Books › The varnishes of the Italian violin-makers of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and their influence on tone;, 1904 › scan 38
Scan 38
The varnishes of the Italian violin-makers of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and their influence on tone;, 1904
18 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Fioravanti, in the formula quoted as No. 11,
3 Linseed-oil . . . . . . . . 1 part
4 Greek pitch (i.e., resin from the fir-trees of Calabria) . . . . . 2 parts
5 Pine resin . . . . . . . . . . 1/2 part
7writes, "boil until the varnish is viscous."
9It was therefore known in 1564 that continued heating causes resinous substances dissolved in linseed-oil to undergo change of viscosity, probably of colour.
11Father Zahn ("Oculus Artificialis," 1685) again prescribes the "bain-marie."
13From Alexis we further learn that, in 1550, he used, to make varnish, "pine resin fat and white" (? galipot), "turpentine of Venice," linseed-oil, as well as what he calls varnish of amber, which M. Mailand explains to be "a mixture of oil and of Greek pitch, "which is the produce of the fir-trees (sapins) of "Calabria."
15It will be observed, from all the prescriptions, how much the old varnish-makers used the resins from the pine and fir-trees, as well as Venice turpentine (from larch).
17The gums Alexis knew were benzoin, mastic, male incense, sandarac. For colouring, he mentions aloes, red sandal-wood, dragon's blood, madder steeped in tartar water, Campechy and Brazil wood, all dissolved in barber's ley, to which alum must be added, afterwards boiled down. Speaking of the "fastness" of colours, he adds:—"Linseed-oil kills "the semi-mineral colours, but not the mineral and "vegetable." The amount of his knowledge on
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