2. Antonio Stradivari, h. Petherick, 2nd Ed., 1913

8/16/2019 2. Antonio Stradivari, h. Petherick, 2nd Ed., 1913

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ANTONIO STRADIVARI.


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PRINTED BY J. H. LAVENDER AND CO.,

2, DUNCAN TERRACE, CITY kOAD, LONDON, N.

Printed in Great Briiain.


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HORACE PETHERICK.


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'*THE STRAD LIBRARY, No. VIII

ANTONIO STRADIVARI,

BY

HORACE PETHERICK.Of the Music Jury, International Inventions Exhibition,

South Kensington, 1885; International Exhibition,

Edinburgh, 1890; Expert in Law Courts, 1891Vice-President of the Cremona Society,

SECOND EDITION.

THE STRAD Office, 2, Duncan Terrace, City Road, N.JOHN LENG & CO., i86, Fleet Street, E.C.

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 597-599, Fifth Avenue.I913


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CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.PAGE

Date and place of birth of Antonio Stradivari —His instructorin the art of violin making —Peculiarity of his earlywork, nothing striking, but slowly progressive —Whichof the designs of his master he was most impressedby, and his own modifications for improvement —Hisdeparture from the house of his master free to carryout his own inclinations . . . . . . . . . . i

CHAPTER II.Details of further improvements upon his new designs

Modification of the soundholes —The Amati varnish andStradivari's —His secrecy of method in working —Hisknowledge of what was wanted and efforts at advance

in tone quality •• •• •• .. •• .. .. 8

CHAPTER III.

The date of the true Stradivarian individuality —Alterationsin design —Proportions settled for good —The exceptions—The • ' Long Strad ' ' —The ' ' Inlaid Strads —Anacknowledged master of his art —Black edging —Thearching and channelling —The Brescians, the Amatis andStradivari • • 13

CHAPTER IV.Lesser known patterns of Stradivari —The treatment of the

scroll by him —The individuality and maturing of thestyle —The purfling 19


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CONTENTS

CHAPTER V.PAGE

Stradivari's great success —His so-called grand epochHis patrons —His violins reputed for tone when quitenew and sought after —The help he received —Hisassistants and pupils —Parts of the work requiring hisindividual touch —The members of his family who mayhave assisted him —Stradivari's varnish —His imitators.. 22

CHAPTER VI.

Some modifications in Stradivari's works— Variation in finishof details —The interior of his violins —The blocks andlinings —The bar —Thicknesses of the tables —Heads orscrolls of his different periods . . . . . 42

CHAPTER Vn.Stradivari's tone and system —Those of his pupils and

assistants —Qualities of tone produced in differentlocalities .1 . . . . . . . . . • . . . . 56

CHAPTER VIII.

The reputed golden period of Stradivari late in life —Hislater modifications of design —Signs of old age appear-ing —The help he received . . . . . . . . . . 70

CHAPTER IX.

Evidences in Stradivari's work of old age —His death andburial —Work left by him —The advance in value of hiswork since his decease . . . , . . . . . . • • 79


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LIST OF PLATES.

PORTRAIT OF HORACE PETHERICK

PORTRAIT OF ANTONIO STRADIVARI

THE HOUSE OF STRADIVARI

STRADIVARI S WORKSHOP

PATTERNS OF VIOLINS

ILLUSTRATIONS OF SOUNDHOLES

ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCROLLS, FIG. a.

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FIG. h.

FIG. C.

FIG. d.

CHURCH OF ST. DOMENICO, CREMONA

Frontispiece

To face page i

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page 6

\ After page 48

97 )) 80


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PREFACE.

IT was in the month of April, 1898, when The Stradmonthly magazine had completed its eighth yearof issue, that the Editor suggested that then might

be an appropriate time for giving a biographical sketchof the great Cremonese master in serial form, expressedin a manner interesting and instructive as possible.With this view I took up the subject with some en-thusiasm and proposed to work upon lines which I

believed to be bound by truth. All references topeculiarities in connection with Stradivari's designs,construction and purposes should be the result of myown personal observation during many years of experi-ence as connoisseur and expert. In formulating myresults of study of a great number —possibly the majority—of the instruments of the master extant —I haveabstained as far as possible from using technical termsnot readily comprehended by a reader coming newly tothe subject, and I trust all persons reading through thematter now collected, added to, and presented in bookform, will find their time not mis-spent at least whenthey arrive at the conclusion.

Horace Petherick.

Croydon.


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INTRODUCTION.

IT was during the second half of the sixteenth centurythat the violin, with its well recognised combinedexcellencies of artistic form and musical sonority,

was started on its way in the world to supply a want and

prove its fitness as a leading instrument at once and forfuture times. So happily was this effected, so completeand mature was it in conception, that the advancingintellect of three centuries has proved incompetent toinsert any fresh and permanent addition to its originalsimple arrangement. Precisely as it came from thehands of an artistic and inventive genius in the city ofBrescia so we have it now, unchanged in its essential

details of construction, although having its naturalqualities made more evident after undergoing the modernadjustment with regard to accessories of detail, or regu-lation as it is termed. This has been effected by simplyenlarging some parts for the purpose of allowing morefreedom and convenience in the execution of moremodern music, its elaboration of rhythm, besides theextended range of notes in the higher positions of the

register, necessitating this. As might have been expectedin connection with the then still living Renaissanceperiod, on the violin making its appearance it was soontaken in hand by men of superlative talent, who stampedit with their own individuality in which was a marvel-lous perception of artistic quality. All that was to be


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INTRODUCTION

done by means of proportion, form and colour, not settingaside the essentials of refined sonority, were combined,each aiding in the grand total and producing that knownand so much sought after at the present day —a beautifulItalian violin. For about a century or more manyItalian liutaros were busily engaged in sending forthunder competition works which are now by the cogno-scenti treated as unrivalled excellence of quality,

classical, and the outcome of genius. Each workerbeing anxious to maintain the standard of excellence, ortake a step forward in the practice of their art, theculminating point seems to have been reached when theartist under consideration in the following pages wasexecuting his masterpieces in Cremona.


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ANTONIO STRADIVARI.


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ANTONIO STRADIVARI.

CHAPTER I.

DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH OF ANTONIO STRADIVARIHIS INSTRUCTOR IN THE ART OF VIOLIN MAKINGPECULIARITY OF HIS EARLY WORK, NOTHINGSTRIKING, BUT SLOWLY PROGRESSIVE —WHICH OFTHE DESIGNS OF HIS MASTER HE WAS MOSTIMPRESSED BY, AND HIS OWN MODIFICATIONS FORIMPROVEMENT —HIS DEPARTURE FROM THE HOUSEOF HIS MASTER, FREE TO CARRY OUT HIS OWNINCLINATIONS.

THE year 1644, although not particularly noticeableat the time for its portentous events, was destined

to be one of considerableinterest to those

whoare

enthusiastic lovers of the delightful quality of soundemitted by a certain section —and that only —of a classof stringed instruments which have made the city ofCremona famous throughout the civilised world. For inthat city and in that year was born a male child, whosesurname was eventually to eclipse by its own refulgencethe renown of the city itself. Its paternal name was

Stradivari; people trouble themselves very little aboutthe prefix Antonio, common enough in Italy, and whichwas the Christian name given him by his parents. Ofthese we can only say, that as might be supposed, theywere of a respectable portion of the middle class sociallyconsidered and from which have sprung all over the

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2 ANTONIO STRADIVARI

world —with few exceptions —the greatest luminaries ofthe whole firmament of intellect.

Of his private life during manhood we know verylittle, of his boyhood nothing. But we may fairly andtruly draw our conclusions that as the time arrived whenhe was supposed fit for training to fight life's battle, hehad already exhibited talent indicative of fitness forthat artistic branch of industry in which he was hereafterto be the world-wide acknowledged head.

