Books › The violin: its famous makers and their imitators. : With several wood engravings from photographs of the works of Stradiuarius, Guarnerius, Amati, and others, 1880 › scan 110
Scan 110
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators. : With several wood engravings from photographs of the works of Stradiuarius, Guarnerius, Amati, and others, 1880
2 lines. Read by computer on 29 August 2026. Printed page 92. See the scan on archive.org.
1made between the work of Stradiuarius and that of Dominicus Montagnana, with regard to detail, the two makers will not be found to have much in common. It is when Montagnana's instrument is viewed as a whole that the teaching of Stradiuarius is evidenced. A similar assertion may, in a lesser degree, be made in the case of Carlo Bergonzi. To dissect the several points of difference is a simple matter. If we begin with the outline, that of Montagnana has not the smoothness and grace of the Stradiuarian type; the upper and lower curves are flattened, while those of the centre are extended. The sound-hole partakes more of the character of Guarnerius; the scroll is larger, and the turns bolder than in the Stradiuarius form. These, then, may be considered to be the chief points wherein, if viewed as separate items, Montagnana seems to have varied from his master: and hence we may obtain some idea of the amount of originality belonging to this maker—an amount, indeed, not inferior to that of any Cremonese artist that can be cited. The increasing popularity of Montagnana's instruments is sufficient proof that his design was fraught with much that is valuable. In departing from the form of Antonius Stradiuarius, Carlo Bergonzi and Montagnana doubtless intended to bring out, in a stronger degree, certain particular qualities of tone: at the same time we may be sure that they had no idea of attempting to improve upon Stradiuarius in his own field of work, for they must have well known the Herculean character of such a task. On the other hand, had these remarkable makers been mere copyists, they would certainly have handed down to us more instruments
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