the ribs (some other paintings show this too). I
was always wondering whether it was achieved just by scraping (the
ribs must be quite thick in the first place!) or purposely done during
the bending process? Personally, I wouldn't rule this last one out.
Alexander
On 08/02/2011 17:48, Martin Shepherd wrote:
...
The close up shows what I have always suspected - that the nut sits
in a sloped rebate, not a right-angled one.
...
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