Catalog entry at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Hermaphroditic deities held an important place in the ancient Greek pantheon and, later, in Renaissance humanism. Uniting female and male in a single being, the figures symbolize generative power, duality, transformation, and the union of opposites. The emblem book from Watson Library's collection, Picta poesis, presents these divine androgynes as an allegory of marriage.
Wikipedia article for Lira da Braccio
The lira da braccio (or lira de braccio or lyra de bracio[1]) was a European bowed string instrument of the Renaissance. It was used by Italian poet-musicians[2] in court in the 15th and 16th centuries to accompany their improvised recitations of lyric and narrative poetry.[3] It is most closely related to the medieval fiddle, or vielle,[4] and like the vielle had a leaf-shaped pegbox with frontal pegs.[3]
