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INTRODUCTION

- . he aim of this book is not merely to convey visual

impressions of masterpieces of the violin-making craft.
We wish to contribute to the appreciation of classical
violins as works of art and means of musical expression;
to discuss the qualities which count most in the valu-
ation of instruments of the violin family, both old and
new; to impart some understanding of the criteria of
their authenticity and intrinsic value, and to pay
tribute to the individuality, patience and inventive
genius of the great masters.

7
The violins shown in our pictures are old; only one of
them is younger than 160 years. They belong to the
classical period of violin-making in one country, namely
Italy, where the makers possessed that combination
of sound tradition with creative individuality which
characterises the truly great masters. These instru-
ments have been. coveted and admired for more than
two centuries. Some of them bear names of former
owners, or symbolic names: for example, one unique
specimen by Stradivari was so eagerly awaited in
France, after the distinguished dealer and connoisseur
Tarisio had promised to bring it to Paris, that it
acquired the name Le Messie - Messiah.

Such violins are spoken of as often as the most famous

pictures. During and after the Napoleonic Wars, when
large concert halls were being built and composerswere
writing for larger orchestras, they won a resounding
success compared with types having a more subdued
tone. The latter were expressly created for performance
in more modest-sized rooms, and had to maintain
themselves at most against small chamber orchestras.
The victory of the classical violins, aided by specula-
tion, went too far in some ways. For the Italian violins
acquired an almost legendary reputation, whilst the
violins of the Bohemian, German, French and English
schools, also full of musical merit, had to struggle
against odds. For over a century and a half violin-
makers have been exposed to great temptations. Many
of them, employing lesser known craftsmen, became
prosperous at their expense, obliterating the makers'
and substituting their own labels in the instruments.
To a certain extent they were bound to follow set
examples, but some of them became copyists with
fraudulent intentions. They could trade with coveted
old instruments and enhance their prices by using
fictitious labels. On the other hand, the increasing
prices of old originals gradually resulted in more atten-
tion being paid to modern instruments, thus giving
them a better chance to prove their merits, first in
orchestras, then in recitals and concertos. Makers who
had struggled on without depreciating their names,
were repaid for their honesty and patience. Their in-
struments were young and had more life in them than
many classical instruments which were sometimes in
poor condition because of damage or irresponsible
repair work.
Nevertheless, it is the well-made classical violins which
have set the enduring standards of beauty and tone.
Their qualities are well known, for they are still regu-
larly played by great artists all over the world. On many
occasions modern violins can admirably replace them,
and very often these sound a great deal better than they
look. It is chiefly the art of varnishing which makes the
difference. Many an excellent resonant box looks more
ordinary than it deserves. Imitations are not the right
way to individual beauty. For these reasons an illus-
trated book like this can serve a useful purpose quite
apart .from its interest value. It contains pictures of
well-preserved specimens,showing the exact appearance
of these celebrated violins, which are regarded as
models of acoustic and visual perfection. It shows, too,
that the classical violin-makers competed vigorously
and learned from each other without losing their indi-
vidual touch. The standards they set are not rigid, but
are likely to remain valid as long as fine violins continue
to be made.
There have been occasional exp~riments to alter the
shape of the violins but all have failed from the tonal

Cio Paolo Albani

fecit Bolzana 1755
point of view. Further changeswill doubtless be attemp-
ted in the future, but modifications in the basic shape
of the violin are only likely to be dictated by musical
necessity. To be honest, we do not believe that anything
radical is going to occur. Each change in construction
results to a certain extent in a new instrument, and if
it fails to serve its purpose it is eliminated. The viola,
on the other hand, is more liable to such modifications,
and the ideal size of the instrument has been and still
is hotly debated. For example, a larger pattern, 420 mm.
and more, is now being advocated and a special ex-
hibition of the "viola moderna" was arranged by
Prof. Dr. Gioacchino Pasqualini and others in Ascoli
Piceno in 1959.

Bowed instruments of the violin family are, in short,

part and parcel of the entire history of classical, roman-
tic and modern music in Europe and the Americas.
The perfection and precision of the classical originals
was the fruit of centuries of arduous work and experi-
ment. Many of these ancient instruments have vanished,
but they were the true precursors of our modern
double-basses, violas, violins and violoncellos. Even
simple drums (which are, by the way, capable of ex-
pressing much more than mere rhythm, especially in
Africa) represented resonant boxeswith a great carrying
power. The invention of strings, made of various mate-
rials, which could be tuned at will, dates from dim
antiquity, and primitive plucked instruments were
subsequently developed. Their chief function then was
to accompany heroic recitations and song, and today
they are still associated with serenades in popular
and traditional forms. But the beginnings of bowed
instruments also extend back to remote times. Their
function was not merely to accompany human song,

,
but also to double the voices in a chorus or choir and
naturally also to imitate both their range and timbre.
The primitive bow, hung together with strings, may
have had a considerable curvature, but its function
was to create the gentle friction necessary to sound
the strings of the instrument in a liquid, singing manner.
In all probability bowed instruments have a longer
history than plucked ones. They are mentioned in
Sanscrit documents of great antiquity and they were
ahead of the other group in so far as their make and use
already presupposed fingering, i.e. the possibility of
changing the tones by shortening the strings momen-
tarily without retuning them. This led to the intro-
duction of fingerboards in all bowed instruments and
many plucked ones. Next came the necessity ofincreas-
ing the volume of the tone; this led finally to the intro-
duction of higher bridges, and of an elastic connection
of the harmonic plates which eventually took the form
of the sound-post, a most ingenious invention. To
release the sound from the resonant chamber, sound-
holes were introduced and patiently perfected. To
render the tone full and mellow, countless experiments
with various kinds of wood, and with the shape and
arching of the harmonic plates, were undertaken, with
wonderful results.
In their range of tone and in their vast technical
possibilities the instruments of the violin family have
far outgrown the human voice. They rank among
the finest of man's achievements, their development
being a gradual and laborious process lasting many
centuries. The masterpieces of beauty and perfection
we are illustrating are the results of many generations
of patient and loving craftsmanship.

.A nfottfuJ, & t-\;eronY't\ 14(. At11.\ti

Crr11Jon~n. An~ rt;~ {,r F. .,
 THE CONSTRUCTION OF VIOLINS AND THE
ALLEGED MYSTERY OF THE ITALIAN VIOLIN VARNISH

- oday the violin-maker buys his wood prepared for

use, for trade in materials for stringed instruments is
thriving and the demand is constant. The wood for
violins and related instruments must be selected,
prepared and nurtured before it comes into his hands.
Its quality is not ascertained by tapping live trees,
as one legend would have it. The persons responsible
for selecting it must first of all know the species of
trees yielding the most resonant wood for the "bellies"
or "tables". The timber must have straight, regular
grain, neither too dense nor too wide, without knots
and soft or resinous pockets. The opinions about the
most suitable kind of fir and spruce vary; according
to Otto Mockel it is the species called Picea excelsa
similis, the Common Spruce in English, Haselfichte
in German. Its bark is cracked and the scales point
outwards along the length of the trunk; the ends of the
large branches are drooping.

