Books › The varnishes of the Italian violin-makers of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and their influence on tone;, 1904 › scan 9
Scan 9
The varnishes of the Italian violin-makers of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and their influence on tone;, 1904
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1If from the apologists for the old theory information is sought as to the actual constituents of the varnish, the result is equally unsatisfactory: a gum for the basis is vaguely suggested, but eludes definition; colouring matters, soluble in alcohol, are mentioned, but the difficulty is overlooked that alcohol, of sufficient strength for their solution and admixture, was certainly not available in the sixteenth century; the further suggestion, that red colouring matters, soluble in oil of turpentine, existed then, but have ceased to exist now, will not pass: for it is easy to show that such red colouring matter is a scientific impossibility.
3From every point of view, therefore, the dogma which has been so long and so persistently promulgated is found to be unsatisfactory.
5The explanation of the mystery which is now offered is that the old violin-makers used as the constituents of their varnishes the natural products of trees (conifers) and plants (flax) growing in their immediate vicinity, abundant and easily procured; that they were simple varnishes composed of resin and turpentine, or of these two substances and linseed-oil; that the various apparent colours were due to optical effects naturally arising from variations in the details
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