That his special abilities were thoroughly recognisedby his parents receives much emphasis from the fact ofhis being offered to, and received as pupil by, NicolasAmati, greatest of that great family of stringed instru-

ment makers. Young Antonio was thus placed in themost favourable situation possible for the fructifying anddevelopment of his own particular talents. That portionof his life which was spent with the great master of linein violin facture, will, probably, in its details alwaysremain a blank to us ; but there is a lightning-like flashthrown out by the fact of old Nicolas Amati bequeathinghis collection of tools, patterns, etc., to Antonio Stradi-vari, and, be it noticed, not to his own son, then overthirty years of age. That the future master of his crafthad been a steady and beloved pupil of his great teacher,there is no room for doubt ; indeed, steadiness, fixity ofpurpose and honest intention, are manifested in his workduring the whole of his career. The earliest of hishandiwork has become known to us while he was withNicolas Amati. In this he exhibits extreme delicacy ofhandling, and seemingly, in the confidence of his master,certain little modifications in the design of the soundholes were permitted, or perhaps passed as improvements,but there is nothing eccentric or extravagant introduced,

a gentle addition, or a trifle less here and there, being theway in which he ever cautiously worked out his idea ofimprovement, and this latter seems to have been themoving spirit during his whole life.

At no time do we meet with sudden departures, orwhat are sometimes termed flashes of genius —the onward


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ANTONIO STRADIVARI 3

progress of his style of design and its execution was

as unimpassioned as his Hfe was uneventful. When weexamine the earliest known work of his hand —it may beobserved on some of the late violins of his master— thereis plainly perceptible the efforts at excelling where at allpossible ; and if, as is extremely probable —his masterwas sometimes desirous that the puriling should be some-what bolder than was to the taste of his refined pupil,this was inserted with a delicacy and precision beyond

what had been before deemed the acme of finish.His departure from the house of Nicolas Amati had to

be taken some day in the ordinary course of events, andhe would then act alone in competition among the grow-ing swarms of makers who were now busy as bees inmost parts of Italy. The start is generally reckoned tohave occurred between the years 1664 and 1666 ; it mayhave been in 1665, when he had reached his twenty-firstyear.

That old Nicolas Amati was right in his estimate thatyoung Antonio Stradivari's natural abilities auguredwell for his success as a liutaro, was now to be proven.With the best possible recommendation —that of beingtrained by the most distinguished maker of the city —hecarried others no less necessary for the long course ofthought and labour that he was about to enter upon.These were, an earnest desire for improvement in all hisundertakings, natural, indigenous ability for tastefuldesign and its mechanical execution and the power ofsteady concentration of the faculties, backed up withalby a sound, physical constitution in which nerves ofiron must have been a conspicuous element.

To those who at the time may have been lookingforward with some speculation as to what young Stradi-vari would put forth now that his course was free and un-trammelled before him, there was probably some disap-pointment at finding no signs of striking originality, nospasmodic struggles of genius to assert itself by throwingaside those individualities, general and detailed, whichwere so well marked in the work of his great teacher,

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and which as pupil he had been studiously and con-

scientiously carrying out. On the contrary, his effortsseem to have been rather to draw the mantle thrown byhis master closer around him than to dispense with anypart of its protective power. Thus we see in his worksof this period which have remained to us, very little morethan replicas of those of his master in which he for someyears perhaps had taken no inconsiderable part. Butin doing this, the intention and power of selection guided

by sound judgment at once asserted itself. He did nottake that pattern known to us moderns by the name of*' grand, and which term was in all likelihood quiteunthought of by either himself or his master. Whoinvented it is a question that may be left complacentlyto the bookworm of the future.

There is really nothing in the so-called grandpattern of Nicolas Amati that seems to agree happilywith that title ; it is, on the other hand, one in which thelove of dainty elegance of contour has been allowedalmost unrestricted play by its author, and to an extentundreamt of before. He perceived, however, that therewas a limit, a step further, and disaster would be certain ;Nicolas was sufficiently wide awake not to take it, butleft it for his hosts of imitators, many of whom, notgifted with the same perspicuity, rushed in whereangels fear to tread, their just reward being laughterand derision. The attainment of elegance at the expenseof strength and stability was not at all in agreement withStradivari's artistic tastes, and we accordingly have noevidence of his having touched the so-called *' GrandAmati ; that which he did take up with was less com-plex in the subdivision of its curves, and a more simplelooking thing altogether. To him it may have seemedto have more of the true characteristic quality alwaysaccompanying the grand in art, that of simplicity. Itwas this pattern, and this only, so far as our informationgoes —that Stradivari took as the basis on which anyfuture developments should be grounded. He workedupon it for some time seemingly to his own contentment


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mafmmm—t-- —'

THE HOUSE OF ANTONIO STRADIVARI.


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and probably the satisfaction of his patrons, these beingsufficiently numerous and influential to enable him eremany years had passed to think of purchasing a house.*This he accomplished in the year 1680, when he wasthirty-six years of age. Now be it noted Stradivari hadbeen working on the simplest of Amati patterns for four-teen years, and during that time from his steady industrythe number of violins, besides other instruments of thefamily, which left his atelier must have been very large.

Thesimilarity in

type andregularity of excellence in

finished workmanship was almost enough to haveimpressed the connoisseurs of the day that there was nooriginality or speculation in the maker, but it was justabout this time that the independency of thought beganto manifest itself ; it was almost as if the acquisition ofthe freehold property had stimulated the self-reliancewhich had no doubt always been present, but which was

now to show itself more clearly in his art. He had beenin practice long and successfully enough to give a rightclaim to mastership. The veteran Nicolas Amati, whowas now over eighty years of age, had probably beendoing little or nothing for some time, and so his pupil,with all his admiration for the retiring chief, felt at fullliberty to do really as he liked.

The step he took, insignificant enough to the casual

observer now, must have been equally so then, butproved one of the most important ever taken in thisbranch of art, considering the restraints necessarilyencompassing any efforts at original design. This isperhaps the more evident when the main features of theAmati designs and others of the time are analysed. Itwill be seen that the upper and lower thirds of the designhave much in common with each other, and that themiddle or waist partakes also of the same characteristics,the whole being a series of full rounded curves, varied

* Our illustration of this house is from a photo. It will benoticed that it has not an imposing exterior and not much indica-tion of the more spacious premises in the rear where the greatmaster worked.


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ANTONIO STRADIVARI

No. I. No. 2. No. 3-

No. I. Grand Nicolas Amati. No. 2. Nicolas Amati pattern

of Stradivari. No. 3. First independent pattern ofStradivari.


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as required to harmonise and flow with ease and graceto the squared corners. The slightest possible narrow-

ing or decrease in the size of the upper of the waistcurve and a corresponding enlargement of the lower part,served in the hands of Stradivari to impart a differentaspect to the whole pattern. The waist, now lesspinched in at the middle, looked longer without beingreally so. The parts above the upper corners and thosebelow the lower ones were modified, the large curvesbecoming a little flatter just before blending with the

smaller ones. From these alterations, each one triflingin itself, there resulted what may be called the first orearliest Stradivari pattern ; in it were the germs of allthe succeeding ones that contributed more and more tothe fame of their designer as they appeared. Thenatural caution or indisposition to throw^ aside onepattern before a fair trial of the newest had provedacceptable to his numerous patrons, was possibly thecause of Stradivari's running the older designs alongsidethe newest creations of his fancy. Thus we find thatmixed with the innovations are what he might havecalled his old Amati pattern, probably off the samemoulds that he had used when first starting in businesson his own account, or even before.

[Our illustration of Stradivari's atelier is from a painting byRinaldi, the sketch for which was made on the premises, Thechurch of St. Domenico, Cremona, was demolished some twenty yearssince and our illustration is from a photo taken just before the event.The Chapel of the Rosary, being the place where Antonio Stradivariwas interred, is the one below and to the right of the tower andlighter in colour than the others].


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CHAPTER II.

DETAILS OF FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS UPON HIS NEWDESIGNS —MODIFICATION OF THE SOUND HOLESTHE AMATI VARNISH AND STRADIVARl's —HISSECRECY OF METHOD IN WORKING—HIS KNOW-LEDGE OF WHAT WAS WANTED, AND EFFORTS ATADVANCE IN TONE QUALITY.

LEAVING the consideration in general of the designsof Stradivari's early days, that is, for such a longlife, we may look over some of the details. It is

well known to connoisseurs that the handiwork of NicolasAmati was during his best days of the utmost delicacy ;in his later work we notice an approach to heaviness insome respects. The very beautiful subdivisions andsubtleties of the curves in pattern and modelling began

to disappear and the purfling became bolder. YoungStradivari, when working on some of his master's violins,seems to have been allowed to do some of this, probablywith the material given out by old Nicolas. Thework of the young man may be known by its greaterdecision, such as would be reasonably expected ; butafter leaving the Amati household the natural benttowards exceeding refinement soon asserted itself. Thepurfling, particularly after some years, is narrower, andinserted with a precision and ease in its courseimpossible to excel, even if approachable. The mitringat the corners ends in a bent point in the mannerintroduced by Hieronymus Amati and not, as has beenstated, by Stradivari ; the latter carried out the ideas of


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Nicolas in making it very sharp, and this mannerism hecontinued throughout the whole of his career.