The old masters knew a great deal about the origin

and preparation of the materials they were going to
use. Some of them actually supervised the felling of
chosen trees, which had to be very stout in order to
yield wood for larger instruments. Care was taken to
fell them in winter, when the trunks are free of sap.
They had them cut in such a way as to avoid knots
and other faults, brought the blocks home, split or
sawed them into wedges or planks, built a pile of them,
putting them crosswise so that the air could pass freely
through, and let them dry for months or even years:
the forces of organic growth had to die before the wood
could begin to be worked. Much the same process is
employed today. The pine blocks are chopped or cut
into quarters and then into wedges of the desired
thickness. If the blocks are cut into planks, only those
near the centre can be used for this purpose. The maple
wood for backs, sides or "ribs" and heads is prepared
in a- similar way, but the blocks are not chopped and
 the emphasis is shifted: this time great importance is
attached to the well-known "sheen, stripes, flames,
curls, etc." which shoot across the planks when they
are smoothed. The great masters usually made certain
that the backs, ribs and heads were from the same
block, or at least from matching wood.

Three kinds of maple have been used in making violins:

the Norway maple (Acer platanoides), which grows
in most European countries; the sycamore or great
maple (Acerpseudoplatanus); and the common or small
maple (Acer campestre).The wood of the first is plain
or has an indistinct curl; the third has broad stripes
so that instruments made of it look as if the back were
composed of very broad ribbons; it is the secondspecies
which gives the best "flaming swords" or waves which
sometimes look like a tiger skin, at other times like
a rich fleece, and which appear to be moving when
the instrument is inclined. If the maple block is cut
into parallel planks, the outer slabs are plain and
cheap, but the wood gets more handsome towards
the centre. The largest blocks of mapl~ just above the
roots, are valuable becausethey give interesting figures;
the acoustic results, about which the oldest masters
seem to have had doubts, are quite acceptable. A very
ornamental, but rare type of wood is the so-called
bird's-eye maple, but this was seldom used by the
Italian masters, who found it insufficiently resonant.
Excessively hard maple wood is also a disadvantage.
Backs of one piece are not uncommon with first-class

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 violins, but those made of two pieces can be just as
beautiful. Fronts (bellies) of one piece are rare. In this
case the wider grain comes under the lowest string,
whereas in the other case the closest grain comes to the
middle line. Care must be taken to glue together
neighbouring wedges, for otherwise they will not match
each other. To avoid errors, the neighbouring wedges
are nowadays only partially sawn apart. The maker
separates them, glues the carefully-planed thicker
edges firmly together in such a way that a plane is
formed below, and proceeds to cut out the outline of the
resonant chamber. Then he starts to shape the resonant
piate from the outside, i.e. from above, with a chisel,
small planes and finer tools, giving it the arching he
has chosen as acoustically and aesthetically desirable.
Equally characteristic is the purfling, especially in the
corners where the three lines meet. This was more
difficult at a time when the strips could not be bought
ready-made. The edges and comers require the most
careful attention; the former must be quite regular all
round, the latter are very characteristic of the pattern
and both can reveal considerable taste as well as the
lack of it.

The most exacting task is the carving of the belly

and back. Lines connecting places of equal thick-
ness must be carefully determined and controlled. We
can only guess at the methods employed by the great
creative masters, but the fact is that they worked

~~
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~~~. ~i~
;!A~POERANDINI
'; fECE IN-1>i5A
-
with astonishing accuracy and sensitivity, avoiding any

8i.;
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L' ANNQ t'l7:':~
, ~:."'--~~---~""";"'!
~~ --~~~,--,~.- ~_.-
excesses which might endanger the instrument's poten-
tialities.

The making of the sides also requires great skill. They

must be of equal thickness and height, at least at first,
for as a rule they are a trifle lower above the waist of
the instrument, giving the belly more resistance to the
pressure of the bridge. They are dipped in water and
bent over a heated metal plate until they fit the outline.
The sides are reinforced by a lining of light wood
(willow, lime, etc.), the corners are filled with wood
and rounded blocks are glued to the sides above and
below from the inside; one of them js perforated to hold
the button on which the tail-piece is fastened, the other
is accurately chiselled out in order to receive the
grooves. This is often done so meticulously that the
neck can be held at the right angle even before it is
glued in. The old masters did not know this procedure,
nor was it necessary, because both the pitch of their
instruments and the bridges were lower than nowadays.
They glued the neck to the upper block and fastened
it with 1-3 forged nails driven in from below. Original
old blocks and even the necks of their violins, if they
have not been exchanged (the necks always needed
lengthening) still bear traces or remnants of these nails.
The head. of the violin was not then inclined back-
wards.
When the sides are ready, obviously still without the
neck, they are glued firmly to the finished back plate
and prepared for the fitting of the belly or table. The
 belly, however, is attached with thin glue, because it
is here that the instrument is opened for repairs. It
goes without saying that the designing and carving of
the peg-boxes and scrolls require delicacy and skill.
Almost everyone of the great Italian masters showed
his individuality in this respect, the variations being
slight but often unmistakable, like a signature.
However, before the belly can take its place, it must
receive an important addition, namely the bass-bar,
which is glued below under the lowest string, its arc
being slighrly more bent to reinforce the belly. This is
known as "springing" the bar into place. It was hardly
necessary when the classical violins were being made,
because of the lesser tension of the strings. Their
bass-bars were shorter and lighter. A litrle behind the
right foot of the bridge stands the sound-post, a small
cylinder of wood which links the two harmonic plates
in an elastic manner. It is accurately fitted to the arch
of the plates and keeps its place solely by fitting in.
Even slight shifts of the sound-post influence the tone,
for which reason it is called the "soul" in many lan-
guages: the soul of the fiddle.
Last but not least: what about the proverbial old
I talian violin varnish?
A glance at one of the old Italian masterpieces reveals
its transparency and lovely hues. But there are first-
class instruments which do not possessthese qualities
to the same degree, even though they are works of the
same master. The old Italian violin varnish was pre-
pared in moderate quantities in ways which affected,
not always favourably, the colour of the ingredients,
chiefly by the application of heat. As for the transpar-
ency and liveliness or "fire" of the varnish, much
depended on the manner of varnishing. Fewer and
thicker coats tended to diminish these qualities, while
a greate~ number of very thin coats, each of them
polished after drying, enhanced them. The chief secret
of the great masters was simply patience. In this
manner the almost microscopically thin layers of
varnish succeed in reflecting and breaking the light
rays, which is the essence of the fire of the varnish.
Minute details in the structure of the wood scintillate
and seem to be in motion. But for the same reason less
expensive specimens of many otherwise excellent mas-
ters are less dazzling, though they may be marvellous
in many other respects. Even the greatest Cremonese
masters were frequently pressed for time, and the result
is similar, though the instruments are otherwise
perfect.

