Angel playing a lute, from “Presentation in the Temple,” painted altarpiece by Vittore Carpaccio, 1510; in the Accademia, Venice
lute, Plucked stringed instrument popular in 16th–17th-century Europe. It originated from the Arab ʿūd, which reached Europe in the 13th century. Like the ʿūd, the lute has a deep pear-shaped body with an ornamental soundhole, a fretted neck with a bent-back pegbox, and strings hitched to a bridge glued to the instrument’s belly. In later years it acquired several unstopped bass strings. It became the preferred instrument for cultivated amateur musicians and acquired an extensive literature of song accompaniments and solo and consort music.
