Elegantly dressed young lady playing the lute 1520 - 1525

Hans Baldung created this drawing of an elegantly dressed young lady playing the lute some time between 1500 and 1545. During the Renaissance, music, especially lute playing, was considered a suitable accomplishment for women of the upper class, signalling education, refinement, and leisure. Baldung's choice to depict a woman with a lute subtly comments on the expectations and roles ascribed to women of a certain social standing. Note how the drawing captures the woman’s fashionable attire, complete with an elaborate headdress and decorative accessories. These details reflect the material culture and sumptuary concerns of the time, while underscoring the sitter’s identity as a person of status and taste. The delicacy of the drawing and the care taken in rendering the details of her dress suggest a desire to capture not just an image, but also the essence of an ideal – a woman accomplished, beautiful, and representative of her class.