A good violin varnish is at the same time an excellent

protection. A white violin would not last long. It would
succumb to moisture, impurities and cleaning, to
moulds and insects. For this very reason the first
coating the instrument receives is of vital importance.
It must not contain hardening resins and should unite
both with the wood and the subsequent coating (not
like glue, which may cause them to chip off). With the
old Italian masters this first coating was perhaps the

at
most remarkable single constituent of their famous
varnish. It has been proved that it soaked into the
wood, yet it dried out into microscopic corpuscles in
such a way that the wood was able to breathe. Even
when the upper coloured varnish is worn off, the first
coating remains largely in the wood itself and can re-
cover its soft lustre after gentle rubbing. It is quite
transparent and brings the detail of the wood, now
brownish, into relief. In addition it has a faint golden-
yellow tint. It was, we believe, essentially slow-drying
oil, thinned by spirit of wine, with an admixture of
propolis: i.e. bee glue from hives. Italian masters did
not stain the wood before applying it and abstained
from using turpentine, which promotes drying but
causesthe oil to harden unduly.
An unvarnished new violin has, if it is well built, a clear,
loud voice. Good violin varnish renders the tone perhaps
a little less loud, but takes off the immediate edge.
Since these shrill components do not carry, the true
richness of the upper harmonic tones superimposed on
the fundamental ones remains unimpaired.
If the impregnating substance of the old Italian masters
is still an open question, there is no mystery about the
varnish itself. Its relative softness, which keeps the
tone full and responsive, depended on the properties
of the constituent materials and on their mixtures,
which must have varied considerably. We can hardly
speak of one varnish, because it was largely a local
affair, in which "godfather 'pothecary"-il compadre

.
1
.. }
\ ..,.: ) A I A f,j l 1
 del speziale-played his part, leaving the manner of
application to the master. But basically it was oil
varnish, which remains easily soluble in alcohol.
The old Italian varnishes dried slowly. Those who used
them had a powerful ally in the Italian Slm, but even
so it was a protracted affair; we know this from the
correspondence of Galileo Galilei and from a written
apology by Stradivari. The drying oils they used were
long exposed to the sun before they employed them;
linseed oil was most likely the main one. Since oils
and resins were often impure, methods were found to
purify them, which were primitive, but efficient. The
resins were not particularly exotic. They must have
been easily accessible,for very similar kinds of varnish
are found in this period on wooden objects of all types.
The coloured ingredients were mostly natural resins,
e.g. dragon's blood; other resins changed colours
according to the temperatures in which they were
cooked and dissolved. It seems, however, that some
masters also used other colours to attain livelier hues
or new colour combinations. They were chiefly extracts
from dye-woods.

It is commonly believed that the secret of the old

Italian varnish was lost some time after 1760. This is
quite misleading. It did not go out of use uniformly
in all parts of Italy. There are excellent varnishes from
the end of the 18th century and Joannes Maria Valen-
zano still applied the classical sort at the beginning
of the 19th. It went out of use earlier in the north

11. DALAGLIO, GIUSEPPE

MANTO VA 1823
of Italy than in the south. Lorenzo Storioni, a Cre-
monese master and an excellent disciple of his prede-
cessors,already at the end of the 18th century applied
a different, drier varnish at a time when the Neapolitan
masters were still using a very good one, and a glorious
varnish was reintroduced by Gian Francesco Pressenda
of Turin in the first half of the 19th century. The
classical kinds fell into disuse chiefly as a result of mass
production of other types, cheap and ready for use~
fast-drying, but unfortunately hard and inferior from
the acoustic point of view. The violin-makers found
themselves at a disadvantage, while the joiners liked
their brilliant lustre and welcomed the shellac they
contained.

In a way the change was facilitated by the very fact

that there was no secret. A secret would have been
kept or betrayed or regretted. Nothing of the kind
happened. There are contemporary formulae for special
purposes, varnishes for glass, metals, leather, etc., but
not a word about the most specialised of all, namely
the violin varnish. The Italians had queer names for
some ingredients, but all have been identified and none
of them was extraordinary in itself. The old lute-maker
Sigismond Maler (1460-1526) wrote in a letter dated
1526 that he had two kinds of varnish, which were
prepared by his "boys", i.e. apprentices, not by himself.
Desiderio Arisi of Cremona, a friend of Antonio
Stradivari, wrote: "In Cremona lives my good friend
A. Stradivari, who is such an excellent maker of all
kinds of instruments, that it is not out of place to
mention his merits. He has no rival as a maker of
instruments of the best qualities; he has built many of
them, of incomparable merit, richly adorned with
figures, flowers, arabesques and graceful inlays, all
perfectly drawn, sometimes painted in black, at: other
times inlaid in ebony and ivory; the works which he
executes with utmost skill renders his instruments
worthy of the highest personages for whom they are
destined. I thought it would be becoming to mention
some works of this great artist as a proof of the great
esteem and universal admiration he enjoys." The
incomparable varnish, however, did not deserve to
be mentioned. The great master J. B. Guadagnini
(1711-1786), contemporary of the collector Count Cozio
di Salabue, was warned by the Count not to coat the
violins on order with a varnish that would not dry out
and which might remain sticky.

It is now certain that the Italian violin v~rnish of the

classical period was not the same in various places.
The old Brescian had the right consistency; the Cre-
monese was the best and the most beautiful; that of
Venice was almost its equal, and then follow the var-
nishes of Naples, Turin, Milan, Genoa and other cities.
Alessandro Gagliano, a reputed pupil of Antonio
Stradivari, settled in Naples, but his varnish is not the
same as that of his master. Other disciples of the
Cremonese masters settled in other places and the
character of their varnishes changed. The Prague maker
Joachim Edlinger spent the years 1720-1728 in Italy,
worked in Cremona, Rome, Bologna, Ferrara and
Venice, but did not bring the Italian varnish home
with him.
THE FIRST ITALIAN VIOLIN MAKERS

- has assigned the "invention" of the violin

to a man who called himself Gasparo da Salo (1542 to
1609). His birthplace, Salo, lies on the western shore
of Lago di Garda. His family name was Bertolotti,
and he was descended from a family of lute-makers.
His father was established in Salo, and as there was
no scope for another maker of this sort, Gasparo, who
had learned the craft from his grandfather Santo

