Books › The violin and the art of its construction : a treatise on the Stradivarius violin, 1895 › scan 35
Scan 35
The violin and the art of its construction : a treatise on the Stradivarius violin, 1895
10 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 29. See the scan on archive.org.
1probable that Stradivarius, in whose workshops about 3000 violins were constructed, would have employed linseed-oil varnish, seeing that it would have required, in each case, six months for the violin to get thoroughly dry.
3There are many resins which can be dissolved in spirit or oil of turpentine and used as a varnish, but the preference is generally given to spirit-varnish, as it dries more quickly. If the spirit or turpentine-oil has evaporated, only the resin remains.
5The greatest attention must be paid to the relative hardness of the resin and the wood, for both should be of equal density. Hard resin hinders the vibration of the wood, and consequently the quality of tone suffers.
7In my opinion shellac is quite useless for varnishing, it being much too hard, but nevertheless it has been employed from 1770 until the present day, in spite of the fact that the best Italian instrument might be completely ruined by being varnished with it. In all Italian instruments the old varnish is always very porous and soft, and can easily be dissolved by the application of spirit, while, on the contrary, it requires great labour to effect the same with turpentine-oil.
9Many people affirm that the art of mixing the old Italian varnish which so charms us with its brilliancy and transparency, is no longer known, in fact that it is for ever lost. I am, however, of a different opinion and maintain that our modern varnishes are quite equal to the old, but what we have until now been unable to produce scientifically, is the golden-brown underground which the wood of older violins has acquired through age and other influences. The proof of this I have practically demonstrated by varnishing old instruments with new varnish, in imitation, with such success as to arouse the wonder of connoisseurs, the varnish being quite as transparent and brilliant-coloured as that used for violins in the last century.
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