Stradivari from the first made his sound holes moreperpendicular than those of his master ; after leavinghim they also became more slender and the upper andlower wings wider and closer to the opposing curve.The precision and sharpness of the cutting of theseparts has become the standard of excellence to whichhundreds of Stradivari's imitators of different countriesand times have striven to attain. It is, perhaps, in these

parts of the different instruments —for Stradivari soongot to work on all the four sizes, besides other kindsnot played with the bow —that his fine nervous systemmanifests itself, the sureness of his knife w^hen passingalong from one point to another leaving an edge uprightand clean as cut glass, yet with a free grace of linenever excelled by any master of the renaissance period.

Of the parts the young assistant of Nicolas Amati

was allowed to put his individuality to, conspicuouslystands the scroll. The one typical of Nicolas's laterdays, although free and elegant, yet had a somewhatheavier touch about it, possibly the master was graduallylosing his muscular power, more necessary to exert inthis matter of detail than any other. Stradivari beganhis own type by bringing the first turn from the axis or*' eye a little higher up than that of his master ; the

axis itself is a trifle larger and flatter, the edges of theturns are squared off with a machine-like exactness thatdoes not interfere with the ease and flow of line. Thepeg box is strong and ample, after a few years it becamemassive, more so occasionally than is to be met with atany other time, the grooves down the back are not sodeep, the termination or shell likewise and a littlewider.

That Nicolas Amati would by any possibility neglectto duly initiate his favourite pupil in the mysteries andsecrecies whereby his work should receive its finalcrowning adornment, its envelopment in the thin film ofglory, is not to be thought of. The lustrous solution


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that was so fitting an accompaniment to the daintydesigns of the Amatis, was from the first handled witha masterly dexterity and perfect knowledge by Stradi-vari. Most of the early work is covered with theorange or amber colour that were the prevailing tints onthe early productions of the brothers Amati as well asNicolas. It is somewhat curious that most of theprominent varnishers among the liutaros of Italy seemedto prefer this in their early days : or was it that thedeeper or more intense colours required longer experi-ence in management ? Anyhow, so it was, and Stradi-vari seems to have been no exception to the generalrule. If a well-preserved early Stradivari is placed side

by side with one of the brothers or Nicolas Amati'samber coloured specimens, the varnish enveloping themwill be seen to be precisely alike, whether considered inrespect of transparency, consistency or thickness. Hereis an indication that for the best part of a century,these clever artificers of Cremona had the same stuff,used it in precisely the same manner, to a hair's breadth,for they knew there was no going beyond it ; everypart of the process was methodically carried out incompliance with certain laws known to, or institutedby, previous masters. There is an old Latin mottoimplying that the perfection of art is to conceal art ;

—it has often been quoted in illustrative reference,sometimes with sly humour, at others in more seriousvein, for instance, when an eminent judge's judicial wigwas known to have beneath it another of equally naturalpretensions, and when quoted as the motto for the yearin a Royal Academy catalogue, to be interpreted by thenoble army of rejected outsiders as meaning extraefforts that year by the Council at concealment or

suppression of art that was superior to their own.But if there ever was an instance in which this motto

could with strictest appropriateness be applied, it wasthe work of Stradivari. Most if not all of the knownmasters have at times shown by some little accident orother their method of working, thus, notwithstanding the


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ANTONIO STRADIVARI II

extremely careful and finished work of the Amati family,there is occasionally to be seen some unobliterated signs

—truly very slight —of their having traced their patternon the wood for either the sound holes or the turns ofthe scroll. Stradivari left no evidence of this, nor areany distinct traces left inside or out that would betraythe manner, kind of tool, or direction of working.Further, in most beautiful specimens by the brothersAmati, besides other great varnishers, some faint indi-cations have been seen of imperfectly dissolved resin, but

not so with Stradivari, who carried out to the letter inthis department of his art, that steadfastness of purposein striving to do in the best way, that which his judg-ment had pronounced to be the best thing to accomplish.He further carried this out afterwards in the applicationof the deeper coloured and usually softer varnishes,which when manipulated by other m^asters of the sameschool, have frizzled or cockled from some cause. This isseldom if at all to be observed in any of Stradivari'swork, he seems to have taken every possible precautionfor preventing change in aspect after the instrument hadreceived his final touches.

We may now retrace our steps for awhile and takeup another thread of the fabric of Stradivari's individu-ality, that which is in fact by dealers ignored andby players adored. There can be no question thatduring his minority under the great Amati, youngAntonio must have been much interested in hismaster's fame for imparting a fine quality of tone to hisinstruments. It must soon have been apparent to himthat success in his career would not be achieved by pro-gress in the artistic part of his work alone. The criticsof the day, who must have been sufficiently numerousand exacting in accordance with the advanced state ofthe art, would naturally be alive to any subtleties ofdifference between the productions of the reigning kingof liutaros and his successor. The onward progress ofmusical composition and increase in the numbers ofpublic performers, virtuosi, and others, demanded from


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an artificer taking this position, at least equal skill inproducing those essential qualities for which the city ofCremona had become famous. Old master and youngman probably had many a talk over what was best tobe done to keep pace with the increasing requirementsof the moment, and the time approaching when thehand of the former in the course of nature wouldlose its cunning. The hour came, the man was ready.Stradivari started forth from his master's house withfull confidence in having a true and good grasp ofthe wants of the moment and those looming in thefuture. In the good patronage which soon came tohim was contained the assurance that his estimate,although formed so early, was perfectly correct ; thence-forward he saw no reason for alteration in the typeof acoustical quality that distinguishes all of his

instruments, and that which he had once for all fixed

upon.Briefly the acoustical quality of his instruments may

be described as a further development of the tonebrought to such a high degree of excellence by the greatAmati ; an increase in the volume and energy, with moreequality of scale, while retaining all the other qualitiesthat had caused players and listeners alike to bedelighted, and which had given such renown to the

great family of liutaros in Cremona.


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ANTONIO STRADIVARI I3

CHAPTER III.

THE DATE OF THE TRUE STRADIVARIAN INDIVIDUALITYALTERATIONS IN DESIGN PROPORTIONS SETTLEDFOR GOOD THE EXCEPTIONS THE LONG STRAD

THE INLAID STRADS AN ACKNOWLEDGEDMASTER OF HIS ART —BLACK EDGING —THE ARCHINGAND CHANNELLING THE BRESCIANS, THE AMATISAND STRADIVARI.

WE now resume our consideration of the progres-sive development of the Stradivarian designas exhibited in the instruments of 1680 to

1690 or a Httle later. At the earliest of these dates thecomplete independency or self-consciousness of power,as a master liutaro, is already perceptible. There is nopossibility of these violins having been made on the

moulds usedduring his bachelorship.

People sometimesspeak of these instruments as being Amatise, whichis great nonsense ; had Stradivari died somewherebetween 1680 and 1690, they would have been rapturousin their admiration of his originality and widelyseparated ideas from those of the Amati, but as helived many years on and gave forth many more mani-festations of his own individuality, the likeness of these

1680 and 1690 to old Nicolas is eagerly searched forand often supposed to be evident. It v/as at this timethat Stradivari probably made more new moulds orblocks on which to construct, than at any other. Withsome few exceptions those that were now being madecould be used for any of his violins during the remainder


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of his career. The average proportions remain the

same, the differences are minute m measurement, not-withstanding their effectiveness in helping to a differentexpression in the designs. The exceptions referred toand made between the above dates are of a diverse kind.There is the well-known long Strad, of which oneauthor has said that it has received the title, notfrom increased length, but from the appearance ofadditional length which its narrowness gives it, and

which is particularly observable between the soundholes. The actual measurements of this pattern are,length 14 3/16 inches by greatest width 8 inches bare ascontrasted with the ordinary 14 by 8 1/8 ; it will thereforebe evident at once that there is a positive increase inlength, and a decrease in width. These violins are notvery rare as compared with the total work of Stradivariextant. Another variation, but now very seldom seen,is a pattern that may be said to be somewhat opposite inits tendencies, as it is a trifle shorter, but of full averagewidth, with a proportionately wider waist. This type ofviolin must have been sufficiently plentiful at one time,as one of the first Gaglianos made a deliberate copy of itthat is, so far as his Neapolitan idiosyncrasy and pridewould permit. Besides these were the inlaid Strads,instruments of the greatest beauty in all respects, buthaving instead of the ordinary purfling a broad blackfillet and diamond or lozenge-shaped ivory insertionsalternated with smaller circular ones ; they are furtherembellished with a floral inlaying round the sides or ribsand also on the sides and back of the scroll. Theseinstruments —Stradivari is known to have made aquartette of them for the Spanish court —are of thegreatest rarity. They are said to be all known, but thisstatement seems open to question when coupled withthe assertion that Stradivari made other similar but verysmall violins. The known ones are of very full size, theparties ordering them at the time possibly being alive tothe advantages of quantity as well as quality. Publicopinion since the time these were made has not grown in