39
 Bertolotti and the Brescian master Girolamo da Virchi
(1523-1573), settled in Bresci.a' a notable town near
the lake; not far to the south lies Cremona, later so
celebrated by musicians.
The word "inventor" is not appropriate here. It belongs
to the industrial age and is better suited to those' who
design new machines than to makers of musical instru-
ments. The latter are born of music and live by music.
They presuppose a taste which they satisfy and a de-
velopment which needs them. Their existence depends
more on the composers than on the makers. Violin-
makers were preceded by lute-makers and used to
belong to the same guilds; both crafts were so inti-
mately linked together that the violin-maker is called
liutaio and lutkier to this day. In the second half of the
16th century the need arose for an instrument corre-
sponding to the soprano voice. At the same time an
instrument already existed which set the rough pattern
for the new type. This was the viola da braccio or tenor,
the viola as we know it. It was very different from the
old viols, gigues and fiddles, from the lira da braccio
and viola d'amore. The viola, of course, has an alto
timbre; it is still called l' alto in French and the word
violino,. i.e. diminutive viola, is a reminder that the
violin had an elder sister.
The spread of the new instrument was rapid. Claudio
Monteverdi, composer and conductor of the choir of
St Mark in Venice (1567-1643), was from 1590 to 1612
already violinist in the Court band in Mantua. His

. Qloulnni CnncinoIn Conrrala

- -,,~,-~-",-.-,.,

I Lar:sha di MilaItQ aI regno

I deUa C8t8na 11°7
 opera "Orfeo", performed for the first time in 1607,
contained interludes for the "violino piccolo" for which
trained violinists were needed. Gasparo da Sal.>
certainly had forerunners, possibly in his own family;
but he is the first violin-maker whose violins have come
down to us; those of his contemporaries soon passed
out of use. Priority is not the chief point; what is
significant is that Gasparo's adaptation of the viola
da braccio was an amazing and lasting success. Since
then there have been changes which we have touched
upon: they concerned mainly the superstructure of the
instruments; but as for the resonant chamber, four
centuries have brought about no essential change. More
important still, the influence of Gasparo and his im-
mediate disciples was such that even the greatest
Cremonesemasters, such as Guarneri riel Gesu, partly
followed their example and regarded the tone of their
instruments as a criterion.

The word "inventor" is out of place for yet another

reason, since in the same generation violins were also
being built in Cremona. At the head of the first phase
of violin-making in Cremona stands Andrea Amati,
and the Amati family remained pre-eminent for four
generations. These masters were so successful that
they secured 'large orders from abroad, even on behalf
of kings. Charles IX of France commissioned from
Andrea Amati a dozen violins of small pattern and
another dozen of large pattern (some of them painted),
six violas and e,ight double basses. They remained

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ty:..cI_--*,',
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Ta"reili. 17 GBG
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 unmatched for beauty for a long time, but their tone
was different from that of the Brescian makers, more
feminine, particularly suitable for chamber music and
for rooms and halls of modest size. The tale that
Andrea Amati had been a pupil of Gasparo da 5alo
is ruled out by his age; he was older than Gasparo (the
dates of his birth and death are uncertain but are
generally accepted as 1535 and 1611), and he certainly
would not have looked for another apprenticeship at
a mature age, when the task was the adaptation of
the familiar viola pattern. Nor can anyone say that he
imitated the younger master. This was the case with
Gasparo's outstanding direct pupil Giova~ni Paolo
Maggini (1580-1611) whose violins, ornamented and
beautiful in their way, have a mellow yet powerful
tone. They are nowadays mostly in museums and
collections, but could still be heard in the early decades
of this century in the hands of virtuosi like Henri
Marteau.
Andrea Amati was certainly a disciple of his father
Gotardo Amati (d. 1553), who was a lute-maker and
was called II Maestro. Gotardo, too, may have begun
the experiments with diminished treble violas. The
first Brescian and Cremonese violin-makers obviously
knew each other well, but their types remained separate
for a whole century, before ~he need for a synthesis
of pattern and timbre was felt and achieved.
THE SCHOOL OF BRESCIA

Gasparo da Salo and Giovanni Paolo Maggini (who

never dated their instruments and affixed their labels
in the middle of the back) built violins which strike
us as somewhat antique. Their pattern is large, almost
bulky: the length of the corpus sometimes exceeds
360 mm. The upper eyes of the f-holes are just or nearly
as large as the lower ones. The backs of these violins
are mostly of maple cut on the slab, occasionally of
pearwood or poplar. The scrolls have half a turn less
than was usual in Cremona at the outset. On the other
hand, these masters favoured double purfling which
forms pleasing ornaments at both ends of the back.
The arching varies, but rises immediately from the
edges without leaving a flat border. The corners are
short, especially in Maggini violins. The varnish is
brown, less transparent and lively than the Cremonese;
only the last representatives of the Brescian school
chose lighter hues with a reddish tint. This is especially
the case with Giambattista Roggeri (1650-1730) who,
however, belongs partly to the school of Cremona and
is said to have worked with Nicolo Amati.
THE SCHOOL OF CREMONA

The varnish of the Cremonesemasters very soon attain-

ed, especially with Andrea's sons, an ideal transparency
and enchanting hues, mostly golden red. The arching
rises roof-like and fairly steeply from a flat border
around the edges, so that the violins look higher than
they actually are. The outlines are very elegant, the
sound-holes and scrolls cut with wonderful precision.
Some Cremonesemasters, especially Nicolo Amati, had
large studios with pupils and assistants. The develop-
ment of this school reached its peak with the unpar-
alleled mastery of Antonio Stradivari. Next to him,
or on an equal footing, stand most members of the
Guarneri family of violin-makers: Andrea Guarneri,
Pietro I, Joseph, filius Andreae, Pietro II of Venice,
Joseph Guarneri del Gesu, J os.eph Guarneri alumnus
Gisalherti, and Pietro III. There were also other such
families in Cremona, th9ugh not of the same rank, and
other outstanding masters. All have been followed and
imitated, perhaps too much, because it often led to an
external kind of copying. The Cremonesemasters of the
golden period, however, always had their particular
traits; the differences were often slight, but testify to
th" delight which these masters took in their work
and to their impeccable taste. Here is a list of the chief
representatives of the school:
Andrea Amati (b. 1535, d. after 1611) had two sons,
whose names are always given on their labels in Latin:
Antonius (b. 1555, d. after 1640) and Hieronymus
(c. 1556-1636). They worked together in the same
workshop. It has been asserted that their works can
be distinguished, but this is hardly the case. Their
instruments have always been highly appreciated for
their beauty and for their clear, sweet tone. The son
of Hieronymus, Nicolo Amati (1596-1684), became the
greatest and most influential member of the family.
His violins, especially the so-called "large pattern"
were renowned for their richer tone; his violoncellos are
wonderful. Their elegant patterns with slightly protrud-
ing comers and their golden-yellow or brownish-yellow
varnish were long regarded aspeaks of perfection. It took
time before the admiration paid to him yielded to Stradi-
vari, but in the long run he was overshadowed by this
greatest of his disciples. Nicolo's son Geronimo/Hiero-
nymus II (1649-1740) is a dim figure. He has been
deprived of the fame he fully deserved, for his very
excellence. His works have been renamed for still
greater masters, but he should hold a place of honour
in the hierarchy of Italian masters.

