Kleine Geige

Kleine Geige 1. Ger. 16th- and 17th-c. equivalent of the It. word violetta; 2. Virdung (in 1511) and Agricola (in 1528, 1545) depict rebecs under this name; they show 3 strings and split-level bellies. Later, kleine Geige comes to denote viole da braccio, as for instance in an Ambras inventory of 1596, in which Grossgeigen or viole da gamba are also mentioned. See also: Geige, Grossgeige.