Bill, This portrait was painted by Antoine Pesne (1683-1757) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Pesne Symbolism in art was used since ancient times. Baroque period is no exception, however if a painter intended some kind of an allegory it would be more pronaunced and it wouldn't concern just one detail. At least I wouldn't need to use a magnifying glass or a computer to see a small element that no one normally seems to notice. For me it rather looks just like a portrait of a noble lady. Her instrument is surely a little bit unusual, but it could be explained in some ways, as we try to.
All the best Jaroslaw Wiadomo¶æ napisana przez William Samson w dniu 19 lip 2012, o godz. 22:32: > Looks like eight double courses on the petit jeu and another four double > diapasons. The red (loaded?) strings start at the third course, suggesting > that it had a low pitch. > > The first course seems to start some distance away from the edge of the > fingerboard at the nut, but passes closer to the edge where the neck meets > the body. It also attaches near to the extreme end of the bridge. > > It's not any 'standard' lute type as far as I can see. I'm puzzled. It's a > pity we can't see enough of the lute to count the pegs. > > Could there be any symbolism involved in the two empty grooves? > > What is the date of this painting? > > Bill > > PS Notice how the neck strap attaches at the neck end of the body of the > lute, rather than at the pegbox. > > From: Jaros³aw Lipski <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Thursday, 19 July 2012, 20:45 > Subject: [LUTE] Eleonore von Schlieben-Sanditten > > here is a link if interested > http://uploads7.wikipaintings.org/images/antoine-pesne/portrait-of-eleonore-louise-albertine-comtesse-von-schlieben-sanditten-freifrau-von-keyserlingk.jpg > > JL > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > --
