Chitarrone
- Place of origin:
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
Buechenberg, Matteo (maker)
- Materials and Techniques:
Carved pine soundboard, planed ribs of yew, ebony neck and ivory stringing
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
- Image unavailable
Chitarrone literally means 'big guitar' and because its upper strings are pitched an octave lower than those of the lute, it sounds remarkably like the modern classcial guitar. The chitarrone had a particularly long neck which ended in an extra pegbox for the bass strings. The longest examples were made by Matteo Buechenberg (d. 1628), a German who settled in Rome in about 1590.
Buechenberg made this instrument in 1614 for the household of Cosimo II, Grand Duke of Tuscany (reigned 1609-1621). The Duke was the patron and protector of the astronomer Gallileo Gallilei (1564-1642) whose father and younger brother both happened to be professional lutenists and composers. The finest music for chitarrone was probably written by Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger, who published four books of lute and chitarrone music in Rome between 1604 and 1640.
Place of Origin
Rome, Italy (made)
Date
1614 (made)
Artist/maker
Buechenberg, Matteo (maker)
Materials and Techniques
Carved pine soundboard, planed ribs of yew, ebony neck and ivory stringing
Marks and inscriptions
Matheus Buechenberg/ Roma 1614
Medici Coat of Arms with Grand-Ducal Coronet
Dimensions
Length: 190 cm total, Length: 65 cm body, Width: 39 cm
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
London, Victoria & Albert Museum: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria & Albert Museum. Part II, Anthony Baines: Non-keyboard instruments (London, 1998), pp. 33 - 34.
Labels and date
CHITARRONE
By Matteo Buechenberg (German, d. 1628), Italy, Rome, 1614
Signed Matheus Buecheberg/ Roma 1614
Pine top and yew ribs. Neck, considerably altered later, with ivory stringing.
Non-Keyboard Catalogue No.: 7/11
The chitarrone was developed in the 1580s. Larger than the theorbo, it served both for solo playing and accompaniment for singing. Its extended neck allowed for extra bass strings, usually eight in number.
Matteo Buechenberg (d. 1628), a German who settled in Rome in the 1590s, was among the earliest makers of these instruments. The instrument is thought to have belonged to Grand Duke Cosimo II of Tuscany.
190-1882 [pre September 2000]
Materials
Ivory; Pine; Yew
Techniques
Carving; Planing; Sawing; Stringing
Categories
Musical instruments
Collection code
FWK
