Books › Antonio Stradivari, 1900 › scan 108
Scan 108
Antonio Stradivari, 1900
4 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1been constantly putting forth instruments made by his own hands, there would not have been anything unusual about them, but these, with date and age marked, seem to be a declaration of the master—see—I have made a violin at the age here stated! In these there is present exactly what would be expected in such work—indication of insufficiency of the physical powers for carrying into execution the dictates of the mental. The intellect of this wonder of humanity appears to have remained unclouded to the last.
3The other violins of about the same epoch, and going under the master's name, have a manner of work that ought to have been perceived as being also distinct. Mere hastiness or slovenliness of work is not identical with the effect of inability to achieve mechanical neatness. It is this slovenliness of handiwork which Carlo Bergonzi gave way to so frequently; he could, when in the humour, work beautifully; this, with his fine perception of elegance of line, was possibly the secret of his being admitted into the atelier of Stradivari and of his influence over the sons. There may have been other special particulars regarding him that helped in the matter of which there does not appear to be any record.
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