Mandolin
Medium
Yew, spruce, bone, ebony
Dimensions
L. 52.5 cm (20-3/4 in.); body L. 23.5 cm (9-1/4 in.); body W. 14.5 cm (5-3/4 in.); string L. 29 cm (11-1/2 in.)
Classification
Chordophone-Lute-plucked
Culture
Italian
Department
Musical Instruments
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Clara Mertens Bequest, in memory of André Mertens, 2002
Accession Number
2002.110
Art Historical Context
Crafted in 1770 by the skilled Italian luthier Giovanni Battista Bizaro, exquisite mandolin exemplifies the golden age of Italian instrument-making during the late Baroque period. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's of Musical Instruments, it a compact 52.5 cm in length, with a slender body just 23.5 cm long and 14.5 cm wide—perfectly suited for intimate chamber music and virtuoso performances popular in 18th-century Europe. As a chordophone-lute-plucked instrument, it features a vaulted back and soundboard designed to produce the bright, resonant tones that captivated audiences from Na...