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Scan 43
Grove's dictionary of music and musicians, 1904
10 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 22. See the scan on archive.org.
1scanty education, and, secondly, that at the age of twenty-one he was working in Brescia as an apprentice under Gasparo da Salò. On Jan. 20, 1615, he married Maddalena Anna, daughter of Messer Faust Forrestio, and after his marriage he and his wife settled in a house in the Contrada del Palazzo Vecchio del Podesta. In this home, with the assistance of his apprentice, Jacopo de Lanfranchini, Maggini built up a very successful business in the manufacture of citharas, violoncellos, violas, and violins. In 1626 he prospered still more, and acquired a second house and shop in the Contrada delle Bombasaire, whither he removed with his wife and family. He also purchased property in the hills and plains surrounding Brescia, and a residential farm-house and land, which abutted upon the grandfather's old home near the village of Botticino. The date of his death is conjectural. After 1626 the Brescian Income Tax papers cease to mention his name, and in 1632 he was undoubtedly dead, as, in a schedule presented in that year by his son Carlo, he uses the formula 'Filius quondam Johannis Pauli.' Although documentary evidence proves that Maggini's wife died on Nov. 24, 1651, and was buried in the church of St. Agatha, all research for the certificate of her husband's death and burial has been in vain. The only reasonable inference is that as the town of Brescia was ravaged by an excessively severe plague in 1632, Maggini was one of its victims, and being taken to one of the 'pest-houses' which were organised for the sick, at the public expense, died away from home, without any note of his death or burial being made.
3As a maker, Maggini's name is associated with many progressive innovations in the construction of the violin, and especially in the method of cutting the wood. In his earliest work these alterations are not discernible, as he was still under the influence of Gasparo da Salò, whose inaccuracy of modelling, rough workmanship, and dark brown varnish he at first copied. But when he once cast aside the methods of his veteran master, and of the old school of violin makers, Maggini created an era in the history of violin-making, which has deservedly immortalised his name. He was among the first makers who discarded the then customary method of cutting the soft pine-wood used for the bellies of violins in what is termed 'slab fashion,' i.e. parallel with the upward growth of the tree, and instead, adopted the practice of using the wood the straight way of the grain, brought about by cutting it wedge-ways out of the tree from the bark inwards to the core (see VIOLIN-MAKING). He was almost, if not quite the earliest maker to use corner blocks and linings such as are now employed, and he modulated his thicknesses with far more intention and accuracy than any of his predecessors. Maggini's purfling is beautifully executed. His instruments are mostly ornamentally or double purfled, but there are some violins of his bearing the single line. Three of these, and one viola are known to exist. Many of his violins bear a purfled or painted conventional design upon the back, but as his violin model advanced in originality and perfection, so he gradually discarded the customary ornamentation so dear to the ancient viol-makers, probably having discovered that this practice only served to muffle the tone of his instruments. His violins are large in size, and are made of the best materials. The model is quite original, and bears no resemblance to the Amati pattern; the varnish on his best instruments is orange-yellow, the ff holes are clearly cut, the lower circles, in contradistinction to those of Stradivarius, being always smaller than the upper ones, a feature peculiar to Maggini. The scroll is well cut, but shorter than that of other makers, and for this reason appears to be wider than it really is. The labels are placed close to the centre of his instruments; they are in black roman type, and, like those of his master da Salò, are undated.
5Maggini was not a prolific maker, the result of his life's work, as represented by extant instruments, numbering about fifty violins and under two dozen tenors and violoncellos. For this reason authentic specimens of his work are scarce. Some of his finest fiddles have been in the hands of Ole Bull, Léonard, Vieuxtemps, and de Bériot, who possessed two fine examples, one of which he picked up in an old curiosity shop in Paris for 15 francs. This instrument now belongs to the Prince Caraman de Chimay, and is considered of high value. An excellent summary of Maggini's contributions to the development of violins, violas, and violoncellos is given in Lady Huggins's Gio. Paolo Maggini, published by the firm of Hill & Sons.
7No authentic pupils of Maggini have come to light. None of his seven children followed their father's profession; his only surviving son, Carlo Francesco, became a silk merchant, but the Maggini influence can be clearly traced both in the Guarnerius and the 'Long Strad' models. In modern times few makers have been more copied, both honestly and dishonestly. Fine copies were made by Bernard Simon Fendt and Remy (two French makers who settled in London); by Darches, and N. F. Vuillaume in Belgium; by Gand (père), Bernadel, Chanot, and Vuillaume in Paris, and at Mirecourt, where it is one of the favourite models.
9Bibliography:—Gio. Paolo Maggini, his Life and Work, compiled and edited from material collected and contributed by William Ebsworth Hill and his sons, William, Arthur, and Alfred Hill, by Margaret L. Huggins (London, 1892). The Violin and its Famous Makers and Imitators, by George Hart (London, 1875). History of the Violin, by William Sandys and Simon Andrew Forster (London, 1864). Old Violins and their Makers, James M. Fleming (London, 1883). La Lutherie et les Luthiers, A. Vidal (Paris, 1889). Le Violon, A. Royer (Paris, 1886). Magini (Jean Paul), Biog. Univ. des Musiciens, F. J. Fétis. Luthomonographie Historique et Raisonnée, Le Prince N. Youssoupoff (Paris, 1886). I Liutai antichi e moderni, G. de Piccollellia (Florence, 1885). I miei violini, M. Villa (Savignano, 1888). Di Giovanni Paolo Maggini celebre Liutaio Bresciano, D. Angelo Berenzi (Brescia, 1890). La Patria di Giovanni Paolo Maggini, D. Angelo Berenzi (Cremona, 1891). Die Violinen und ihre Meister, von J. V. Wasielewski (Leipzig, 1888). E. H-A.
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