Scan 88
Cremona: an account of the Italian violin-makers and their instruments, 1894
12 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 66. See the scan on archive.org.
1some small violins with similar ornamentation, possibly for some special orders.
3Full of rich experience gained from these experimental works, Stradivarius entered his golden period, which is from 1700 to 1725. He attained this, the highest point of his art, when he was fifty-six years old.
5The outlines are now broadened out, the archings in all respects approach the most beautiful design, and the materials are selected with the most accurate care. The scroll is neat, but less deeply cut, the varnish is of the best quality, and cannot be conceived to be more beautiful. It must not, however, be thought that one instrument is constructed exactly like another. There are differences found in the thickness of the back and belly, in the rounding of the model, in the place of the F holes, and these give rise to the theory that Stradivarius worked on a wise principle, exactly according to the consistency of the wood or its acoustic properties, which he had studied to a very exact degree.
7Whatever may have appeared to the master as an ideal, in order to combine the powerful tone of the Brescian makers with the beautifully clear Amati sound, he certainly brought it into form in a wonderful manner at this period of his labours.
9We now come to his last period, 1725 to 1736. The decay of power may now be noticed; the sure hand wavers, and other hands are also helping in the work. The instrument gives as much tone as can be wished, but the perfection of workmanship prevails no more. Who, then, assisted? It is thought that they were his sons, and the faithful assistant, Carlo Bergonzi; but as their own works, finished independently, in many respects do not resemble the master's instruments of 1725 to 1736, it is possible he may have wrought them, at all events in the important parts, with his own hand.
11The varnish of these later instruments is brown and less clear than that of an earlier date; a few are marked "sub disciplina," or "sotte la disciplina di Ant. Stradivarius. Cremona," from which it appears that he carefully adhered to the principle of marking only those with his name which
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.