A Concert

At the courts of northern Italy in the late 15th century, a new pastime was spreading among the rich and educated, singing in several voices straight from a book. Costa painted this in Bologna around 1488 to 1490, and it seems to be the earliest surviving picture of its kind, musicians shown for their own sake, with no saint or story attached. Three singers crowd behind a marble ledge. The woman keeps time with her fingers, one hand on the stone and the other on her companion's shoulder. The man in the middle plays a lute as he sings, and the third strains toward a note. A rebec with its bow, a recorder and two small books lie in front of them. Their song may have been a frottola, a popular three-part song of the day, though the notes in the open book add up to no real music.