Citole
- Audio guide stop: 504
- Gallery: Room 40
- Culture: Late Medieval
- Made in: England
- Date: 1280-1330 (circa)
- Object type: citole
- Materials: wood; silver; gold
- Museum number: 1963,1002.1
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is a unique and historically significant citole, an early stringed musical instrument. This particular example originally started as a gittern, later remodeled to resemble a violin. Made in England around the year 1300, it is crafted from wood and adorned with gilded silver and glass.
Your eye may notice that the back, sides, and neck are original parts, while the fingerboard, tailpiece, and bridge were added later. A finely engraved silver gilt plate featuring heraldic symbols of Queen Elizabeth I and her favorite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, is positioned above the pegbox.
Intricate carved panels decorate the instrument, showing scenes of hunters and foresters among the trees. These panels reflect the artistic style of early 14th-century England. The dragon at the end and the hawthorn sprays echo designs found in medieval cathedrals and manuscripts, offering a glimpse into the rich cultural aesthetics of the time.
See it in person
Citole is on display in Room 40 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and type its audio guide stop number, 504, from the gallery label, or take a photo of it, to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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