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Scan 20
Old Violins And Their Makers, 1883
6 lines. Read by computer on 30 September 2026. Printed page 6. See the scan on archive.org.
1of these conjectures are not without weight, and are derived from the above circumstance and from the fact that a family of lute makers, of the name of "Gerle," existed in Nuremberg in the fifteenth century. They suppose—reasonably enough—that he migrated from Nuremberg and settled in Brescia; but as the specimen upon which his claim to the distinction of founder of the Brescian school is sustained was not a violin at all, but a viola da braccio—a class of instrument common enough about his time—made down and re-mounted as a violin by a clever Parisian, the honour claimed can scarcely, in fairness, be awarded to him, even granting that such a maker ever existed—an aspect of the question which the reader will find reviewed in greater detail later on.
3In 1872, at the Special Exhibition of Ancient Musical Instruments made before 1800, there were shown at South Kensington a viola by "Joan Carlino," and a violin by "Joan Karlino," but our present violin was quite unknown, and is not mentioned in musical literature until at least 100 years after the date at which Joan Kerlino is said to have lived. Although this absence of any mention of violins is not conclusive, it is fairly admissible evidence of their non-existence, seeing that other kinds are referred to.
5The next name which appears is that of Pietro Dardelli, or, as some call him—because he was a grey friar of the convent at Mantua—Padre Dardelli. He made lutes and violas, some of which are said to be still preserved in the cabinets of collectors, but who these collectors are is nowhere mentioned. I have seen it stated that he was an amateur workman, an assertion
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