– 2 –

Surviving Vihuelas 2.1. Until recently there was only one known surviving vihuela, which is now in the Jacquemart-André Museum in Paris. This is an unusually large and unwieldy instrument, possibly a luthiers’ guild examination masterpiece, and therefore not representative of the common vihuela design [Plate 3]. It is constructed of many small parts of contrasting dark and light wood that are glued together in intricate designs. A cast-iron plate bearing the word "Guadalupe" on the bass side of the pegbox, the only identifying mark, may indicate the instrument was made by Joan de Guadalupe, a violero (“maker of viols”) who worked in Toledo ca. 1525.

Plate 2 The “Guadalupe” vihuela

Jacquemart-André Museum, Paris 2.2. An instrument that some believe may be a vihuela was discovered in 1976 in the Church of the Company of Jesús in Quito, Ecuador, but it was not until 1991 that an examination of it was permitted to take place.1 Now often referred to as the “Quito vihuela,” it had belonged to the Ecuadorian saint Mariana de Jesus until her death in 1645. Initial evidence suggests that it was made locally around 1625, following design principles of the previous century; however, debate continues as to whether this is an authentic vihuela or a type of South American guitar [plate 4].

1 Egberto Bermundez, “The Vihuela: The Paris and Quito Instruments,” La Guitarra Española, (Madrid: Museo Municipal; and New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991-2), 24-47.

Plate 4

The “Quito vihuela” Church of the Company of Jesús, Quito, Ecuador

2.3. An instrument that is now called the “Chambure vihuela” was re-discovered by Joël Dugot in 1996 and first drawn to public attention in 1998. Having been bequeathed by the late Geneviève Thibault, Comtesse de Chambure, it had lain forgotten and effectively mis-catalogued in the depot of the old Paris Conservatoire collection. Now in the Cité de la Musique, Paris, this is perhaps one of the most important organological discoveries for decades. Unlike images of other Iberian vihuelas, this instrument has a vaulted, deeply-fluted and ribbed back of similar construction to the instrument described below in the collection of the Royal College of Music, London [see 2.4].

Plate 5

The “Chambure vihuela”

2.4. A small instrument that is now in the collection of the Royal College of Music, London, has a label inside that translates as “Belchior Dias made me. / Lisbon month of December 1581.” 2 There are different opinions as to whether this is a small five-course guitar (sometimes called a chitarriglia in Italian sources), a vihuela de cinco órdenes as described by Bermudo, or even a six-course vihuela [Plate 5]. 3

2 This instrument closely resembles the only other sixteenth-century guitar known to exist, which is now in the possession of the author. See Frank Koonce, The Baroque Guitar in Spain and the New World, (Pacific, MO: Mel Bay, 2006), 6. 3 Alexander Batov argues that this instrument is a six-course vihuela in two online articles: “The vihuela and guitar crossroads: looking for evidence,” http://www.vihuelademano.com/vgcrossroads.htm; and “The Royal College Dias - guitar or vihuela?,” http://www.vihuelademano.com/rcmdias.htm (January 4, 2006). Luthiers Stephen Barber and Sandi Harris argue against this theory and provide reasons why they think t is a guitar: http://www.lutesandguitars.co.uk/htm/cat12.htm (January 4, 2006).

Plate 5

A vihuela or guitar by Belchior Dias Collection of the Royal College of Music, London