Carmine Stave | Capybara Luthier Carving a Wooden Lute

The story of Carmine Stave

A fictional story inspired by the artwork.

The luthier cradles the unfinished instrument against the workbench and cuts a small shaving from the neck. A carmine jacket shows beneath the cream apron, and the collar and cuffs have gold leaf embroidery. Finished lutes hang on the wall above the bench while afternoon light warms the unvarnished wood.

The next instrument is meant for a singer who travels between river towns. She asked for a neck that would fit a smaller hand without losing the sound of an older lute she used to borrow. The luthier keeps a rough sketch of that instrument nearby and checks the curve after each small cut.

Curled shavings gather beside a plane and a jar of hand tools. Behind the character, the window and the hanging instruments show two stages of the craft at once. The finished bodies have strings and carved rosettes, while the unfinished piece still shows the alternating strips of wood that form its back.

A story might begin when the singer returns carrying a broken peg from the older lute. The capybara recognizes the curl at its end and asks where the instrument was found, remembering a maker who once worked in the room before the window was widened.

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