Editing Mandolin (section)

== History ==
{{main|History of the mandolin}}
[[File:Luigi Bassi480.jpg|thumb|left|In 1787, [[Luigi Bassi]] played the role of [[Don Juan|Don Giovanni]] in [[Don Giovanni|Mozart's opera]], serenading a woman with a mandolin. This used to be the common picture of the mandolin, an obscure instrument of romance in the hands of a Spanish nobleman<ref name="Sparks3-4">{{harvnb|Sparks|2003|pages=3–4}}</ref>]]

Mandolins evolved from [[lute]]s, a family of instruments in Europe. Predecessors include the [[gittern]] and [[mandore (instrument)|mandore]] or mandola in [[Italy]] during the 17th and 18th centuries. There were a variety of regional variants, but the two most widespread ones were the Neapolitan mandolin and the Lombard mandolin. The Neapolitan style has spread worldwide.