A multi-analytical study on the Mango Longo Guitar, a Baroque masterpiece from the Castello Sforzesco, Milan, Italy

Abstract

Abstract The study of an ancient musical instrument should take into account various approaches, which include historical sources, study of materials and dendrochronological analysis. Very often, an ancient musical instrument has been subject to repairs, substitutions and restorations that have modified its original setting. This study takes into account the “Mango Longo guitar”, a masterpiece of 17th century Neapolitan art. It has been analysed from a historical, organological and xylo-chronological perspective to investigate and describe the cultural context of its creation, the wood species used for its construction and various restoration works to which it has been subjected. The Mango Longo guitar belongs to the typology of the Baroque guitars of the seventeenth century, attributed to the lute-maker of German origin Magnus Lang, from which the name derives. The most recent tree-ring identified on the instrument belly is dated dendrochronologically to 1737, terminus post quem. This means that the actual soundboard may be considered a replacement, due to a restoration in the first half of 18th century. The analysis of dendroprovenance of the actual soundboard shows strong analogies with Italian production of the period and identifies the probable sources for wood as being in the Alps. Our results confirm the intensive and well-organized trade of valuable timber used for musical instruments at that time.