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appreciation of the additional ornamentation. Theviolin pure and simple, with its single line of purflingonly as it left the hands of the first master of the art ofBrescia, is the one which has found the most lastingfavour with connoisseurs and the public generally.Decorative additions, in various and more or less eccen-tric or extravagant styles, have been introduced fromtime to time by enterprising liutaros of different countries,but the discerning portion of the public will have none,

and thereby pronounce the violin to be an unfit subjectfor extra clothing; beauty unadorned, adorned is most,is a figure of speech quite applicable to the simplicity ofthe violin as a work of art.

Stradivari, who had now acquired —at the period1680-90 —a standing as an acknowledged master of hiscraft, showed in his handiwork a decided leaning inconsonance with this, as —excepting these '' inlaidStrads

—he carefully refrained from introducing anyof the little tricks, or fanciful alteration of details, thatso many, even of his own countrymen, seem to have beenled to affix to their productions. After all, the *' inlaidStrads were probably so made, not at their maker'ssuggestion, but by desire of the patrons holding a highsocial position. Double purfled violins seem never tohave left his hands, as none appear to be extant and no

mention is made of any.There is one particular part of the finishing of the

violin which calls for remark, and in the absence ofevidence to the contrary must be put to the responsibilityof Stradivari. This is known as the '* black edging.'*It cannot come properly under the term decoration, asit has no variety in its management and consists only ofthe blackening of the squaring off of the junction of the

ribs ; likewise at the edges of the turns of the scroll andcontinued down the front and back of the peg-box tothe shell. Its first appearance is not possible to deter-mine and will probably remain unknown. NicolasAmati did not introduce it, his work being of the kindthat had no accommodation, or sufficient surface for it.


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l6 ANTONIO STRADIVARI

Once begun, however, Stradivari seems to have per-sistently held to it. There is no proof positive that itwas henceforth his invariable rule to put this kind offinish. The parts concerned are the first to receive andshow signs of wear ; therefore an instrument must bevery fresh indeed to have much black edging left.Viewed from an artistic standpoint it cannot be con-sidered an improvement, or any adornment, for, howeverneatly it is executed, the work of hand beneath is moreor less obscured. Further, the eye of the connoisseur isdistracted by it, and the neatness of the work is not seento advantage until the black has become nearly effaced.Other makers of renown besides Stradivari adoptedthis method of putting the final touches to their work,Giuseppe Guarneri, I.H.S., Carlo Bergonzi, and otherlater makers, among them Storioni.

Concerning the rise of the arching, or modelling ofthe periods above referred to, there has been mucherroneous supposition in connection therewith. Thatall the early Strads were of high build, that the pro-gress was gradual towards the flat model, that Stradi-vari was feeling his way and becoming enlightened asto the necessity of reducing the arching in order toobtain a fuller and more telling tone with better ring ;

further, that the channelling or scooping near theborder was gradually reduced for the same reasons, andthat these things did not reveal themselves at once, butgently dawned upon his perceptions ; moreover, that heearnestly communed with nature, made numberlessexperiments concerning her acoustical and othermysteries, and that the outcome was faintly looming inthe horizon and soon was to blossom forth as the golden

period, with grand pattern, all of which is really nothingmore than grand tomfoolery spread abroad a genera-tion since by critics having an eye only to suchthings that seemed to them agreeable with the condi-tions and surroundings of money-getting commodities.

These worthies were forgetful of the fact that thedifferent varieties of flat and high model, channelling


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deep or none at all, long waists and short waists, soundholes long, short, near or wide apart, had been well, ifnot exhaustively treated by the artists of the Brescianschool. To assume that those refined artificers, theAmati family and their disciples, were not conversantwith everything for or against the use of a flat modelwould be crediting them with but little mental capacity,particularly in respect of their perceptive faculties.Both Stradivari and his teacher must have been wellacquainted with the different high and low modelling ofGasparo da Salo, as well as that of his pupil Maggini,and others. He must have been aware that his ownmost generally used model of medium elevation, withslight exceptions both ways, was anticipated by each inturn. This, by the bye, disposes of any theory thatStradivari's distinctive quality of tone resulted, as isoften stated, from his adopting a different elevation to

what had been in use before. It may be fairly arguedthat if it had been true, as some writers have stated,that the flatter the model the better and stronger is thetone, then Stradivari would have been less gifted withsound judgment than he has been hitherto creditedwith ; some of his early modellings, 1680-90, being asflat, if not more so, than any known during his wholecareer. For his selection of the particular degree of

rise the reasons —for there were several —are not difficultto assign : —firstly, it was in consonance with his effortat achieving the most harmonious result —artisticallyin his designs ; the less determined rise in the archingbeing more agreeable with the disposition of linein the pattern that he had been settling down toposterity has emphatically endorsed his views in thisrespect ; secondly, having noticed that a more shallow

curve in the arching was quite favourable for the exhibi-tion of gracefulness, while it was accompanied by morestrength and permanency, with less liability during timeand usage to develop a stony or bumpy appearance.But while thus looking acutely forward to future eventu-alities in one direction, Stradivari was no less careful

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l8 ANTONIO STRADIVARI

to avoid reducing his model too much. Knowing the

soundpost would be certainly shifted occasionally, hesaw in the very flat model a source of danger lurking inthe difficulty of seeing and getting at the post, even withthe usual appliances at the command of the professionalrepairer or regulator, while the sound holes would bemuch more liable to damage than when the sufficientlyraised arching permits a fair use of the *' post setter.

He was also careful, while keeping the depth and widthof the channelling within reasonable bounds, not to letthe arching spring or commence too near the border, asthe screw cramps of the repairer, especially the largesized ones used in olden times would, unless mostskilfully and cautiously applied, soon register the pro-gress of the repairer on the varnish to the destruction ofthe beauty of appearance as a whole. These, then,appear to be the cogent reasons for the adoption of the

medium rise in the modelling by Stradivari.


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CHAPTER IV.

LESSER KNOWN PATTERNS OF STRADIVARI THETREATMENT OF THE SCROLL BY HIM, THE IN-DIVIDUALITY AND MATURING OF THE STYLE THEPURFLING.

DURING the period of 1690-1700 the modificationof parts of the pattern and details was sHghtbut nevertheless important. Occasionally the

upper corners drooped a little more, and when they arenow seen in fine preservation seem rather long in com-parison with later ones, but they are not really so, itbeing in the expression no doubt arising from thegreater robustness in the treatment of the cornerswhich now were becoming in aspect more square, butwith the usual peculiarities retained. There was alsoabout this time another modification sen,t forth, a patternthat has the waist curve narrowed in a trifle at about

two-thirds of the way upward, causing a slight suspicionof a wish to return to his old Nicolo Amati period, butit seems to have been only momentary, and beautifulas these violins are, they do not appear to have beenrepeated. They are in consequence very rare.

