Editing Lute (section)

=== From Middle Ages to Baroque ===

Medieval lutes were four- and five-[[Course (music)|course]] instruments, plucked with a quill as a [[plectrum]]. There were several sizes and, by the end of the [[Renaissance]], seven sizes (up to the great octave bass) are documented. Song accompaniment was probably the lute's primary function in the Middle Ages, but very little music securely attributable to the lute survives from before 1500. Medieval and early-Renaissance song accompaniments were probably mostly improvised, hence the lack of written records.

In the last few decades of the fifteenth century, to play [[polyphony|Renaissance polyphony]] on a single instrument, lutenists gradually abandoned the quill in favor of plucking the instrument with the fingers. The number of courses grew to six and beyond. The lute was the premier solo instrument of the sixteenth century, but continued to accompany singers as well.

About 1500, many [[Iberia]]n lutenists adopted [[vihuela de mano]], a [[viol]]-shaped instrument tuned like the lute; both instruments continued in coexistence. This instrument also found its way to parts of Italy that were under Spanish domination (especially Sicily and the papal states under the [[Pope Alexander VI|Borgia pope Alexander VI]] who brought many Catalan musicians to Italy), where it was known as the [[Vihuela|viola da mano]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Minamino |first=Hiroyuki |date=2004 |title=The Spanish plucked viola in Renaissance Italy, 1480-1530 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/178631 |journal=Early Music |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=177–192 |issn=1741-7260}}</ref>

By the end of the Renaissance, the number of courses had grown to ten, and during the Baroque era the number continued to grow until it reached 14 (and occasionally as many as 19). These instruments, with up to 35 strings, required innovations in the structure of the lute. At the end of the lute's evolution the [[archlute]], [[theorbo]] and [[torban]] had long extensions attached to the main tuning head to provide a greater resonating length for the bass strings, and since human fingers are not long enough to stop strings across a neck wide enough to hold 14 courses, the bass strings were placed outside the fretboard, and were played ''open'', i.e., without pressing them against the fingerboard with the left hand. "The lute is a very fragile instrument and so, although there are many surviving old lutes, very few with their original soundboards are in playable condition,"<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jakob Lindberg Homepage|url=http://www.musicamano.com/lute/luteinfo.html|access-date=2023-05-27|website=musicamano.com}}</ref> which makes the [[Rauwolf Lute]] so notable.

Over the course of the Baroque era, the lute was increasingly relegated to the [[basso continuo|continuo]] accompaniment, and was eventually superseded in that role by keyboard instruments. The lute almost fell out of use after 1800. Some sorts of lute were still used for some time in Germany, Sweden, and Ukraine.

{{multiple image
|total_width = 840
|align = center
|image1 = Masaccio, madonna col bambino, dal polittico di pisa, 1426, 06 angelo musicante.jpg
|caption1 = Detail of painting ''[[:commons:Category:Madonna with Child and Angels by Masaccio|Madonna with Child and Four Angels]]'', by [[Masaccio]], 1426. Showing a medieval lute.
|image2 = 1596 Caravaggio, The Lute Player New York.jpg
|caption2 = [[Caravaggio]]: ''[[The Lute Player (Caravaggio)|The Lute Player]]'', c.&nbsp;1596
|image3 = Peter Paul Rubens - Suonatore di Liuto (1609-1610).jpg
|caption3 = [[Peter Paul Rubens]]: ''[[Lute Player]]'' (1609–1610)
|image4 = Nicholas Lanier 1613.jpg
|caption4 = [[Nicholas Lanier]], 1613
|image5 = Frans Hals - Luitspelende nar.jpg
|caption5 = [[Frans Hals]]: ''[[The Lute Player (Hals)|The Lute Player]]'', 1623
|image6 = Bernardo Strozzi - Lute Player - WGA21926.jpg
|caption6 = [[Bernardo Strozzi]]: ''Lute Player'', after 1640
|image7 = Kupetzky Lute 1711.jpg
|caption7 = Artist David Hoyer painted by [[Jan Kupetzky]], c.&nbsp;1711
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}}