Lira da braccio

Hermaphroditic deities held an important place in the ancient Greek pantheon and, later, in Renaissance humanism. Uniting female and male in a single being, the figures symbolize generative power, duality, transformation, and the union of opposites. The emblem book from Watson Library's collection, Picta poesis, presents these divine androgynes as an allegory of marriage.

This example of a lira da braccio, a bowed string instrument of the Renaissance, conveys those same themes in its form and decoration. The front takes the form of a male torso and the pegbox bears a male face. On the back, these features are female. The mustachioed male visage superimposed over the female’s crotch may represent the god Pan. While long interpreted as a depiction of carnality, the instrument’s close visual correspondence with the emblem book, along with additional details such as inscriptions, a sprig of laurel, and an inlaid eternal knot suggests it was made to commemorate a wedding.