KITHARA
The Greco-Roman and Etruscan Kithara has its source in Asia Minor. It was widely used by the Greeks and Romans in every area of musical life, including religious associations. The kithara eluded the ban in the early Church against instrumental music - it was used to accompany psalms. It has no neck, which is replaced by two hollowed out arms, rising vertically from the wooden soundbox, which are crossed by a yoke near the upper extremeties, to which strings are attached and tuned with wooden bars and strips of leather. Seven strings had becoms standard by the classical period. A typical kithara is shown on a black-figure vase painting in the British Museum (Ref. B.147) of Apollo Kitharoedos, on which this kithara is based.
SPECIFICATIONS
Length: 735mm
Depth: 70mm in the centre,
tapering to 25mm at the ribs