Accompanying these little variations there was aslight change in the treatment of the scroll; it becameless massive, while all the principal features of detail

were retained ; the grooves at the back were deepened alittle as they ran down to the shell, which last was madea degree less shallow. In the earlier part of this periodthe general contour has a little more flow in the disposi-tion of line, but later on this was checked, as if notmeeting with the full approval of the master, whose goal

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of ambition was kept steadily in view from the firstthat of introducing a design that should worthily rankas classical, and in its details and execution be suchthat no weak spot or joint of failure should be discern-able under the closest scrutiny. The sound holes nowreceived further attention and, it might be almost said,for the last time, as they were continued to the end ofStradivari's career with no particular or intentionalmodification. In length there was no alteration, butthe design seems more condensed, more compact, yetslightly wider in the opening. This is all accomplishedwithout losing the smallest touch of grace, and althoughfirm in the extreme it has the opposite of any tendencyto hard geometrical form. Stradivari seems to havehad some feeling of contentment with it, for althoughlittle differences of measurement in minute particularsoccur afterwards, no modification in character isattempted. He was most exact in imparting his ownindividuality in every instance. It is in this departmentof the liutaro's art that the imitators or forgers of Stradi-vari's work have found such an insurmountable block inthe way of success. The impossibility hitherto of im-parting the requisite identical expression, notwithstand-mg the most careful examination and tracing, constantlyadds force to an old saying among dealers that tomake a perfectly successful imitation of Stradivari hemust be a Stradivari himself. In this view it is obviousthat a maker having the sure consciousness of possessingthe power of the master would no longer make tracingsof him, but bring out his own originals. Among thescores and scores of imitators, some of them havingachieved considerable renown as such, the best of them

have not succeeded further than giving their own impressto their tracing of the master's work. This is quite apartfrom their failure to reproduce the master touch in otherbranches of the liutaro's art.

In the composition of his purfling he had been, beforethe periods under consideration, somewhat unsettled, buthe now seemed to have come to a conclusion that the


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middle or light coloured portion should be a trifle widerthan the dark or outer portion. This was also for a

permanency with but little variation. The three partsare probably of the same kind of wood, with the outerportion darkened by artificial means and not wood withits natural colour, as in so many early works. But therewas no change in the manner of insertion. There wasthe same firm, upright handling of the purfling tool,which, as in his early period, was sent along with unerringprecision and cut its way through hard and soft woodcleanly and equally well. In this respect of mechanicaldexterity, the great master has had few rivals ; he wasapparently equally at home in subduing to his require-ments a log of tough, curled maple, as in gently reducingthe exquisitely refined growth of pine that was to act asa soundboard in throwing out the luscious quality oftone associated with his name. It was not always soamong the most eminent of Italian liutaros. Many ofthem have left unmistakable evidence of impatiencewhen trying to overcome the resistance of the tortuouslygrained maple in turn with the much softer and straightthreaded pine. There was a peculiarity connected withthe purfling that must not be overlooked, and that is,its passing through the little pegs at the upper andlower part of the instrument, and which is most care-fully attended to by modern close imitators, so thatpeople should be convinced, if possible, that theirs isthe real thing. Stradivari, however, may not have con-ceived the idea of there ever being in the future theswarms of his imitators, who, for the last century, havebeen but too evident in consequence of the daily increas-ing admiration or even reverence for his work. It is notsurprising, therefore, that for some reason known onlyto himself, he,

onrare occasions, did

not runthe purfling

through the peg, or to be more strictly correct, the pegwas inserted clear of the purfling line. That this pegpeculiarity is no point of recognition may be inferred fromthe fact that Stradivari's teacher, Nicolas Amati, treatedit in like manner, besides several of his contemporaries.


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CHAPTER V.

Stradivari's great success —his so-called grandEPOCH HIS patrons —HIS VIOLINS REPUTED FORtone when quite NEW AND SOUGHT AFTER —THEHELP HE RECEIVED —HIS ASSISTANTS AND PUPILSPARTS OF THE WORK REQUIRING HIS INDIVIDUALTOUCH —THE MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY WHO MAYHAVE ASSISTED HIM STRADIVARl'S VARNISH —HISIMITATORS.

THE period 1700-15 or thereabouts, found Stradivarinot only an acknowledged master of his craft butamong his contemporaries recognised as the head.

His business had been all along steadily flourishing, hispatrons had been of high social position, some mostillustrious, others actually royal. Among the latter theKmg of Poland stands out in relief as having speciallysent an envoy to Cremona and that he had to wait threemonths before he could retire with his commissionfulfilled. Whether he ran in danger of being decapitatedfor hanging about Cremona so long is not known,but one thing is certain, that patrons royal, illustrious,

of high social standing and refined tastes, wanted the

newly-made violinsof Stradivari that could never have

been played upon, almost in the absolute sense of the

term, while they could have easily obtained well seasoned,well tried instruments of makers who had lived longbefore. Here is a nut to crack for those who per-sistently assert the necessity and efficacy of age and use

to bring tone to maturity. If any further evidence should


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be thought necessary to support the assumption of theequal excellence of the new Stradivaris with those that

remain with us at the present time, it is contained inthe praise of those who heard and used them when quitefresh, declaring the agreeableness of the tone to bebeyond rivalry.

Stradivari may be said to have been now in theenjoyment of the plenitude of his powers. Successwas attendant upon him without intermission. Tradi-tion says he was reputed in the locality as positively

rich, but we do not hear of his aspiring to civic honoursas alderman, vestryman, guardian or councilmancommon or otherwise —as the outcome of the posses-sion of full coffers. Stradivari simply went on makingfiddles. In a position to secure the best materials inthe respect of quality, artistically and acoustically con-sidered, he put the best workmanship upon them ; alsohe further selected the best help which, in common withall eminently successful artists, he must have found itnecessary to employ.

We now arrive at a point when the question may befairly put, how much help did he have, and of what kindwas it ?

As Stradivari left no record behind as to the numberof pupils trained on his premises, or assistants who cameperhaps as improvers, we are left to do our best in theway of inference. In the first place we may take up theacknowledged fact of his having turned out an enormousnumber of musical instruments during his very lengthycareer ; and it must be remembered that his energieswere not centred alone in turning out magnificent violins,but that the viola, violoncello, double-bass, besides someof the then not quite obsolete viols of different sizes andfantastic forms received his attention. These had to beproduced at the requirements of his patrons, of whommany had probably not yet completely emerged from themisty musical atmosphere with which the fanciful formswith florid decorations seemed so intimately bound.Further, the fittings for them had to be made pre-


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sumably on the premises of the maestro and not as atpresent in foreign parts. At the time there

wasnot

existent that extensive and special manufacture ofbridges, tailpieces, tail-pins, and pegs that forms a largeand significant branch of commerce at the present day.That the violin bridge especially was a production ofthe Stradivari establishment and not made in Ger-many, is sufficiently indicated by its present formhaving been introduced by Stradivari. On comparingit with the different patterns of bridges that had beenissued by the previous masters of Cremona, it will beseen at once that the master mind of Stradivari hadeffected improvements that have their counterpart in thedesigns of his violin patterns. We may notice the suc-cessful efforts at stability with simplicity, just enoughof detail that would lend itself in completing the harmonyof the whole design, while dispensing with every un-

necessary angle or curve. Of the fingerboard and tail-piece we cannot speak in the same terms ; the masterseems to have accepted the manner of treating theseparts as handed down by preceding generations fromGasparo da Salo, and thought there was no need for

alteration. The design of the inlaid ornamentation onboth these accessories was, of course, of a kind withwhich the house of Stradivari would be identified and

the execution also in accordance. Of the tailpin andpegs, with the decoration of both, the same may be said.

All these particulars point to considerable time spentin direct supervision after the preliminary designs hadbeen made by the principal. This would reduce theavailable time for direct manual labour at his disposal.There would occasionally be some time spent in the dis-crimination for purchasing of particular choice kinds ofpine and maple, these requiring the closest attention.Whether samples were brought for Stradivari's inspec-tion by agents or their principals, or whether the maestrotook journeys to particular districts where the exactkind of wood suitable to his requirements was to be had,we know not, but there seems to be much probability


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that the latter was his mode of obtaining that splendidgrowth of pine, both in appearance and tone-producing

quality, with which he brought about such beautifulresults. This, when obtained, had to be carefully storedaway until such time as it might be required for imme-diate use. The cutting down and sawing up intolengths for different instruments would not be such as amaker with less patronage would personally engage inwe can therefore place this aside from the time-consumingduties. There is, in the foregoing, enough and muchover for reasonable inference that v/ith a master suchas Stradivari, having the refined taste and adaptabilityfor work, there v/as a considerable amount, if not all, ofthe merely mechanical work done according to his com-mand or under his eye. This would naturally enoughincrease in proportion as the business connection grew.There would be in this nothing differing from what hasbeen habitual with eminent professors in all branches ofart ; as far back as Phaedias, Praxitelles and Appellesof the ancient classic Greek period. Later on it is wellknown that many of the masterpieces of the Renaissanceperiod had much work upon them other than thatimmediately from the master's own hand. If this werenot permissible, the number of the grandest creations ofartistic genius would be most seriously limited. Raphaeland his contemporaries, Rubens and Rembrandt, besidesmany other masters, are well known to have hadnumerous pupils in their studios engaged in carrying outideas previously determined upon and drawn out fortheir guidance. These assistants were gradually drawninto the way and habit of thinking of their masters, andon leaving them, their own individuality or naturaltendency uniting with what they had absorbed of theirmaster's manner, the blending of the two became a freshproduction of style. If we take this as our guide insumming up the probable amount of help that wasdrawn upon by Stradivari during his career, especiallythat part at which, in our consideration of him and hisworks, we had arrived, it cannot possibly lead us far


