Scan 20
Cremona: an account of the Italian violin-makers and their instruments, 1894
12 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1head of a man singing. In the corners, as well as on the belly, and also on the back, is ornamental work.
3The F holes are without much curve, and are nearly of the same width from top to bottom. It is of a broad model, and of about the ordinary length. The back is cut on the quarter, and is in two pieces: the purflings are double and roughly worked. The varnish is dark yellow, and thinly laid on. The instrument is easily played, and has a powerful, noble, and most attractive tone.
52. One of the year 1511 is in the possession of an old Aix-la-Chapelle family. It is of a similar model, but is somewhat larger and higher arched, for which reasons the tone sounds more like that of a viola. On the back, which is in one piece, and is without any grain, is a beautiful painting in oil, the Virgin Mary with the Holy Child, probably by Leonardo da Vinci. The sides have an inscription in gilt letters, and in front of the bridge is painted a count's coronet. The scroll is massive and strong, the purfling is single, the varnish rather more red and put on more thickly than in the preceding instrument.
73. One of the year 1514 is in the possession of Professor Francalucci, of Bologna. (g)
94. Of the year 1515 is the violin mentioned above, and described by Fétis as belonging to Mertz, but now in the possession of Mr. Chanot, the violin-maker, in London. The belly of this violin and that of the Niederheitmann violin, (No. 1), are cut from the same plank, as may be quickly established from a comparison of the instruments, from the exact measurements of the markings in the grain, and other signs in the wood, in the most surprising manner.
11(g) This violin was exhibited in 1872 at South Kensington. It was pronounced on high authority, (Mr. Carl Engel), to be an excellent instrument of the earliest period. The violin numbered (4) is considered by Von Wasielewski to be a larger instrument cut down. This writer ("Die Violine und ihre Meister," p. 18) mentions, on the authority of Herr Riecher, the Berlin maker, a violin considered to be a genuine instrument of the year 1521, by Duiffoprugcar. It is interesting to notice that a lyra da braccio, "Gaspard Duiffopruggar Bononiensis anno 1515," was exhibited in Vienna in 1892 by Maj.-Aud. Hajdecki, of Mostar. The authenticity of, and dates attributed to, the violin above mentioned have been criticized most carefully seriatim by Dr. Contagne.
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