Scan 174
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1884
4 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 116. See the scan on archive.org.
1—1786. Son of Lorenzo Guadagnini. He was born, according to Count Cozio di Salabue, at Cremona, and Lancetti states that he worked with his father in Milan. Later he worked at Piacenza, then at Parma, where he became instrument-maker to the Duke. Upon the pensions to the artists of the Duke's Court being discontinued in 1772, he went to Turin, where he died.* Count Cozio di Salabue communicated to Lancetti the following particulars relative to Giovanni Battista Guadagnini. He says, "He imitated Stradivari, but avoided close imitation of all detail, and prided himself in not being a mere copyist." He is said to have excited the jealousy of other makers, which caused him to remove so frequently, but most likely he offended chiefly with his hasty temper. Many of his instruments made in Turin between 1773 and 1776 have wood of the handsomest kind. Count Cozio ordered from him several instruments which he added to his collection, among them two Tenors and two Violoncellos. The interest Count Cozio manifested with regard to this maker is shown in his having obtained from the parish registers the dates of his birth and death. He states that he was born in Cremona in 1711, and died in Turin, September 18th, 1786.
3* The present representative of the family mentions Piacenza as the place of birth.
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