Does the inside joke have anything to do with the violist's right hand
disappearing behind the lady's skirts???  She seems slightly enraptured,
he looks amused.

Leonard

On 11/24/15, 8:19 AM, "Gary Boye" <[email protected] on behalf of
[email protected]> wrote:

>   Martyn,
>   There seems to be an inside joke we're not privy to here. It may just
>   be that the artist liked the 90 degree angle created by the 2
>   instruments when held this way. And/or if she held it in the normal
>   position she would have risked obscuring the man's face and throwing
>   off the composition.But look at the dog: he/she doesn't seem to be
>   enjoying the lute playing and the reaction is aimed pointedly at the
>   lute player. Something important is happening there.
>   This borders on parody, seen apparently from the point of view of the
>   male gamba player, who looks directly at us. Subtle; but barely . . .
>   It seems to me to be a joke on the woman, whether or not she was "in"
>   on it.
>   Gary
>
>   On Tue, Nov 24, 2015 at 6:14 AM, Martyn Hodgson
>   <[1][email protected]> wrote:
>
>        Very interesting David.
>        It may be simply a fashionable couple wanting to be portrayed
>        performing but in fact unable to play a note! Perhaps the painter
>     who,
>        as you point out, might be thought to have known better was
>     laughing up
>        his sleeve...
>        Or perhaps, and maybe more likely (the painter might not have
>     wished to
>        be later seen to make fools of his rich clients), they had
>     insisted on
>        this sort of pose (it certainly looks very stylised especially
>     with the
>        young lady's eyes turned to heaven etc) and their insistence
>     overcame
>        any scruples the painter may have expressed about depicting them
>        actually playing. In short, the very act of posing for the
>     picture was
>        the statement rather than the playing of music.
>        regards
>        Martyn
>
>     __________________________________________________________________
>        From: David Van Edwards <[2][email protected]>
>        To: [3][email protected]
>        Sent: Tuesday, 24 November 2015, 10:50
>        Subject: [LUTE] Another lute picture?
>          Dear All,
>          My Lute of the Month series has dwindled to lute of the Year
>     these
>          days! It's because I've mainly been writng them for the Lute
>        Society's
>          newsletter, Lute News, now it has a nice full colour cover.
>          But here is the latest, as it were more public, example up on
>     the web
>          at
>          [1][4]http://www.vanedwards.co.uk/month/Nov%2015/month.htm
>          I hope you find it fun! As usual please email me any
>     corrections or
>          comments
>          Best wishes,
>          David
>        --
>          The Smokehouse,
>          6 Whitwell Road,
>          Norwich,   NR1 4HB
>          England.
>          Telephone: [5]+ 44 (0)1603 629899
>          Website: [2][6]http://www.vanedwards.co.uk
>          --
>        To get on or off this list see list information at
>        [3][7]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
>        --
>     References
>        1. [8]http://www.vanedwards.co.uk/month/Nov%2015/month.htm
>        2. [9]http://www.vanedwards.co.uk/
>        3. [10]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
>
>   --
>   Gary R. Boye, M.S.L.S., Ph.D.
>   Erneston Music Library
>   Appalachian State University
>
>   --
>
>References
>
>   1. mailto:[email protected]
>   2. mailto:[email protected]
>   3. mailto:[email protected]
>   4. http://www.vanedwards.co.uk/month/Nov%2015/month.htm
>   5. tel:%2B%2044%20%280%291603%20629899
>   6. http://www.vanedwards.co.uk/
>   7. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
>   8. http://www.vanedwards.co.uk/month/Nov%2015/month.htm
>   9. http://www.vanedwards.co.uk/
>  10. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
>



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