The Duet

A young woman strums her lute in an expansive, stone interior. A male accompanist, whose crude facial features contrast pointedly with the more delicate ones of his companion, sings and plays the violin beside her. His plain outfit differs from his friends elegant attire. The lavish fabrics are complemented by the expensive instruments: in addition to the violin and lute, a bass violin rests against the bench in the foreground while a shawm, the ancestor of the oboe, lies just above it. Costly music books are also heaped beside the figures. The murky, grayish-brown background of this ambiguous, lapidary setting also contains a large ewer and expansive curtain whose knots and folds echo the fabric encasing the lutenist. The emphasis here is upon luxury.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 2 minutes): Francesco da Milano: Tre fantasie for lute