Scan 53
Antonio Stradivari, his life and work (1644-1737), 1909
10 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 29. See the scan on archive.org.
1his master; nor apparently did he again do so throughout his life.
3As we have already seen, Stradivari was born in 1644; and we may safely assume that his parents apprenticed him not later than his fourteenth year, possibly two years earlier, for even at the present day fourteen years is the average age of apprenticeship in both the French and German violin-making centres. Stradivari would, therefore, have commenced working in 1656-58.*
5To whom could the parents have addressed themselves, if not to Nicolò Amati? No other name suggests itself to us. And when we recollect that Amati was the sole representative of the only old family of violin-makers we know of in Cremona, and that his fame far excelled that of all other makers throughout Italy, no other choice practically existed. That Nicolò Amati received apprentices was doubtless well known locally. We may believe, then, that the boy Antonio Stradivari entered the workshop of Amati some time between his twelfth and fourteenth year, and, taking his allotted place at the bench, began, tools in hand, laying the foundation of that career which was to prove so fruitful and remarkable.
7At Mirecourt, in the department of the Vosges, the centre of the violin-making industry in France, an apprentice of average intelligence learns to make a very fair instrument in three years; so we may conclude that Stradivari at the age of sixteen—in 1660—would be equally competent. We know that about 1660-65 he printed his first labels, and this fact points to his having reached a standard of excellence sufficiently high to justify him offering his work direct to his patrons. It does not follow, however, that
9* In the Census return of Nicolò Amati's household for the year 1641 Andrea Guarneri, aged fifteen, is included. This shows that he was already an apprentice (Piccolellis, "Liutai Antichi e Moderni").
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.