Out of the workshop of Nicolo Amati came Andrea

Guarneri (c. 1626-1698). He developed his own pattern,
larger and more substantial, lower, with larger and
br,oader scrolls. He, and still more his descendants,
tended to place their graceful f-holes somewhat lower
down the belly, and transmitted this to some of their
 pupils. This changes the position of the nodal points
in the harmonic plates. This was not, of course, their
motive, because too little was known about nodal
points at the time; they were guided by their delicate
sense of hearing and their ideals of tone. Andrea
Guarneri applied a beautiful golden-yellow or orange-
golden-brown varnish. His two sons, Pietro (1) Giovanni
(1655-1720) and Giuseppe Giovanni Battista (1666 to
1739), commonly known as "Joseph Guarneri filius
Andreae", extended their father's work. The former,
who first shared the workshop with his brother in
Cremona, settled later in Mantua and won lasting admi-
ration for the outward beauty and noble tone of his
instruments. The latter, one of the foremost Cremonese
masters, surpassed even him in volume of tone. His
violins, again more substantial, are mostly coated with
golden-yellow varnish with an upper layer of clear
brown. His violoncellos are also superb.

Pietro (I) Giovanni Guarneri also had two sons. The

eld~r, Giuseppe (1683-1750) calls himself in his early
labels Joseph Guarneri, pupil (alumnus) of Andrea
Gisalberti, an excellent, but less well-known master in
Bozzolo. Until lately he was identified with his cousin
Joseph Guarneri del Gesu. But he was older and his
works began to appear at a time when the latter was
still a boy of eight. Their labels, identical at sight, are
different on closer examination. This master also
settled in Cremona, outlived his cousin, and was still
at work in 1750. The second s~n of Pietro (I) Giovanni,
Pietro (III), (b. before 1700, d. after 1750), who was
trained by his father and inherited his workshop in
Mantua, boldly experimented with the family pattern;
some of his violins are narrower than those of his father,
but the tone is just as mellow and rich.

Joseph Guarneri filius Andreae also had two sons who

became violin-makers. The elder, Pietro G. (II sic.),
known as Pietro Guarneri da Venezia (1695-1762) also
knew how to combine excellent tone with consummate
outward beauty. The second son, Giuseppe, is the cele-
brated Joseph Guarneri del Gesu, (1698-1744), creator
of some of the most powerful violins that have ever
enthralled concert audiences. Universal attention was
drawn to him by Nicolo Paganini, whose red "cannon ,.,
bequeathed to his birthplace, can be seen in the town-
hall of Genoa. Del Gesu was an independent master In
Cremona from 1723 to his death and built, as far as is
known, only violins, His first works are ingenious ex-
periments; those of his mature age have become one
of the two incessantly copied violin patterns, the other
being, of course, that of Antonio Stradivari. His
relationship to the old school of Brescia has already
been touched upon. A violin by del Gesu-so-called for
the eucharistic symbol I.H.S. with a crosswhich appears
on his labels-is not quite as large as one by Maggini,
but the pattern is large and robust (length of the
"Paganini" violin 360 mm.). The thickness of the har-
monic plates is worked out according to 'his own notions
and measurements, but with glorious results. The
"gothic" shape of his sound-holes is universally known.
Exceptions, e. g. specimens with f-holes after Stradivari
or Guarneri filius Andreae, are probably to be attributed
to Joseph Guarneri, former "alumnus Gisalherti", who
was also an ingenious maker.
The master of masters, Antonio Stradivari, was born
in 1644 and died in 1737. He was associated with
Nicolo Amati until the latter's death. His first instru-
ments up to 1685 undoubtedly bear Amati's labels, for
they have been sought in vain. But several specimens
from the last years of the great teacher, especially the
adorned ones, betray Stradivari's design and hand.

The earliest violins built by Stradivari alone and pro-

vided with his labels resemble those of Nicolo Amati
in outline and varnish (so-called amatise pattern). In
his second period, about 1690, the pattern is different:
the arching is lower and narrower (with the exception
of the waist) but the body of the instrument is somewhat
longer ("allonge" or "long" pattern). The violins have
more accentuated corners, larger scrolls and a more
vivid varnish. In his third period, from about 1695 till
1725, the master built one chef d'reuvre after another.
The violins do not exceed normal length, but they are
broad and the outline is such as to retain every little
bit of resonant surface compatible of a masculine
appearance with one condition-namely the utmost
elegance. The workmanship need not be commented
upon and the tone is grand in every respect, including
deep resonance on the lower strings. In his last period,
as an old man (1726-1737), Stradivari made violins
which sometimes show, especially in his last years,
traces of an unsteady hand; but their tone is magni-
ficent to the last. The master was assisted by two of
his sons, Francesco (1671-1743) and Omobono(1679 to
1742); otherwise he probably never had many pupils
as did Nicolo Amati. No second-rate instrument ever
left his workshop and there are some which expressly
state that they have been built sub disciplina-i.e.
under his contr81, not by himself alone. Stradivari's
varnishes are of all shadesand combinations of colours,
from golden-yellow, reddish, cherry-red and brownish-
red to the deepest red compatible with transpa-
rency.

Another violin-making family in Cremona were the

Rugeris. They always added their nickname "detto
il Per" on their labels, but they have nevertheless been
confused with G. B. Rogeri, which they wished to
avoid. The head, and greatest master of the clan,
FrancescoRugeri detto il Per (1645-1700) built beautiful
violins, but chiefly 'cellos, which are rightly famous,
and belong to the best. The instruments of his son
Giovanni Battista Rugeri detto il Per, known as Giacinto
Rugeri (working between 1666 and 1698) differ in
appearance though not in tone from the scintillating
golden-red instruments of his father; they are darker,
brownish or brown. He is less known than his younger
brother Vincenzo (working between 1690 and 1735) who
was also an excellent master, yet neither achieved the
eminence of their father. A marked decline is noticeable
with Vincenzo's son Antonio (1723).
More important still is the Bergonzi family. Its head
and unsurpassed leader was Carlo Bergonzi (1676-1747),
who lived and worked in Stradivari's house after the
latter's death, but not as his pupil, as used to be asser-
ted. He was a disciple of Joseph Guarneri filius Andreae.
His very individual violins stand between Stradivari
and the Guarneris and partake of the qualities of both.
They are concert instruments of the first rank, and at
times equal those of Stradivari and Guarneri del GestI.
The cut of his sound-holes and scrolls is unmistakable,
but has often been imitated; his varnish is mostly red.
His son and successor~Michel Angelo (1722-1770) was
still a truly great master and the grandson, Nicolo
(working between 1749 and 1782) followed in their
footsteps as best he could. A later gen.eration, however,
represents a downward trend, not necessarily their
fault, because the demand for superb st~ged ~stru-
ments had been met and great opportunities were
rarer. Zosimo, brother of Nicolo, built mostly 'cellos
and Carlo (II) guitars and mandolins.

