Lute
1669
Medium
Spruce, snakewood, ebony
Dimensions
46 3/4 × 11 × 5 1/2 in. (118.7 × 27.9 × 14 cm)
Classification
Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted
Culture
Italian
Department
Musical Instruments
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Amati Gifts, 2008
Accession Number
2008.3a, b
Art Historical Context
Step into the enchanting world of Baroque music with Pietro Railich's *Lute* from 1669, a masterpiece of Italian lutherie now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Musical Instruments collection. Crafted from resonant spruce for the soundboard, exotic snakewood for its striking grain, and durable ebony for accents, this chordophone measures an impressive 46 3/4 × 11 × 5 1/2 inches. As a plucked, fretted lute, it exemplifies the precision and artistry of 17th-century Venetian or Bolognese workshops, where makers like Railich elevated instrument design to sculptural beauty. In the opulent ...