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from the actual facts. Taking into account the known

pupils or assistants who received the benefits of personalinstruction from Antonio Stradivari, they are morenumerous than we can affix to the name of any othermaster, as it must be borne in mind that Stradivari hadinitiated a fresh style, the influence of which wasdestined to be of a more far reaching character than anyhitherto coming to the front. The Stradivarian schoolbecame the foremost, most numerous and soon was to

be the most imitated, of all. Among the earliest of hispupils (the precise number or even the names of all willnever be known), may be placed Alexander Gagliano ofNaples, working with him about the period of 1680 andsome years later, one or two others of the Gaglianofamily may have been workmen in the Stradivari atelier.Lorenzo Guadagnini, Joannes Battista, his son andJosef of Pavia all claim to have lent a helping hand andreceived instruction, and there is nothing in their workthat is in contradiction. The first became a greatmaster of the Milanese school and was afterwardsrivalled by his son, who was more cosmopolitan and notidentified with one place in particular. I cannotinclude the names of Montagnana or Gobetti, which havebeen frequently referred to by various authors as pupilsof Stradivari ; a close examination of their style andworkmanship leads to a different fountain of inspiration,notwithstanding which they both unquestionably wereat one time influenced by the work of the greatCremonese artist as it arrived in Venice. Of CarloBergonzi, a great master, it is a well established factthat he worked with Stradivari and probably did muchmore for him as assistant than is generally acknowledged,but that he was originally a pupil is not in keeping withthe early and varying patterns which have gone underhis name. Further on it will be necessary to referto this luminary of the art. We must not forget thetwo sons of Stradivari, Franciscus and Omobono, whoreceived their initiation at the hands of their father andworked with him for many years, carrying on the


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business after his decease. Rumour has brought forthanother name as pupil or workman with Stradivari, andwhose identification with some fine specimens of theliutaro's art may yet prove an interesting study. Arelative of the master, we should expect to find his workstrongly tinged with the Stradivarian characteristics.His tickets are said to have been all removed in veryearly times after their insertion and that one only isknown to have been preserved intact. Of the greatrival —in public estimation —of Stradivari, JosephGuarnerius, I.H.S., it can only be said there is not asingle feature in his handiwork, style or tone, agreeingwith the supposition that he at any time was hispupil or assistant, moreover, having by me distinctevidence of his pupilage of another maker of a differentschool, will of course prevent the inclusion of hisname.

The number of pupils and assistants who workedwith or under the supervision of Stradivari in his prime,might, if we knew all, be more considerable than weshould be prepared to expect. The proportion in theusual course of nature of those able to single out a pathfor themselves, prove their individuality superior to theirfellows or eventually become of great eminence, must ofnecessity have been comparatively small. There may

have been many working on and off under the eyeof the master at different periods who were withoutambition or the talent to rise above the position ofhumble helpers among their more talented brethren,born to be assistants only, and, in consequence, neverheard of outside the studio. These, and the beforementioned, must all have had something to do with theinstruments their master was sending forth into the

world ; the more clever ones being intrusted with someresponsibility on particular work. It is not impossibleto fix upon the parts the assistants probably would beallowed to work upon. In the first place, all the design-ing, drawing out and tracing down of the pattern on tothe mould, or on to the unprepared blocks that were to


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be carved into necks, scrolls, or marked out for ribs,

would be Stradivari's.The different stages succeeding each other would be

most likely as follows— firstly, the master having beencommissioned by a wealthy patron to make of his bestpattern and highest fmish a quartet of instruments, hewould take from his store of choice pine and sycamore,which he had taken so much trouble and skill in collectingtogether, such pieces as appeared to him suitable for

the instruments to be constructed. The upper andlower tables had previously been hewn or sawn to size,then the jointed back and front, if both were so, planedcarefully and made ready for the master's work, whichwould first come on to the wood as a careful tracingfrom his original design. Sometimes the tracing downmay have been done by some advanced pupil or com-petent assistant. We may fairly assume the presencehere of one or two, if not more, assistants, besides apupil or improver. One would be selected for the bow-sawing of the pattern, another afterwards receiving it forroughly gouging out according to measurements at handor marked by the master. Another had meanvvhile thebending of the thin slips for the ribs to the necessary

curves, or working down the corner and end blocks thathad been affixed to the mould. Another, if not the same,might have been carrying out the first stages of theworking of the scroll, or perhaps a very competent andtrusty assistant would be allowed, under the eye ofthe master, to work on more advanced forms, makingready for the final or necessary touches of the master

hand. The sound holes may have been traced downand even the upper and lower circular holes bored.Further, it is not impossible, that after the modelling of

the back and front had been sufficiently advanced, theglueing and screwing down was intrusted to an assistant,and even some of the finishing up with glass paperor other material in use at the time and place, ofparts of minor importance. These are, perhaps, themajority of the details in which the individuality of


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the handwork of the master was not obligatory inevidence.

In summing up what could have been done by otherhands than those of the busy master, it would beextremely difficult, if not impossible, unless we admitits presence, to account for the extremely large outputof the great Cremonese, even when taking fully into thebalance his very industrious habits and extraordinarylong working career. Assuming the above view to bereasonable, the number of new instruments which leftthe Stradivari house must have been very large. Itis well known that the master undertook the repairs ofmusical instruments, which department would requiresome personal attention or supervision, even if actuallyexecuted by his assistants or his two sons, Francescusand Omiobono, who, when their father died, were notvery young, the first being sixty-five years of age, andthe other iifty-five. They had most likely worked withtheir parent for about forty years and must havedone much of making and repairing, that is, creditingthem with some of their father's industrial tendencies.Stradivari had two other sons by his first wife,Francesca Ferraboschi, one, Giulio, died 1707, agedforty ; the other, Allesandro, in 1732, aged fifty-five.Nothing seems to be known as to whether they werebrought

upby their father in his

owncraft or not ; if

theywere, there was time for them also to have done muchwork with him. There was a son by his second wife,Antonia Zambelli, who died 1727, aged twenty-four, whounder the same circumstances may have helped. Wehave thus five sons of Stradivari, who, if they were alltaught the art, may have been working together, besidesother assistants at the same time. Carlo Bergonzi has

already been mentioned, but although he came late intothe field, yet there seems a slight indication that he mayhave had to supply the place of others who had departedfor the carrying out of their own schemes.

Having so far roughly estimated the kind and amountof work, not necessarily his own, on the violins that were


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sent forth by Antonio Stradivari, we may glance at the

particulars of detail that demanded his handiwork andthat solely. That there were keen connoisseurs livingat the time of Stradivari, as also in the previous centuryand earlier, there is no room for doubting. Workers inart reduce their inspirations to tangible forms helped bycolour that people may see them and, comparing themwith what may have gone before and have been executedat the same time, pass judgment on them. In like manner

Stradivari, like other masters before him, knew that hishandiwork would be scrutinised as well as the tone ofhis instruments. It was therefore obligatory that pur-chasers should know his work, that in fact his signmanual should be always present. Contemporaneouswith him were makers, artists, who had been initiatedin the mysteries of the manufacture and application ofthe wonderful varnishes which have since by their

qualities made them famous throughout the civilisedworld. There was nothing, however, in the material orits application that could, under the closest examination,be discerned as different to what might be seen on thebest instruments of the Amatis —these must have beennumerous at the time —the Ruggieris or the \'enetianmasters, but these did not in the application invariablywork up to a certain standard of excellence, whereasStradivari always did. There was a consummate beautyof result in this branch of the liutaro's art known atthe time to many, beyond which it seemed not possibleto go. It was, therefore, more in the construction andworkmanship then, that the sign manual was perceptible.With this view Stradivari seems to have been careful tolet the evidence of no hand but his own be seen in partsthat were sure to be closely scrutinised as evidence.

