Scan 318
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1875
8 lines. Read by computer on 1 October 2026. Printed page 256. See the scan on archive.org.
1SECTION XIV.
3Sketch of the Progress of the Violin.
5IT may be said that the Violin made its appearance about the middle of the 16th century. Mention is made by Fétis of a Rebec, or Violin with three strings, by Andreas Amati bearing the date of 1546, and this strengthens me in my belief that it was after this date that the instrument was equipped with four strings. There are several instances where mention is made of Violins and Violin-playing prior to the period above named, but they are not such as to carry conviction to the mind that they refer to the instrument now recognised as the Violin. Leonardo da Vinci, the famous painter, who died in 1523, is spoken of as having been a celebrated performer on the Violin. The instrument he used is described as having had a neck of silver, with the singular addition of a carved horse's head.* This description, however, is sufficiently anomalous to make one rather sceptical as to whether the instrument denoted possessed any particular affinity to the present Violin.
7* "Lives of Haydn and Mozart," Translated from the French by L. A. C. Bombet. 1818.
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