Scan 189
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1875
10 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1is a rare occurrence to find genius asserting itself with any degree of power, a time, if not of waning, at least of resting, when the mind usually stays from giving forth originality bearing the freshness of earlier years; but Stradiuarius, with a few other notable instances in the field of art, forms an exception to this rule, and he proves to us that his talent was then in its full vigour, and ripe for new achievements. George Eliot's fancy well contrasts the painter Naldo—
3"Knowing all tricks of style at thirty-one,
4And weary of them; while Antonio
5At sixty-nine wrought placidly his best."
7From about 1700 his instruments show to us much of that which follows later. The outline is changed, but the curves blending one with another are beautiful in the extreme. The corners are treated differently. The wood used for the backs and sides is most handsome, having a broad curl; the cutting adopted is chiefly that shown in figure 1. The scrolls are of bold conception and finely executed. The varnish also is very rich, and leaves nothing to be desired.
9It is not possible to convey to the reader by means of mere description anything approaching an adequate notion of the surpassing gracefulness of the entire work of this epoch. The eye must be made the channel to the mind. If the work is present, then, with the aid which these remarks will
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