Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

• World Regions

  All regions

  Select a region

  • North America
  • Europe
  • Central and North Asia
  • East Asia
  • Central America
  • South America
  • Africa
  • West Asia
  • Oceania
  • South and Southeast Asia

  Select a time period

  • 8000–2000 B.C.
  • 2000–1000 B.C.
  • 1000 B.C.–1 A.D.
  • 1–500 A.D.
  • 500–1000 A.D.
  • 1000–1400 A.D.
  • 1400–1600 A.D.
  • 1600–1800 A.D.
  • 1800–1900 A.D.
  • 1900 A.D.–Present
• Timelines

  by Time Period 8,000–2,000 b.c. 2,000–1,000 b.c. 1,000 b.c.–1 a.d. 1–500 a.d. 500–1,000 a.d. 1,000–1400 a.d. 1400–1600 a.d. 1600–1800 a.d. 1800–1900 a.d. 1900 a.d.–present

  by Geographical Region Africa   Central America   Central and North Asia   East Asia   Europe   North America   Oceania   South America   South and Southeast Asia  West Asia

• Thematic Essays
  • Recent Additions  |  All Thematic Essays
  • 
    Select a Thematic Category African Art American Art Ancient Near Eastern Art Art of the Americas Asian Art Byzantine Art Egyptian Art European Art Greek and Roman Art Islamic Art Medieval Art Modern and Contemporary Art Oceanic/Pacific Art Prehistory Select a Department American Decorative Arts American Paintings and Sculpture Ancient Near Eastern Art Arms and Armor Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas Asian Art The Costume Institute Drawings and Prints Education Egyptian Art European Paintings European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Greek and Roman Art Islamic Art The Libraries Medieval Art and The Cloisters Musical Instruments Nineteenth-Century, Modern, and Contemporary Art Objects Conservation Paintings Conservation Paper Conservation Photographs Robert Lehman Collection Scientific Research Textile Conservation

    ---

  • Select a Geographical Region Africa Central America Central and North Asia East Asia Europe North America Oceania South America South and Southeast Asia West Asia All Geographical Regions Select a Time Period 20,000–8000 B.C. 8000–2000 B.C. 2000–1000 B.C. 1000 B.C.–1 A.D. 1–500 A.D. 500–1000 A.D. 1000–1400 A.D. 1400–1600 A.D. 1600–1800 A.D. 1800–1900 A.D. 1900 A.D.–Present All Time Periods
    
• Works of Art
  Recent Additions
  
  

  Title Description
  Artist
  Material and Technique
  Credit Line
  Accession Number

• Index

  Artist (A–Z) | All Artists

  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • Q
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W
  • X
  • Y
  • Z

  ---

  Subject (A–Z)

  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • Q
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W
  • X
  • Y
  • Z

Renaissance Violins

• 
  Mandora or chitarino, ca. 1420
  Northern Italy (Milan?)
  Boxwood and rosewood

  L. 14 1/8 in. (35.9 cm)
  Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1964 (64.101.1409)

• 
  Violin, ca. 1560
  Andrea Amati (Italian, ca. 1505–1578)
  Italy (Cremona)
  Maple, spruce, various other materials

  L. 14 in. (35.4 cm)
  Purchase, Robert Alonzo Lehman Bequest, 1999 (1999.26)

• 
  The Musicians, ca. 1595
  Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi) (Italian, Lombard, 1571–1610)
  Oil on canvas

  36 1/4 x 46 5/8 in. (92.1 x 118.4 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1952 (52.81)

View SlideshowView Thumbnails

The earliest violins incorporated features of existing bowed instruments: the rebec, the Renaissance fiddle, and the lira da braccio.

Related

Multimedia

Timelines (3)

• Florence and Central Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.
• Rome and Southern Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.
• Venice and Northern Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.

Primary Thematic Essays (4)

• Music in the Renaissance
• Renaissance Keyboards
• Renaissance Organs
• Violin Makers: Nicolò Amati (1596–1684) and Antonio Stradivari (ca. 1644–1737)

Other Thematic Essays (8)

• The Development of the Recorder
• The Guitar
• Joachim Tielke (1641–1719)
• List of Rulers of Europe
• The Lute
• Musical Terms for the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
• Northern Italian Renaissance Painting
• The Opera

Maps (1)

• World, 1400–1600 a.d.

Index Terms (8)

Art Movement/Style

• Northern Renaissance in European Art
• The High Renaissance in Europe

Artist

• Amati, Andrea (Italian, Cremonese, ca. 1505–1578)
• Amati, Nicolò (Italian, 1596–1684)
• Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da (Italian, 1573–1610)

Geography/Place

• European Renaissance Art

Material and Technique

• Boxwood

Object

• Musical Instruments from Europe
• Musical Instruments from the Italian Peninsula
• String Instrument

Share

| More

The modern four-string violin is generally considered to have originated about 1550 in northern Italy. The earliest violins incorporated features of existing bowed instruments: the rebec, the Renaissance fiddle, and the lira da braccio. The pear-shaped rebec had strings that were tuned in fifths, and this system was adopted for the violin. However, the shape of the violin was taken from the fiddle and the lira da braccio, as these larger instruments produced a bigger sound and the hourglass shape made bowing easier.

The violin was initially used for vocal and dance accompaniment, while its cousin, the viola da gamba, remained the preferred bowed string instrument for ensembles. By the seventeenth century, composers like Monteverdi began to incorporate violins into instrumental ensembles, where they eventually replaced the viola da gamba.

Rebecca Arkenberg Department of Education, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Citation Arkenberg, Rebecca. "Renaissance Violins". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/renv/hd_renv.htm (October 2002) Related exhibitions and online features Special Exhibitions (including upcoming, current, and past exhibitions) The André Mertens Galleries for Musical Instruments Art and Love in Renaissance Italy The New Violin Family: Augmenting the String Section The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions

These related Museum Bulletin or Journal articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship. Cropper, Elizabeth. "The Petrifying Art: Marino's Poetry and Caravaggio." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 26 (1991). JSTOR | PDF Camiz, Franca Trinchieri. "Music and Painting in Cardinal del Monte's Household." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 26 (1991). JSTOR | PDF "Musical Instruments in the Metropolitan Museum." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 35, no. 3 (Winter, 1977–78). JSTOR | PDF | Supplemental PDFs "Director's Note" PDF Winternitz, Emanuel. "Pleasing Eye & Ear Alike." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 30, no. 2 (October–November, 1971). JSTOR | PDF