Chitarrone

Chitarrone [aug. of *chitarra], 1. literally “large guitar,” the word nowadays denotes a bass guitar. Historically, however, it has designated an *archlute. The word citarone occurs in a Mantua document as early as 1524, but we cannot be sure of what it stands for. The chitarrone as we know it appears in detail in a portrait of Lady Mary Sidney (d. 1586), as a tall instr. with straight pegbox set on a long neck, surmounted by a second straight pegbox for off-board drones. The body is that of a…