Besides the mandoline the Italians had various instruments in shape resembling the lute. Of this description are, for instance, the _mandora_, _mandorina_, and the _pandurina_. The mandoline differs from the pandurina chiefly in having a rounder and deeper body, and in having the tuning-pegs placed at the back of the head; while the _pandurina_ has a sort of scroll, with the tuning-pegs situated sideways, similar to the old English cither (Fig. 43). The _mandora_ had usually for each tone two strings, which were of catgut and wire; and there were eight pairs of them. The _mandorina_ had four wire strings.
The _guitar_ (Fig. 44) is evidently an importation from the East, but it has undergone various modifications since its adoption by European nations. It was an instrument of the Moors in Spain, and became known in France about the 11th century. The French called it formerly _guiterne_, and the English _gittern_, _ghittern_, and _gythorn_. At the time of Henry VIII. we find it occasionally called “the Spanish viol.” At an early period it probably had the oval shape of the _kuitra_, still in use by the Arab musicians in Tunis and Algiers. In Spain it had formerly also the name of _vihuela_.
Instruction books for the old Spanish guitar have been written by:――Ludovico Milan, Valencia, 1534; Sixtus Kargel, Mayence, 1569; Joannes Carolus, Lerida, 1626; Pietro Milioni, Rome, 1638; Lucas Ruiz de Ribayaz, Madrid, 1672, etc. The number of guitar manuals published during the 18th century is enormous. Germany alone contributed above fifty.
[Illustration: FIG. 43.――PANDURINA. On the back is carved a group consisting of Juno, Minerva and Venus. French. Second half of 16th century. L. 16½ in., W. 4½ in. No. 219-’66. Victoria and Albert Museum.]
[Illustration: FIG. 44.――GUITAR. French (?). 17th century. L. 40⅜in., W. 11⅞ in. No. 676-’72. Victoria and Albert Museum.]
[Illustration: FIG. 45.――QUINTERNA, OR CHITERNA. Inscribed “Joachim Tielke in Hamburg, 1539,” but of later date. L. 25½ in., W. 9⅜ in. No. 1122-’69. Victoria and Albert Museum.]
[Illustration: FIG. 46.――CITHER. German. End of 17th century. L. 31½ in. No. 219-’82. Victoria and Albert Museum.]
The guitar was a fashionable instrument in England, played by ladies, in the time of Charles II. On the Continent it generally had ten catgut strings, of which two were always tuned in unison. At the present day it has six strings, the two of which are of silk covered with silver wire, and the others are of catgut.