An early, well intentioned, though misinformed history of the mountain dulcimer, stated that the soldiers on their way to the crusades may have enjoyed listening to the lap dulcimer. It got me thinking.

Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci

Dulcimer by Tad Wright

Salome by Henri Regnault

Dulcimer by David McKinney
Modern Mountain Dulcimer

Birth of Venus
by Alexandre Cabanel
Dulcimer by
Robert and Janita Baker
Blue Lion Instruments

Woman with Red Hair
by Amedeo Modigliani
and vintage Dulcimer

Commune of Siena by Ambrogio Lorenzetti

Ginger Dulcimer by McSpadden

King's Sadness
by Henri Matisse

(The original guitar ws modified
to become a dulcimer.)

Seated Woman Reading
by Hosoda Eishi
aka: Who the heck wrote this Tab anyway?

Dulcimer by Ron Ewing

The Son of Man
by Rene Maqritte

Dulcimer by Bill Taylor

Piano Man by Justin Bua

Dulcimer by
Tom Fellenbaum

Prudence, circa 1470 by Piero Del Polaolo

Galax Style Dulcimer by Ben Seymour

Portrait of Jeanne De Tourbay
by Eugene Emmanuel Amaury-Duval

Dulcimer by Terry McCafferty

Fresco of Roman Woman

Double neck dulcimer by
Mike Clemmer

U.S. Grant by Alonzo Chappel

Dulcimer by Jeremy Seeger

Portrait of Nadir Shah by
Afshar of Persia 1700-25

Dulcimer by David Lynch

The Lady of Shalott
by
John William Waterhouse

Spirit Horses Dulcimer
by Kerry Coates
Gila Mountain Dulcimers

Portrait of William Wilberforce (1759-1833)
by Thomas Lawrence

Dulcimer by Gary Gallier

Velazquez by Fernando Botero

Dulcimer by Bonnie Carol

Santa's Workshop by Norman Rockwell

Dulcimer by Dwain Wilder
Bear Meadow Dulcimers

George Washington 1779
by Charles Wilson Peale

Dulcimer by Gary Sager
Prussia Valley Dulcimers

Two Children With Dog
by William Mathew Prior

Dulci-lin by
Cedar Creek Dulcimers

American Gothic by Grant Wood

Dulcimer by Bill Rich
Papaw's Dulcimers

The Wine Tasters by Jennifer Garant

Dulcimer by George Haggerty
swewater@sover.net


Empress Jossephine (1763-1814)
at Malmaison, circa 1801
by Francois Gerard
with Virginia style dulcimer

Davey Crockett
by Walter Baumhofer
Dulcimer by Keith Young
Portrait of Dora Maar by Pablo Picasso
Bowed Dulcimer by Ken Bloom

John Wayne by Bob Willoughby

Dulcimer by
Jethro Amburgey

 
The Peacefull Kingdom of the Branch by Edward Hicks
Dulcimer by Homer Ledford (September 26, 1927 – December 11, 2006)

Check back occasionally, as more Fine Art with Dulcimer images will be added.
Visit the above links for larger images of the dulcimers, or to contact the builders.

There are many excellent dulcimer builders in operation today. All have strengths and weaknesses according to one's individual tastes and requirements.
Now days, in public, I mostly play
Modern Mountain Dulcimers.
I play the dulcimer in the traditional style where the melody is played on one string, leaving the other strings to drone.
My preference is for three equal distance strings. The hourglass shape with a resonator back from Modern Mountain Dulcimers has the volume needed to play with other instruments.
It has a sweet well balanced sound that allows the melody to ring clear.
Sometimes at home, sitting alone or with my wife Jean and/or various cats, dogs and other creachters, I enjoy the intimate sound of the North Carolina style dulcimers made by
Tad Wright Woodworks.
Tad no longer builds dulcimers.

However, every so often a dulcimer built by people like Tad, Ed Pressnell, Edsil Martin and others come available. The simplicity of design and excellent craftsmanship of these older style instruments appeals to the taste of certain individuals. They are Generally more quite and less sophisticated than many dulcimers being built today.
Generally, a dulcimer should be chosen according to ones personel tastes and requirements.
The above "Fine Art and Dulcimer" series is designed to showcase mostly current dulcimer builders with some of the classiest models in history.