Related to the lute, which was an instrument played at parties and at the royal courts, the mandolin’s tonal sound is higher than the lute’s. (Follow this link to hear music performed on the lute.)

Both the lute and the mandolin have been the subject of famous paintings:

• In 1470, the lute was depicted as a party instrument in The Triumph of Venus by Francesco Cossa;
  
  
• Melozzo Da Forli painted Angel with Lute in 1480;
  
  
• The Prodigal Son in the Tavern, with his lute-playing companion, was created in 1540;
  
  
• Paul Gauguin’s 1885 Still Life with Mandolin is still admired today; and
  

One of the most popular mandolin artists working today is Simon Mayor. Pieds en l’Air, from his English Mandolin CD, is particularly soothing. This U.K. artist has generously placed twelve different samples on his web site, including a traditional piece (Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker) and a contemporary Celtic reel.

The mandolin is a versatile instrument. The UK’s Fretful Federation, playing Dieter Kreidler’s Tango, presents a marked contrast to American Bluegrass, in which pioneering artists like Bill Monroe took mandolin experimentation to a completely new level. An orchestra of these ancient instruments, performing Christmas music like Bach’s Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring is captivating.

The fictional Captain Corelli was a mandolin-playing Italian soldier. (Scroll down to hear music from the movie.) The non-fictional events that took the lives of thousands of Italian soldiers on Cephalonia during September, 1943 were shocking but little known before Corelli’s Mandolin was published. Recently, two on-the-scene German soldiers have published their diaries. What they say about the massacre leaves little room for imagination.