Tenor Geige

Unknown Artist

ca. 1600

Tenor Geige by Unknown Artist

Medium

Wood

Classification

Chordophone-Lute-bowed-unfretted

Culture

Italian

Department

Musical Instruments

Museum

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Credit

The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889

Accession Number

89.4.2230a, b

Art Historical Context

Step into the Renaissance world of sound with the *Tenor Geige*, a rare Italian bowed string instrument crafted around 1600 from fine wood. This tenor-sized fiddle, or *Geige* in period terms, belongs to the chordophone-lute—unfretted for smooth, expressive glissandos and subtle pitch variations. Measuring larger than a modern violin but smaller than a viola da gamba, its elegant curves and sound holes reflect the exquisite Italian lutherie tradition emerging in places like Cremona, even if the maker remains anonymous. Historically, the *Tenor Geige* played a vital role in early consort music...

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