Scan 90
Antonio Stradivari, his life and work (1644-1737), 1909
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1it to Count Cozio di Salabue.* The character of the work of the "Messie" is as exceptional as its history. Sound-holes, edges, and corners are treated differently to anything we have hitherto seen or shall hereafter see; the model is flat, that of the belly most noticeably so; the sharp, unrounded edge, and slanting, youthful sound-holes, are admirably shown in our illustration (fig. 22). Critics may say these marked peculiarities of style are due to its freshness. That is true only inasmuch as it accentuates them. Other specimens exist sufficiently well preserved to indicate clearly the maker's intentions, and the most appropriate for present comparison is the Medici violin, preserved with the Tuscan tenor and violoncello at the Musical Institute in Florence. It is of the same year and is in remarkable preservation, though not perfect; yet it differs in form, dimensions, model, sound-holes, edges, and varnish. To the casual observer it would be taken for the "Salabue's" brother, as it presents a close resemblance, whether as regards the back, which is in two pieces, the wood, which is similarly figured, or the varnish, which, though of thicker texture and somewhat deeper colour, has the same bright, unworn surface.
3In the "Cessol," the third fine instrument of the year, we have a superb example in every respect, and quite of the character we should expect. Its structure is founded more on the lines of the "Dolphin" than of the "Alard": the wood is cut from the same tree, and the varnish is of an unsurpassable plum-red colour. In contemplating this specimen, we are reminded of what Charles Reade says in his third letter to the Pall Mall Gazette, published in 1874: "When a red Stradivari violin is made of soft velvety wood, and the varnish is just half worn off the
5* See "The Salabue Stradivari," London, 1891.
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