The Guadagnini family of violin-makers belongs, in its

first three generations, to the school of Cremona, despite
the fact that its members did not always reside there.
It gave Italy two great masters and several good or
very good ones, and it set strong examples. The city
of Turin, where the violin-makers had been under the
influence of G. Cappaand, indirectly, of Nicolo Amati,
received new impetus (and another in the 19th century
by G. F. Pressenda), and the Cremoneseinfluence was
so strong there that no distinctive school developed
there in the 17th and 18th centuries. The subsequent
generations of the Guadagnini family, which still
exists, lived mostly in Turin, while Cremona gradually
ceased, for a long time, to be a centre of the violin-
making craft.
The head of the clan was Joseph Guadagnini (from
whom only one violin, dated 1697, is known). His sons,
Giovanni Battista (I), called "Placentinus" because he
lived in Piacenza, was born in 1685 and died in 1768;
the second, Lorenzo (I) (1695-c. 1760), was a pupil
of Antonio Stradivari. Both belong to the foremost
classics,but they were surpassed,at least in the volume
of tone, by Giovanni Battista (II), called "Cremonen-
sis" (1711-1786), also a pupil of Stradivari, whose
violins are concert instruments of the first rank. He
was the son of Lorenzo. This man, however, has been
the subject of a controversy. He used to be identified
with his namesake, whose labels, dated from Piacenza,
Milan and Parma, were attributed to him. This supposi-
tion could be defended with reasons worth considering,
but it would lead to the improbable notion of a man
who lived 101 years, led an itinerant Jife, and was
active for 83 years. However, the instruments in
question are wholly magnificent.
Lorenzo Guadagnini was followed by three sons:
Giuseppe, nicknamed "Soldato" (1736-1805), Gaetano
(c. 1775-1831), and Lorenzo (II) (labels c. 1790).
Gaetano was followed by Felice (I) (1778-1835) and
Carlo (1780-1839), and the latter by three sons, of
whom the youngest, Felice (II) was born in 1830,
Giuseppe (I I) was active between the years 1884 and
1900, while the eldest Gaetano (II), was born before
1805 and died in 1852. The latter's son Antonio (1831 to
1881) had two sons, Giuseppe (III), working from
1890-1900, and Francesco (1865-1937). The line of
violin-makers of this name ends with Paolo Guadagnini,
who was born in 1908 and died in 1942.
THE SCHOOL OF VENICE

This school is an offshoot of the Cremonese,but occupies

a peculiar place. The city on the lagoons was one of the
chief crossroadsof world trade. This meant good oppor-
tunities; wealthy patrons demande da high standard of
work and fostered artistic endeavour. Most Venetian
violin-makers departed in minor details from Cremo-
nese ex~mples, for example, in the shape of the f-holes,
which they cut more or less after Jacob Stainer, i.e.
shorter and circular at both ends. It must be borne in
mind that Tyrolese makers, above all the admired
Stainer, were popular throughout the 18th century,
especially with people who found the Cremonese
masterpieces (with the exception of the smaller pattern
Amatis) too loud. But the Venetian masters were at the
same time creative.
Matteo Gofriller (working between 1690 and 1742) was
probably of Tyrolese extraction; but some of his later
works resemble those of Carlo Bergonzi, and have been
sold as genuine Bergonzis, despite their different sound-
holes. Their tone is outstanding, that of his 'cellos
superb, the varnish deep red on lighter ground. The
excellent Santo Seraphin (working between 1668 and
1748) worked on the whole on the model of Nicolo
Amati, and some of his lovely instruments bear Amati
labels, despite the fact that he found Stainer f-holes
more attractive. Domenico Montagnana (1690-1750)
built first-class concert instruments in the Cremonese
style and varnished in the true Cremonese way. His
large pattern violins and 'cellos are the pride of their
owners. Francesco Gobetti (working between 1690 and
1732) on the whole followed Stradivari, using extremely
handsome wood and attractive varnish. Bartolomeo
Tassini working between (1740-1756) had, it seems,
come from Milan. His works are a blend of Cremonese,
Milanese and Tyrolese traits. Finally, the above-
mentioned Pietro Guarneri of Venice remained aCre-
monese master in essence.The Venetian masters used
red varnish-characteristic for Venice (the famous
"Venetian Red" used by painters of the Venetian
School).
 THE SCHOOL OF FLORENCE

This was a minor school. Its chief representatives are

Giovanni Battista Gabrielli (whose works date from the
years 1739-1770) and the brothers Lorenzo and To-
maso Carcassi (1737-1775 and 1745-1786 respectively).
Their violins are rather slender and more highly arched
than those of Gabrielli; on the whole they call to mind
Nicolo Amati despite these differences. They are coated
mostly with a yellow, clear, but somewhat harder
varnish of pale lustre.

THE SCHOOL OF ROME

It may seem singular that Rome did not become the

focal point of violin-making. It was not only the centre
of ~he Catholic world, but an independent Papal State;
not only cburch music, but also instrumental music
was highly developed here, and even secular operas
were at times in vogue. Cardinal Montaldo kept his
own theatre, the nobles favoured the opera and Pope
Urban VIII (1623-1644) had no objection to the project
of a theatre with 3,000 seats, an unheard-of size at that
time. However, this boom did not last. The enthrone-
ment of Pope Innocent XI (1676-1689) meant a sudden

29. MAGCINI, CIO PAOLO

BRESCIA (Hamma & Co.)
reverse and only slowly did the gay life return to Rome
when Pope Alexander VIII (1689-1691) relaxed his
predecessor's stern edicts, and more and more artists
settled there. Quite a few good violin-makers were then
active in Rome: Francesco Giuliano (working 1690 to
1725), Giovanni Tannigardi (working 1700-1745), Ja-
copo Horil (working 1720-1760), Michael Platner,
working at the same period, and David Tecchler, who
was born in 1666 in Salzburg and died in 1743 in Rome,
having come from Venice, where he did not do well.
The mixture of Italian, Tyrolese, and even German
influences was more marked in Rome than anywhere
else in Italy. The Roman varnishes differed from the
Cremonese; they mostly have a light red layer with
a yellow one underneath; sometimes there are four
layers, red, yellow, golden-yellow and deep red. The
effect is charming.
THE SCHOOL OF NAPLES

