Vendelio Venere made the original of this famous old lute in 1582 when working for Leonardo Tieffenbrucker in Padua – 430 years ago. It is a very elegant 7c tenor lute, and survives as lute C36 in the Kunsthistorischesmuseum, Vienna. It is intact apart from replacement pegs, and is a most precious survivor, one of the very few witnesses to the golden age of the Renaissance lute. It may well me one of the earliest with a yew back, and its use of the mid 16C style of wide ribs, along with the particular resonance of yew gives it a wonderfully dark sonority when strung in gut. My copies follow the original in form and barring faithfully.