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Scan 119
The Hawley Collection of violins, 1904
6 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1GIOVANNI BATTISTA GUADAGNINI. THE HAWLEY GUADAGNINI
3claim Stradivari as his master, his work from first to last exhibits more of the Stradivari character in workmanship than that of his father, Lorenzo, indicating that he also worked in the shop of that master during the last epoch of his career. There is so much resemblance between the wood he used and that of Carlo Bergonzi as to arouse lively speculation as to what relationship existed between them as workmen. He was evidently, judging from these two points, and also the added one of his varnish, which is unlike his father's and quite like Bergonzi's, closely associated with him in his early days, either in Stradivari's shop, say from 1726 to 1737, or after the death of Stradivari in the latter year, in Bergonzi's own shop. Later he worked with his father in Milan. His model at this time is very flat, almost as much so as his father's, and his varnish is lighter in color than that which he afterwards employed. It is at this period very like that of Landolfi and Paolo Grancino. Guadagnini varied the colors of his varnish with changes of location, in accordance, no doubt, with the wishes of his customers. The violins of Milan and Piacenza were mostly varnished in light shades of red and brownish yellow, those of Parma in a golden yellow or orange, while in the Turin period the predominating color is dark red and chocolate brown. After some years he established himself in Piacenza, whence he removed to Parma and became the court maker and repairer to the Duke of Parma, who was an enthusiastic lover of music and maintained a private orchestra of considerable proportions for that day. In 1772, according to Signor Mancetti, the pensions of the artists of the duke's court were discontinued, and so Giovanni removed to Turin, where he remained until his death, September 18, 1786. It was here that he turned out his finest instruments, and having by this time acquired repute as a maker, he was able to command high remuneration. This public recognition of his skill enabled him to use the finest of woods and to embellish his violins by careful, painstaking workmanship. His violins at this time take on much of the Stradivari character of the 1720 to 1730 period. The same bold, robust design is found, the scroll, corners, edges, and sound hole are all done in a thoroughly artistic, scholarly manner.
5His was indeed the one bright light in the darkening sky of the vanishing day of the liutaro in Italy. Storioni, at work in Cremona, was the last link connecting the end of the eighteenth century with the brilliant past. There was, however, immense activity among Italian makers of the third class, whose work to-day we have to depend upon for medium-priced instruments. The reasons for the decadence of the art in Italy may be ascribed to two reasons: first, the vast number of old violins of high class, which, mellowing with age and use, were preferable to the new, from a musical standpoint, besides having the association of the early traditions behind them, which made them more desirable to most buyers than new work; second, the disturbed political and economic situation in Italy. Not only were conditions unfavorable in Italy, but by the time of the death of Guadagnini in 1786, there were ominous signs of the maelstrom of tragic events which was shortly to engulf Europe. Fifty years afterwards another event occurred which dissolved, almost in a night, the conditions under which alone the art of violin-making could thrive. The advent of the railroad was the magical change which completed the demolition of the feudal system. With almost the first shriek and whirr of the locomotive the time-honored personality of each little city was effaced. It was this personality, based upon difficulty of access, that had made each small metropolis sufficient unto itself in artistic and
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