"Ganassi and the Viol – Remarks on the Constructional Elements of Surviving Instruments and Iconographical Sources"

Abstract

Led by the question of how a viol was constructed in Ganassi’s time, the Basle research project concerning early string instruments involved organology and art history. The question of typical constructional elements involved the organological examination of 16th century viols in Leipzig, Lisbon, Vienna and Nuremberg. Recent advances in technology and academic studies have brought new data to the documentation of such previously-studied instruments. A critical interpretation of iconographical sources considering the type of art work, technique and even its functional and social context also brought new aspects to light. Can a close look at these new details and the instruments themselves find similarities that form typical constructional elements, within which diverse regional schools of viol building can be identified? The neck-body connection, the ribs, the top thickness allocation and outer shape are indicators that give particular hints of what may have been a viol-making “default” in several areas of Ganassi’s Italy.