From the sixteenth century instruments began to appear that, according to the areas of origin, were known as mandolas, mandoras, panduras, etc. The name mandora appears in the sixteenth century and indicates an instrument of a smaller size than the lute, with four courses either singles or double, popular mainly in France, Germany and England. The Italian variant of this instrument was called mandola perhaps because of its "almond" shape and generally had five or six course tuned in fourths around a third, and here its descent from lute becomes apparent. The term mandola is used for the first time in 1589 in Florence, on the music sheet of the famous instrumental intermezzo in the comedy "The Pilgrim", by G. Bargagli, composed on the occasion of the marriage of Ferdinand I de 'Medici and Christina of Lorraine. The name mandolin clearly comes from mandola, perhaps because of the smaller size, but mandolin and mandola could probably indicate the same instrument. Along with this instrument, in the 1700s another type of mandolin was also in use, calledthe Brescian mandolin. It retained the main features of the previous design but featured four courses of single gut strings, tuned in fifths like violin, with a carved, undecorated sound hole.

Only since the mid-eighteenth century an instrument called Neapolitan mandolinappear on the music scene, with different characteristics from the oldest mandola/mandolin: the bowl is deeper, the sound hole is oval and without a rosette, the soundboard is generally fitted with a wooden or tortoise scratch plate, the neck is narrower with fixed metal frets, the peghead replaces the sickle shaped pegbox present on Baroque mandolins. Metal strings, with their higher tension, require a "break" on the soundboard, at the height of bridge, to compensate for the increased pressure on the soundboard. For all types of mandolin there is a significant and interesting repertoire of original material by authors known and unknown, in chamber music, symphonic and operatic music. Among the most important composersare Handel, Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Mozart, Salieri, Hummel, Beethoven, Paisiello, Bizet, Paganini, Verdi, Mahler, Prokofiev, Henze, Chailly and numerous others.