Scan 54
Cremona: an account of the Italian violin-makers and their instruments, 1894
20 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 32. See the scan on archive.org.
1very transparent. The scroll is elegantly cut. His violas and violoncellos are superior to his violins. (h)
371. GAETANO, Antoniazzi. Cremona, 18—. Good workmanship, combined with incorrect style. The F holes are not in the right place.
572. GAGLIANO, Alexander. Naples, 1695-1730.
7Alexander Gaglianus Alumnus
8Antonius Stradivarius fecit
9Neapoli Anno 17—
10or,
11Alessandro Gagliano Alumnus
12Stradivarius fecit Neapoli
13Anno 17—
15"La Luthomonographie" gives the following veracious narrative concerning him: Alexander Gagliano, the son of a Marquis, was at the beginning of the eighteenth century guilty of the murder of a man who endeavoured to marry his betrothed. To escape the pursuit of justice, he left Naples, and concealed himself in a thick forest near the Borgo Marighassetto. Being well acquainted with the use of a knife, he betook himself to carving, out of ennui, and made instruments resembling violins out of the wood found in the forest, and acquired much facility in this direction. After several years he returned to Naples, and set up the workshop of a lute-maker with the permission of the authorities, and rose thereby to much fame. According to Vuillaume, he was a direct pupil of Stradivarius, who established himself at Naples in order to secure greater scope for his art than he could ensure at Cremona. He appears to have acquired a profitable business at Naples, on account of which he took his sons into the business.
17The instruments of Gagliano are all of a large flat model, resembling that of Stradivarius from 1725 to 1730. Although he copied his master, there are nevertheless noteworthy characteristics, by which the difference in the work of the scholar from that of the master may be recognized. The F holes are broader, and stand more perpendicularly.
19(h) Vidal ("La Lutherie," p. 65) gives four makers of this name, viz., Cristoforo, Bartolomeo, Gian. Battista, and Antonio. The label of Giovanni Battista, the best-known member of the family is, "Gio. Battista Gabrielli Fece in Firenze 176—."
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