Guitar (chitarra battente)1725Jacopo Mosca Cavelli (Italian, active 1720s Italian)Perugia, ItalyBloo

Guitar (chitarra battente)

1725
Jacopo Mosca Cavelli (Italian, active 1720s Italian)
Perugia, Italy
Bloodwood, spruce, walnut, ivory, mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell, brass, mastic

“Arched back comprised of thirteen ribs of bloodwood, each separated by strip of diamond-shaped pieces of pearl set in black mastic. Sides comprised of five ribs, decorated similarly to back. Two-piece belly of fine-grain spruce, bound with ivory and edged with pieces of pearl similar to back; field decorated with interlacing, foliate designs, and cherub of inlaid tortoiseshell and pearl set in black mastic. Carved rose of walnut. Neck and headstock of bloodwood (?) inlaid with interlacing similar to belly. Front of headstock veneered with ivory, tortoiseshell, and pearl, incorporating heraldic devices of star, dove, and tri-lobed mountain. Tuning pegs of boxwood (?) with buttons of ivory. Fingerboard veneered with tortoiseshell, bound with ivory, and inlaid with pearl in foliate designs. Ten frets of brass with sloped strips of ivory inlaid behind each. Nut of ivory. Bridge (modern) of maple (?) with saddle of ivory. Five pins of brass at lower end of body for fastening strings. Fourteen strings in five courses of one pair and four triples. Internal construction: Two lateral braces on belly (one above soundhole). Ribs lined with pieces of linen and parchment from pages of sacred music.”

Photo by Shelby Navone
Edited in VSCO Cam
Object and Description from The Boston Museum of Fine Art