Standing first perhaps in importance would be thecutting of the sound holes, the design and careful draw-ing of these being completed, and cut in metal —it issaid thin copper was used by him —they may have beenmostly traced down by himself on the pine of the uppertable prepared and in readiness to receive it, although


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ANTONIO STRADIVARI 3I

this part without much danger could have been done byan intelligent and experienced assistant. The cuttingand finishing with the thin keen-edged knife, however,must be his, the slightest shaving over the traced line ornot quite up to it would be sufficient to impart a totallydifferent character to the whole. There is no part of theviolin in which the sum total of the native characteristicsand ability are shown to such exactitude as the cuttingof these all-important and expressive openings. In thoseof Stradivari is to be seen the same firmness of purposeand strict curbing of the fancy from proceeding too far,or allowing stability to be over balanced by love of grace-fulness, as seen in the designs of his eminent master.To allow no weak part to be perceptible ; strength ofline with sufficient grace, admirable proportion andbalance, and yet withal sufficient expression of mobilityand freedom from heaviness were each, seemingly inturn, given the best attention by the great genius ofCremona. It is not using extravagant language whenthey are termed the eyes of the violin, for it is to thesethat experienced connoisseurs turn their attention at oncewhen inspecting a violin of character nevv^ly placed beforethem. Cut by an Italian, cut by a Frenchman, by aGerman, by a nobody in particular or who understoodnothing about it, are the thoughts arising in the mind.Each country has its peculiar

and native rendering ofevery sound hole that was first designed in Italy. Thistendency to impart their own national characteristics byeach native workman, runs parallel v/ith that in pictorialart in the transferring to various materials the impressionsreceived after study of the original or animated reality.To many the sound holes of an Italian gem of the highestclass are but sound holes that are more neatly done or

prettier than usual. To others they will be the expres-sion in that simple form of an exquisitely acute per-ception of what will excite pleasureable emotions withregard to delicately balanced proportions, graceful flowof line, and freedom from all appearance of effort. Thatthere is much in little concerning this, is proved by the


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non-success of all foreign copyists to give a reproduction

of the Italian native touch to these details. That thisis not an overdrawn description, may be seen on a closecomparison between an original Stradivari of almost anyperiod and the most closely traced, laboriously studiedand keenly cut sound holes of any of the modern imitators.All have failed signally over these two apparently simpleopenings on the surface of the upper table.

Notwithstanding this, it may be said there are scarcelytwo violins alike in respect of expression of these adorn-ments of the structure, each instrument is made to con-vey its own impression, or display its particular kind ofbeauty. There is a difference, scarcely to be measuredmathematically, that in one it will be suggestive of mas-culine strength, while in another it will be exquisitefeminine grace.

In none of the imitations of the masters are there seenthese qualities expressed in the same degree and kind.It has often been said, and there is more than a sub-stratum of truth in the remark, that, to copy a Stradi-vari successfully —of course, in the fullest sense of theword — the copyist must be a Stradivari himself.There might, appropriately, be an addition put to this,namely, that a man who could work up to the dizzyheight of his ambition in this way, would not copy, butmake originals.

Another detail of the workmanship always attendedto by the master himself, was that of the purfling. Muchhas been said of the wonderful accuracy of Stradivari'spurfling and that as a purfler he stands unrivalled.This must not be taken in the widest sense, as therehave been, and are living, scores and scores of makers

whohave cut a rut round the border of a fiddle as

sharply, and inserted the three conventional lines of darkand light wood as deftly as it could be by the hand ofany man, be he named Amati, Stradivari, Ruggieri,Tononi, or Montagnana. There is a degree of evennessand keenness of cutting and clear insertion beyondwhich it is not possible to go. But there the imitators


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come to a full stop. Without the inventive power whichwill make this curious, simple, yet wonderful little filletaid in giving the desired expression to the whole work,the imitator is not —as people say nowadays —in therace. The finishing of the border, the corners and thedelicate and often very elaborate system of curvesaround the sound holes, the hollowing of the wings ofthese latter, and the final surfacing of both back andfront, I have no doubt had Stradivari's individual

attention. All the delicate and small work of the scroll,perfecting that elegant flow of line and finish of eachturn of the volute, as if everything depended on theexactness of its individuality, obliterating all marks ofthe tooling and giving his own impress to the gougingof the shell and even the completion of the peg-boxthen last and not least, the preparation and applicationof that pellucid envelope that was to serve two purposes,

utility and enrichment of effect.With regard to this, much has been written and saidabout its incomparable quality, its elasticity, colour andtransparency, with other excellences needless to dilateupon. Summarily taken as a whole, the simple fact is,that in no respect is his varnish different or better thanthat of his predecessors, the Amatis and masters of theBrescian school ; it had been done before and his most

famous contemporaries were doing it still, and he wasin this position for the simple reason that no bettercould be done.

If it was not possible for Stradivari to improve uponthe varnish of the Amatis who had preceded him andthe masters in the art belonging to the Brescian school,—among whom may be mentioned Giovanni Maggini,Antonio Mariani, and the first one to use it on violins,

Gasparo da Salo —it was strictly in accordance with hisinvariable rule of putting forth his best that he sodexterously manipulated it, probably both as to itscomposition and final application, that faultiness insome respects to be seen in specimens of other mastersis not noticeable in his. Thus, as is well known, the

D


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Brescians, perhaps without exception, were often very

careless regarding the thickness of the film, it beingoccasionally of irreproachable evenness, at other times

having almost the appearance of being laid on with alarge brush in great haste. On some connoisseurs thishaphazard fulness of treatment, this ofttimes generouslyeffusive manner, carried out with a careless conscious-ness of power, acts as a charm, inciting to intenseadmiration the like of which is roused by the rich, juicy

brush of Rembrandt and the masters of the Venetianschool of painters. But this is not the perfect realizationof aim with regard to the envelopment of masterpiecesby the old Italian liutaros ; in the instances referred to,and sufficiently numerous, we wonder at the wealthof material and smile at its manipulation. AntonioStradivari would in no wise act thus at any time.To him it was enough that he was possessor in fullof the knowledge of materials, and to deviate from thegood paths pursued by the artistic Amatis w^as notto be considered for a moment ; we therefore find thatwith him the best material was laid with the utmostskill and care. It must be indeed rare that ''frizzling,or contraction of the upper surface of the varnish, is tobe seen to any appreciable extent. I do not recollectone instance, while with the Ruggieris, most of theVenetian school, and a number of makers of lesser note,it is quite common.

Concerning the colour or variety of tints adopted byStradivari at most times, it was most likely done to therequirements of his different patrons, many having adesire for the rich orange, some, the light red or cherry tint, while others were not content with any

than the red orrich full bodied port wine tint. The

simple brown seems to have been less in demand, as itis during the period under consideration rather ex-ceptional. While using the lustrous coverings for hisworks with consummate skill, there is one qualificationthat must not be lost sight of. Beautiful, refined andartistic in the strictest sense of the term, Stradivari


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never gave way to a desire to outbid the rest of thefraternity for congratulations in respect of gorgeousness,

he seems never to have fallen back upon his reserves inthe direction of intensity of colour. Thus if a finelypreserved specimen of his orange varnish is viewed sideby side with one by Joseph Guarnerius, I.H.S., theextra degree of fieriness will be on the side of the latter,but it by no means places Stradivari on a lower level,as the combined qualities of his work, taken as a sumtotal, is not reached by any liutaro of old Italy.

It may be fairly taken as certain that if there was anymaster having at command all the necessaries for turningout musical instruments of matchless superiority, bothas to acoustical and artistic qualities, it was Stradivari,and many connoisseurs would expect to find nothing butmaple used of the richest curl, and that would throw up

with dehghtful effect the lustrousvarnish

socarefully

laid upon it ; but, strangely enough, his most mag-nificently curled backs and sides are mixed with a fewthat are comparatively plain. A variety of reasonsmight be assigned for this, but that which bears thegreatest probability about it is —that the instrumentsbeing chiefly made to order, the maple of richest curlwas not always to be had, at least in time for the con-

struction as required. In other respects these plainermapled instruments are fully equal to anything thatcame from his hands. Of the proper tone-giving pinehe seems never to have been short ; there it is, alwaysof beautiful growth, having, like his own handiwork,both delicacy and strength and of a general appearancesuch as would attract the eye of the veriest tyro in theliutaro's art. How many imitators of the great manipu-lator have looked at this growth of pine and wonderedwhere the old master obtained it and how he knewthat it possessed the proper qualifications for his purpose.Swiss pine, of course obtained from the lower parts ofthe forest of the Alps, is an immediate loud response,and cut only from the south or sunniest side of theparticular tree when found, of course.

