Books › Old violins and violin lore, 1900 › scan 69
Scan 69
Old violins and violin lore, 1900
10 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1remained there three months, and when all the instruments were ready he took them with him to Poland."
3But at this time Stradivari was at his zenith. "There is not in the world," writes Lorenzo Giustiniani, a Venetian nobleman, to the great artificer in 1715, "a more skilled maker of musical instruments than yourself, and as I wish to preserve a record of such an illustrious man and famous artist, I trouble you with this letter to ask whether you feel disposed to make me a violin of the highest quality and finish that you can bestow upon it."
5But we must not anticipate.
7After the death of the illustrious Nicolo Amati, this patient pupil, this careful copyist, this accurate and tireless student and experimentalist begins to assert his strong individuality. His scroll departs from the feminine Amati type and becomes striking and independent, his sound-holes recline more, his corners are pronounced, his middle bout curves are prolonged, his varnish is almost fancifully varied from rich gold to soft velvety red. His wood is now invariably chosen with the utmost care, and as he made chiefly for the nobility, royalty, and the higher clerical dignitaries, he was not only on his mettle, but he could afford to work just as he chose.
9In 1682, Michele Monzi, a rich Venetian banker, sent him an order for a chest of violins, altos and 'cellos, which were to be presented to our King James II. They were so much liked that his Majesty ordered a viol di gamba of Stradiuarius in 1686.
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