Scan 56
Antonio Stradivari, his life and work (1644-1737), 1909
4 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 32. See the scan on archive.org.
1have had their proper certificates of birth attached to them."
3Now these statements are liable to be misunderstood, as they imply that a certain number of Stradivari's instruments of the earliest epoch exist, which were originally made for Amati, whose label they bore. Such, however, is not the case. If they existed, where are they? We have certainly not met with them. The violin mentioned by Lancetti is known to us; it is still in the possession of an Italian nobleman. If we may rely upon Lancetti's statement—viz. that the original ticket was one of Amati's (the one now in the violin is a false Stradivari label dated 1710)—then it does furnish an instance in point, for the work and style, with the exception of the belly, are undoubtedly those of Stradivari's early period, and, furthermore, are thoroughly characteristic. We may add that we are acquainted with only four other examples in which, similarly, the original label may have been one of Amati. In one instance only have we seen an Amati violin the head of which we can unhesitatingly affirm to have been made by Stradivari; but of course it is easy to assume his co-operation in the construction of many others. Again, it may be that Stradivari was more especially employed in varnishing, in fitting up the instruments, and in generally supervising the work; or perhaps he and Hieronymus, the son, worked conjointly, as was undoubtedly the case with Giovanni Battista and Pietro Giacomo Rogeri, of Brescia. Instruments thus made would necessarily lack the individual characteristics of both the one and the other, the whole being blended. However this may be, it is unquestionable that the later specimens of Nicolò Amati, of neat and perfect form and finish, which are dated as late as the year of his death, were either made by his son alone or jointly by his son and Stradivari. Further experience
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