D 2


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This idea was started in the early part of this centuryin books on the violin, professing to tell the reader all

about it or nearly so, and he had only to go, get thestuff, and make Stradivari violins, in fact with theaddition of the amount of scientific knowledge of thesubject peculiar to modern imitators, he would make''old Strad ''take a back seat. This has been oftentried by would-be Strads, Guarneris, or Ber-

gonzis, and full of specious promisesthat if

youwill but

purchase their wares you be rewarded for your pains bybeing possessor of everything good that they couldendow the instrument with. Keep it, persevere, and theprecious qualities will come ; some were daring enoughto assert that they were already there, if even yourmental vision was so obtuse as not to perceive it, absurdprejudice was the cause of this they said, oblivious to

the fact that the best musicians of Stradivari's time usedthe violins fresh from the atelier of the master perfectlynew, expressing their unbounded admiration for theirbeautiful acoustic properties or pleasurable sounds.

Is the like said of new violins at the present time ?These imitators, some of them might be with perfecttruth termed forgers, are legion, as in the case of every-thing that is of a high standard of excellence and which

makes acquisition desirable. These artificers had theirday, so far as forcing their imitations upon the credulousand unwary could be accomplished, and others havereplaced them, yet there aloft still sits the grand masterupon his high eminence, unapproached, with the wholeworld clamouring and struggling for the possession ofwhat in the earnestness of his purpose was only hiseveryday work.

Before leaving the imitators and forgers, for they aredistinct one from the other, the first simply taken beinghonest, the other not, it may be as well to refer asbriefly as possible to the general aspect as afforded bysuch specimens of Stradivari's art that remain with usafter fairly constant usage during the generations that

have passed since his decease. Most connoisseurs and


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dealers are well acquainted with the appearance of a Strad of fine model, work and varnish that has done

its duty in former times, and is yet able and willing toanswer all requirements of the present day and many tocome. If the instrument has not been hidden and for-gotten in the cabinet of some deceased collector, but hasbeen handed down from one player to another, kept inhealthy exercise, not meddled with, muddled, and mad-dened by the numerous would-be improvers, bridgeregulators, sound-post agitators and varnish vivifiers,

then —it will probably present an appearance of what iscalled handsome wear, or as a writer has termed it,^' adorned, not injured, by a century's fair wear.

Striking the eye first will be the varnish that has beenchipped off from the back chiefly, often from a largespace of a rough triangular form ; the front being usuallymore smoothly denuded of its lustrous envelope. Thischipping away of the varnish from the maple has beeneffected a long time ago, and is the result of a custom inolden times of hanging the instrument after use ona peg attached to the wall, or may be the interiorof a cabinet. Fiddle cases seem to have been usedalmost solely for travelling purposes. They are nowin general use as the best means of preservationagainst damage and a good resting place at all times.During the last century there were scores and scores of

makers in Italy who were ready, willing to, and didturn out excellent instruments with fine, artistical andacoustical properties, but the race has died out andtheir remaining works are of daily increasing value, andconsequently much under lock and key, out of harm'sway as much as possible. This old habit of hanging upviolins not wanted for the moment was, as a matterof course, effected with a slight bang or two each time,and a corresponding cost, small or large, according tothe blow to the top layer of varnish most highly chargedwith colour. Each instrument used in this way willdeclare to the sufficiently acute observer, its course ofhandling and even the peculiarities to some extent of the


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owner ; for it will be seen that the chippings give indica-tion of different degrees of energy or hurry, when theviolin has come in contact with the more or less hardsurface of the wall.

It must be borne in mind that the times referred towere prior to the introduction of wall-papers ; the good,old-fashioned panelling of oak or hard wood, often ofbold design, shattered or nicked away much of the old,delicate and precious varnish used for enveloping theworks of the Italian masters. All these constantly re-curring slight collisions by degrees brought about theresults that have been defined by some as picturesquewear or accidental adornment, if such a thing be reason-able. Besides this there was going on the wear causedby handling by one or another of players, rough or mild,contact with the garments, especially the sleeves, allbeing larger and looser than are fashionable at thepresent time. The action of these would be more gentleif more continuous. It is noticeable at the lower end ofthe back of the violin, which is often worn away muchbelow the penetration of the varnish, the corners beingrounded down and if rather protuberant, even losingtheir original character. The upper table of pine beingincapable of equal resistance to the destroying influence,wears away sooner, also the border at the lower end andat both sides of the tail-piece

—for the old performers

placed their chins on the contrary side to what is thoughtbest now —and the right upper shoulder where the palmof the hand and part of the wrist is apt to work toooften against the edge. We thus see when a handsome,fairly-worn specimen of Stradivari's work comes underour notice, the different pieces of tell-tale evidence, vary-ing of course in degree with each instrument. Now allthis must have been going on during the time themaster's works w^ere being sent out to parts of Italy andto other countries. It had been progressing and wasshowing the onward march of Father Time in the instru-ments left by the Brescian makers a century before.

As before observed, the varnish of Stradivari, has,


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often as not, been worn, chipped or cracked off in, assome fanciers still call it, a picturesque manner or adorn-

ment, although from the highest prices being given forthose specimens that have the least of it, the taste seemsto be growing healthily in favour of perfection of preser-vation as far as is possible.

It would be out of reason to suppose that full con-sideration of the subject was omitted by a genius withsuch far-reaching mental vision as Stradivari. That hegave all the necessary study and forethought to the

effects of ordinary wear and such as was occasionallygoing on within his knowledge, there is evidence enough.He saw how the delicate work of his master, NicolasAmati, was rapidly disappearing under sometimesrough and too often ruffianly usage. It was not in hispower to prevent or interfere with this by any pecu-liarity of construction or quality of the varnish used byhim. But this he doubtless knew —that the generallysubstantial work and total absence of any weak point ofdetail in design and execution was all that an artistcould do. This strength shown over all of Stradivari'sdesigns, even from the commencement, shows that in hisgrasp of the highest scale of requirement, he was alsoanticipatory and in this wise, that he followed up theself evident principle in art, that the best combinationof forms, proportions and masses will answer best fortheir permanence.

The numismatist knows full well how, on the coinsused in various countries, the masters of basso-relievohad concentrated their skill on the subject. The balanceof projection and depression for good and proper effectunder different situations of light and shade, or evenindependently of them on occasion —is of paramountimportance in all branches of art in their widest range.The omission of proper thoughtful attention in thisdirection is one of the obstacles to success among copy-ists in any direction of art. In architecture the imitatoror restorer of some early English mouldings has oftenmade ignominious failures from the non-application of


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knowledge of this kind ; just a trifling variation fromthe original while in progress being deemed of little con-sequence, but when finished and left for exhibition underthe truth testing rays of the sun, the qualities thatshould have been there are, as the saying is, con-spicuous by their absence. In full view of the aboveand with an intelligence unsurpassable, Antonio Stradi-vari so arranged his forms and masses in constructionthat under fair usage and wearing down of the projecting

parts, the original beauty of the whole should be retainedas long as possible. A line Stradivari much worn stillretains its air of distinction, and very much of itsmaterial must have disappeared under bad treatment tomake it beyond recognition almost at a glance.

There can be very little question of there being morethan mere admiration for the appearance. Simplyviewed, there is the spice of romance in connection withit, the history is written in language more or less intelli-gible of the knocks and bruises inflicted, unwillingly inmost instances, but not invariably so. And here atten-tion may perhaps be appropriately drawn in these pagesto what has been asserted by a few, very few, dealersand others, whose general intelligence should have beena guarantee against the dissemination of utter nonsenseand which has even been in print that —just think ofthis —Antonio Stradivari, the acknowledged masterliutaro of Cremona in his own day, and of whosegrowing fame no one can foretell the limits —actuallyimitated wear and tear of varnish on his violins. I havenot the print at hand, and so cannot give the exactwords in which this scum from the boilings of a distortedimagination was conveyed ; nor point to the first unfor-tunate who let it flow abroad. In all probability it camefrom the same old source, a desire to lift up to a highlevel worthless imitations of the master, confuse thepublic mind so as

2. Antonio Stradivari, h. Petherick, 2nd Ed., 1913

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Transcript of 2. Antonio Stradivari, h. Petherick, 2nd Ed., 1913