The rise of this school at once surpassed everything

previously experienced in Southern Italy. At its head
stands Alessandro Gagliano (1660~1725), a disciple of
Antonio Stradivari, and a quite outstanding master.
He had two sons: Nicolo (I) (1695-1758), and Gennaro-
or Januarius (1700 - c. 1770). Their violin-making
descendants were numerous. Nicolo had four sons:
Ferdinando (1724-c. 1785), Giuseppe (1725-1793),
Antonio (c. 1728-1795), and Giovanni (I) (c. 1740-1806).
Giovanni had five sons, all violin-makers: Gaetano
(1770-1824), Nicolo (II) (1772-1826), Raffaele (c. 1790
to 1857), Antonio (II) (c. 1794-1860) and Giovanni (II)
(1800-1867). Raffaele was followed by two sons:
Vincenzo (d. 1886) and Alberto, b. 1877, his pupils.
All left outstanding instruments, though an inevitable
decline in artistic workmanship occurred as time passed,
the later members of the family hardly attaining the
high level of Alessandro and his two sons. Some of their
violins look extremely beautiful and the tone of all
is remarkably good. The red-orange varnish on some
specimens by Gennaro Gagliano is wonderful, and once
seen, unforgettable.
THE SCHOOL OF MILAN

The old-estviolin-maker in Milan, Santino Lavazza, was

active during the first half of the 17th century. His
violins have a queer pattern; the upper part is enlarged
at the expense of the middle bouts, which are short
in relation to the instrument. Two violin-making families
dominated the scenein the city: Grancino and Testore.
The first of the Grancino family, Andrea, worked in
Milan as early as 1645. His brother Giovanni (I)
(working between 1669 and 1710) and his relative
Paolo Grancino (c. 1655-1692) adhered to the pattern
of Nicolo Amati so faithfully that some violins by
Paolo have been provided with fictitious Amati labels.
Paolo's son, Giovanni (II) (1675-1737), built instru-
ments with a lower arching, of choice wood and yellow
or golden-brown varnish. He was associated with his
brother Giambattista (1690-1746) under the firm "Fra-
telli Grancini". Other relatives were at work in Mantua
and one in Cremona in the first half of the 18th century.
The head of the other family, Carlo Giuseppe Testore
(1660-1737), was a pupil of Giovanni Grancino, but
was at the same time influenced by Giofredo Cappa,
an outstanding master in Saluzzo. His elder son,
Carlo Antonio (b. 1688, d. after 1764), was inspired by
Joseph Guarneri filius Andreae; the younger, Paolo
Antonio (c. 1690-1750) adhered to the grand pattern
of Nicolo Amati, but in his later years followed Guarneri
del Gesu. Gennaro, son of Paolo Antonio, had to build
cheaper violins; this applies partly to the father, whose
instruments also show traces of haste. But it must be
said of all of them that the build of their instruments
is masterful and the tone always remarkable. Some
specimens are outstanding concert instruments. Their
varnishes range from yellow and golden-brown to deep
red, they are of good consistency, like those of Naples,
but mostly less attractive.
Besides these cities, in which famous schools have
developed and whole families of violin-makers were
active for generations, there were a number of smaller
or outlying places where we find most of the so-called
minor masters. At first there is the usual interpenetra-
tion of various influences, then the decline sets in.
Yet, now and then, specimens appear which attract
admiration and which had the good luck to escape
re-christening. For a special order even a minor master
could show his mettle, provided he were well paid for
it and could afford fine materials. There were also foreign
makers in Italy, who were accustomed to the models
of their native countries, but who did not accentua;te
them; if they believed in highly arched fiddles they
could fuse their forms with Amati outlines etc. Some
were good masters, but none took a leading role. In
Italy, many variations in style have been attempted
in this as in all other branches of artistic production.
 THE FATE OFFAMOUS VIOLINS

,.
ortune has its ups and downs. Most old violins,
even the famous ones, have been subject to both during
the centuries of their existence. There were times when
they lay half forgotten and broken in churches and
attics, and others when they were internationally
known; they have endured rough handling as well as
enjoyed adulation. Most of this can only be guessed
from their appearance and repairs. However, in quite

79
exceptional cases,they are still in a wonderful state of
preservation and their past is known. There are violins
provided with old and new guarantees and even with
complete lists of former owners.

The consequence of Stradivari's fame was that his

labels have been preserved; a false label co~ld not
enhance the value of his violins, though sometimes later
hands have meddled with his dates in order to shift the
violin to the master's "golden period". We have said
that some of his "lost" early violins bear the labels of
Nicolo Amati. The first known specimen he signed,
called "St Agatha", is accurately dated: 19 dicembre
1665. Another, which once belonged to the firm Pierre
& Hippolyte Sylvestre in Lyon, has the following label:
"Antonius Stradivari (alumnus Nicolai Amati) faciebat
anno 1666." The gorgeousinlaid "Hellier" violin of 1679
was sold by the maker himself to Sir Samuel Hellier,
in whose house it remained until 1875. It was then
acquired by George Crompton who sold it to Charles
Oldham; finally it became the property of the firm
Hill & SORSin London. One of the rare "amatise"
violins was bought in the 'nineties by the Prague master
K. B. Dvorak for Josef Suk, composer aud member of
the Bohemian Quartet. It is now in the U.S.A. A richly
inlaid Stradivari violin was in the possession of the
Norwegian virtuoso Ole Bull, after whom it belonged
to John Hart, W. Plowden and Charles Oldham. It
belongs to the master's second period, called "allonge".
The "Medici" violin, built for Duke Ferdinando, son
of Cosimo III di Medici, is now in the Instituto Musicale
in Florence. Simultaneously with this violin Stradivari
made a violin with a finger. board on which the Medici
escutcheon is inlaid.

The Duke de Campo Selice owned several Strads, dated

1700, 1704, 1710 and 1723. That of 1710, formerly the
property of the virtuoso V. Prihoda, has been bought
by the CSSR, and is played by Josef Suk, a well-known
violinist, grandson of the composer and great-grandson
of Antonin Dvorak. The famous "Betts" violin has
been bought, along with another violin of 1712, a viola
and a violoncello, by Mrs Sprague Coolidge and donated
to the Library of Congressin Washington D. C., where
a large hall has been built and famous quartets are
invited to play on them. It also passed through the
hands of J. D. Vuillaumein Paris, Wilmotte in Antwerp,
Zweifel in Stuttgart, George Hart in London, Duke
de Campo Selice and Hill & Sons in London.

The superb inlaid "Greffuhle" violin was built by

Stradivari for the Infant Don Carlos, later King of
Spain. It belonged to a quintet (with two violas, of
which one was a "tenor") all of them inlaid. In some
mysterious way the "Greffuhle" later reached London
and was bought by a collector named John Blow whQ
sold it to John Adam. It was then acquired by Count
Greffuhle; in 1911 it belonged to the firm Hamma
 & Cie.in Stuttgart. A booklet with coloured illustrations
was published about it and the quintet to which it once
belonged, in which the "Greffuhle" is described as
perhaps the most beautiful violin ever made. Its price
was then 100,000 M. The above-mentioned "Messiah"
once belonged to the well-known 18th-century collector
Count Cozio de Salabue. The man who acquired it from
the heirs of the Count is interesting. His name was
Luigi Tarisio (1790-1856). He was a dealer, connoisseur
and collector who hunted up valuable bowed instru-
ments from all over Italy and brought them for sa]e
to Paris and London, keeping the best of the best
stored in Milan. He waited and enjoyed them too long.
Death overtook the solitary man and J. B. Vuillaume,
who hurried from Paris, bought the whole estate from
the astonished relatives for a fraction of the actual
value. He also found the "Messiah", which afterwards
belonged to the virtuoso Alard, to Crawford in Edin-
burgh and Hill & Sons in London.

Violins by Joseph Guarneri del Gesu are also known by

the names of some of their former owners - Paganini,
King, Hart, Doyen, Leduc, etc.

Apart from these specimens many nameless gems of

violin-making were kept, mostly unused, in palaces
and wealthy homes, a surprising number of them in
Russia. In Czechoslovakia the chief private collection
was that of the aristocratic Lobkovic family in Roud-
nice. Both in the USSR and the CSSR such instruments
now mostly belong to State museums and are being
lent to outstanding artists.
ORIGINALS, COPIES, EXPERTS AND FAKES

,
Vn excellent instrument is the dream or delight of all
musical performers. For a soloist it is indispensable;
it inspires him, delivers him from platform nerves,
gives him assurance that the instrument will yield
to all shades of expression and respond the more will.
ingly, the more he demands. This is exactly what first.
class violins do.
When they are sold they should be accompanied by
 a document in which the seller guarantees the genuine-
ness of the specimen and declares what it is, in his
best opinion; many have older or several guarantees
with them. To avoid fraudulent exchange of the speci-
men for another, the instrument should be sufficiently
described or photographed; the picture should be
firmly attached to the paper and stamped. Errors and
insincerities undermine the dealer's reputation; if he
is a violin-maker himself, he cannot excuse himself by
admitting an error and will be tempted to persist for
fear of losing face. But critics abound everywhere and
they are not always well-disposed. Experts of interna-
tional repute also give their opinion of instruments
submitted to them; such a document can have the value
of a guarantee, if signed by an acknowledged authority;
the price is proportional to the assessedvalue.
Violins and other stringed and plucked instruments
generally bear ,a label; in instruments of the violin
family it is visible through the left sound-hole. It should
state the maker's name, domicile, and the year when
the instrument was completed. Dating has been the
custom for three and a half centuries. The year of
origin can become one of the criteria of genuineness,
if the domicile or address was different at the time the
label indicates. Some masters used to add signs which
did not change. Stradivari added a stamp with his
initials, J. B. Guadagnini a cross with two bars, the
letters G.B.G. and P. or T., which meant Parma or
Turin. Many masters professed their allegiance to their
teacher by the words alumnus, filius, etc.
The time which has elapsed since the classical period
of violin-making is so long, and human greed so strong,
that very much has happened to these labels. Nowadays
the instrument can be genuine and attested though
the label is not authentic; faked labels have often been
removed or exchanged for undated copies which at
least do not lie. On the other hand, authentic labels from
ruined instruments have been put into less valuable
instruments so as to inflate the price. For these and
other reasons old documents are sometimes scanned as
minutely and patiently as old etchings or precious
postage stamps. Each deviation must be accounted for.
As an example we can adduce the importance ascribed
to the way in which Stradivari (whose drawings were
admirable and whose handwriting was a scribble)
wrote 8 or 0, whether from right to left, as before
1698, or vice versa, as afterwards. This sounds but is
not really ridiculous, for quite a sum of money may
be at stake. Next to the 8 or 0 of Stradivari we must
mention some slight differences on de Guarneri del
Gesulabels. Is it possible that Joseph Guarneri alumnus
Gisalberti was identical with the famous del Gesu?

If these labels are fakes, why this reference to a little-

known teacher, and this at a time when the real future
del Gesu was a boy of eight? We are firmly convinced
that two cousins have been mixed up, who were simul-
taneously active in Cremona. Their violins are different,
as our pictures will show, but their labels also. W. E.
Hill, who acknowledged only one man of the name,
th~ew doubt on the label in a guaranteed genuine del
Gesu, because it was spelt Cremonae, while del Gesu
always has Cremone. And this is not the only difference.

Of course, these are exceptional cases. Labels are as

a rule much less important, because the fiddles them-
 selves are not worth the trouble. There are millions
of "Stradivari" labels; Germany has the most Amatis
and Stainers; in France there are quite a lot of Lupots,
etc. These are insignificant cases and the label means
no more than an approximate pattern. It is the cunning
imitation which counts. If harm is done, the only con-
solation can be that it must be the work of an adroit
maker, who was himself a master and perhaps an old
one. A curious find was made by the Viennese violin-
maker Paul Hermann, who opened a Nicolo Amati
violin and found inside, nailed to the upper block,
and to the neck, another label in Stainer's handwriting:

Both labels are said to be authentic, and yet the visible

one is not true.
The Italian masters of the classical period knew the

~
dangers connected with labels. Some tricks were being
practised even then, which endangered the reputation
of the best among them. They had apprentices and
assistants, but supervised them closely and took care
themselves of the most delicate parts of the finish.

Antonio Stradivari was quite strict in this respect: the

words sub disciplina and revisto e correto mean what
they say. Of his sons two were priests and one a mer-
chant; the two violinmakers among them, Francesco
and Omobono, remained his assistants; both were old
men when he died and survived him by only a few
years, profitably busy with his estate. Violins with
their labels occur, but W. E. Hill and his brothers
once declared that they had never seen any work by
Omobono which they could guarantee as genuine.
Recognised instruments by Francesco are extremely
rare.
The valuation and assessmentof violins and the other
instruments of the violin family must be based firstly
on the qualities of the specimen itself, its beauty, build,
state of preservation, secondly the name of the master,
and finally on its tone. A famous name is cold comfort
if the instrument is a wreck or otherwise inferior. It
may seem curious that we put the tone, the raison
d'etre of the instrument, in third place. Yet, if a violin
plays well and looks uncouth, it is not the work of a good
master. If it is a masterpiece, beautifully and carefully
constructed, it will very probably sound well. If it can
be proved to be the work of a worthy member of a good
school, it is almost sure to have an excellent tone.
As for the timbre, the delight in it is undeniably sub-
jective, to a certain extent. There are, however, ex-
ceptions which prove the rule - namely the paragons
of perfection. Their tone is universally admired, because
they are endowed with blends of all the fine qualities
hitherto attained.
 Legal Notices

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